Life on the Arizona-Mexico border: A look at life in my neck of the woods
by Cherlyn Gardner Strong on Aug. 20, 2010, under Arizona BorderMy topic is usually the paranormal here on the Tucson Citizen website. However, we bloggers are granted the freedom to write off-topic. Today, my topic is my life on the Arizona-Mexico border.
It is my hope to provide a different perspective of life on the border for anyone interested in considering a different perspective. I do have a lot to say about it.
I live in Santa Cruz County, but not in a city. I am in the forest east of Nogales, along the border. My experiences on the border likely don’t match those living on the border in Cochise or Yuma counties. Although I did live for one year in Three Points (Pima County) and can certainly speak for those folks. I can honestly say that life there is impacted to some degree by illegal crossers, especially those who live further to the south, around the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge.
Yet, life where I live in the rugged mountains, surrounded by the Coronado National Forest, it is much different than it was for me in Three Points.
Life on the rural border is different for everyone, all along the Arizona border. One cannot state that the problems that they face on a daily basis are exactly the same for someone else who may live just 5 miles away from them along the border. That is a fact. This is the main reason that there is no simple solution to the very complex border issue. It depends somewhat on where you live along the border. You can’t count on location to determine what those issues might be either. The traffic from Mexico does tend to shift occasionally all along the border to prevent smugglers and illegal crossers from getting caught. At the moment, I live along one of those well traveled routes.
How I ended up here
When I found a remote rental home advertised in the forest on the border, I jumped on the opportunity for a couple of reasons. First, it allowed me the solitude to write in one of the most beautiful areas in Arizona. Secondly, my great great grandfather, Thomas Gardner, was an Arizona pioneer. He was one of the first white settlers in Santa Cruz County, initially settling not very far from where I live.
My great great grandfather immigrated, legally, from Scotland. He married Gertrudis Apodaca, from Mexico. Their son married a woman from Mexico. Their son’s son married a woman from Mexico. Coupled with my Mexican lineage on the maternal side of my family, my lineage is clearly Mexican.
I suppose my moving to the area provided me with a chance to live like my great great grandfather. There are differences, of course. I have modern day conveniences, like electricity, running water, Internet, phone and a motorized vehicle. These things were not available to him back in the mid-1800s. He dealt with frequent attacks by the Apache. I don’t need to worry about that today. My situation is different.
Not long after I gave my deposit on the house, rancher Rob Krentz was murdered in Cochise County, near Douglas. After reasoning with my husband, I insisted that my dad was born in and grew up in this area, and I felt it was still safe. I’ve camped in the area since I was a small child. Douglas is some 100 miles away, depending on which route is taken. Cochise County does have different border related issues than Santa Cruz County.
Additionally, the home is safe with security doors and windows. There is a high level of Border Patrol presence. We also own firearms.
I was very comfortable with the decision, so we proceeded with the move. The first trip we made with our possessions to the home, we found ourselves pulled over by the Border Patrol on the way back, just a couple miles into our return journey to Tucson. Our vehicle was checked for illegals and for drugs. The agent addressed my husband by name, without my husband offering it, since our plate was run by the agent prior to being pulled over. We informed the agent that we were moving to the area and he said that it would take a while for the agents in the area to recognize us as residents.
After a friendly chat with the agent, we stopped in Sonoita to grab a bite to eat. After dinner, we drove through the Border Patrol checkpoint north of Sonoita. A commander approached the vehicle and asked what we ate for dinner. Based on that question and the conversation that followed, the agents had been watching us, and they had done some homework on us. Although the experience was initially unsettling, we did realize that they were just doing their jobs. Then, we were further enlightened by the Border Patrol.
We were told two things during that checkpoint stop. First, we should expect to be approached by a representative of a drug cartel. To handle this visit properly, we are not to show fear, nor are we to assist them in any way. Second, we should expect one or more late night visits from an illegal or illegals. We are not to assist them either. We were assured that the Border Patrol agents are always 30 seconds away by phone if we need them, for which I am thankful.
Despite the warning, neither scenario we were warned about has happened. However, it has happened to each and every one of our handful of neighbors who are spread out in this remote wilderness. We are told that it is only a matter of time. It could happen while we are out gathering firewood, away from the house and far from any phone. There is no cell phone service available in the area.
Living in the forest is quite a unique experience. It also requires putting up with some inconveniences.
Inconveniences
We live miles south of the warning signs, so the forest is not the most popular tourist area. Additionally, the United States Postal Service recently halted mail delivery to the homes. The mail carrier had a scary experience involving an illegal border crosser. So, mail is sent to a group of lock boxes in the forest. I was informed by the post office that the lock boxes do get broken into. Therefore, I have my mail sent to town, about 20 miles away.
Warning Sign
It is certainly baffling that the government acknowledges a problem with the warning signs and also refuse to deliver mail to the homes, due to dangers faced by mail carriers. Yet, according to what is presented by the media, the border is safe as it has ever been. Well, the mail used to be delivered to the houses, so the fact that the mail carriers won’t deliver mail to the homes tells me that this statement is not entirely true.
A UPS driver also had a scary experience here. Due to that, there is some talk of UPS also halting service to the area. UPS still delivers at the moment. Their brown truck resembles a brown streak these days. It roars through this area like a Pony Express rider with a band of Apache in pursuit. UPS driving at high speeds through the area must minimize their chances of a dangerous encounter with an illegal.
There aren’t very many visitors around here otherwise. Occasionally, rockhounds, birdwatchers, hunters and campers do visit, generally without incident. We generally don’t get much other daily traffic around these parts, except for the few local residents and the Border Patrol. The Border Patrol drives by countless times a day. They also drag the road every day to clear any footprints on the dirt road from the night before, so they can better track illegals. The perimeter of our property has had many footprints cleared away. The footprints that have appeared overnight weren’t ours. None of these feet have found their way in the darkness to our front door.
The agents still don’t know us, due to some turnover and shift changes. A routine trip to the grocery store is nearly always interrupted by the Border Patrol pulling us over. They run our license plate, but our address does not show up where we live. The MVD mailing address does not match our home address, since we can’t get mail delivered to the house, which does add to the inconveniences.
We put up with being pulled over, and sometimes searched, because the agents are just doing their jobs.
The trip to Nogales is rather interesting, since much of the activity occurs between here and there. This is the same stretch where two off duty Nogales police officers were threatened by the drug cartels. The officers were told to not interfere with drug smuggling operations while off-duty.
One trip to the grocery store made me nervous. My husband and I spotted a vehicle that had backed far off the road. It didn’t look like the vehicle owner was camping. At the same time, we saw a Border Patrol agent on an ATV quickly approaching behind us. He pulled off the road near the vehicle. We assumed that he was preparing to question the vehicle owner. As we proceeded a couple miles ahead, two Border Patrol trucks appeared from nowhere with their sirens blaring. We pulled over, and four agents rushed our vehicle with their hands ready to pull their guns from their holsters. All they found were me and my husband with our three Chihuahuas. We, and our dogs, all have the proper identification, should we be asked for it.
They said that we were pulled over because another agent radioed in that a vehicle, like the color of ours, was spotted “loading up”. We informed them that they were probably looking for the vehicle a couple miles back. Later, on the way back from the store, we pulled over a Border Patrol truck with a couple agents inside of it. We asked them if the person in the vehicle that matched ours was apprehended. They had no idea what we were talking about, they said.
I do feel strangely safe with the Border Patrol all around us, despite the dangerous activity. Also, despite agents surrounding our vehicle in an apparent case of mistaken identity. As long as they aren’t trigger happy, it’s tolerable.
While I feel relatively safe, I do fear for the safety of the illegals who are funneled through here.
Dead Bodies
The rugged terrain of the mountains and the lush trees do tend to keep crossers well hidden on their journey north. It also keeps the dead bodies hidden. Two bodies were recently found near my home in relatively advanced stages of decomposition. Not all bodies that are found will be found in the open, if they are ever found. There are abandoned mine shafts, as well as very deep open pit mines scattered throughout the forest. You can’t see the bottom standing on the outside of some of them.
I also cringe every time I see the vultures circling. I am never sure if breakfast or lunch for the vultures is animal or human.
With very few people in the area and few tourists, many of the bodies of illegal crossers will never be found. Yes, they do die so close to the border.
My dad came across a group of illegals a couple of weeks ago by the side of the road. They were tired, hungry, thirsty and sore. They had wandered through the forest in circles for days because they didn’t know which way was north. They gave up and wanted to be turned in to the Border Patrol. Had my dad not found them, the chances are high that they would have added to the unknown body count in the area.
Snipers / lookouts on the mountain tops
Even with the heavily concentrated Border Patrol presence in the area, the smugglers have a huge advantage. Their vantage point from various hilltops and peaks allow them to direct traffic through the area, without Border Patrol even knowing that anything is amiss. Apprehensions may be down, but that could be because the smugglers have an outstanding system in place, keeping the people and drugs out of the path of the agents, preventing apprehensions.
Additional technology in the area would help the Border Patrol immensely, as well as a better ability to communicate with each other. An agent recently revealed in a casual conversation that sometimes their radios don’t work in the area.
The snipers and lookouts don’t scare me. If I don’t mess with them, they won’t mess with me. If I come across any bundles of anything, I am not going to bother it. That’s not my job as a resident. That’s for our fine government to figure out. If the police stay safe by complying with orders from the cartels to look the other way, then what’s good for the goose…
The only other thing that I won’t do is travel through the forest alone at night. The forest is a much different place at night. If I discover that I’ve run out of milk in the evening, it isn’t wise to hop in the car and drive 20 miles on a dirt road through the forest to the store. If I must travel in an emergency, then I will ask the Border Patrol to make sure I get to town safely. Whether I ask them or not, they do maintain a presence between here and town at all times.
A common comment that I receive from well meaning friends and acquaintances is that civilians should not be living here along the border. My viewpoint is that I live in the United States. Clearing out the residents just gives the cartels a larger area to control. How far into the United States are we going to allow for illegal activity?
Another thing that has bothered me is the constant attention on the crime numbers in Phoenix. Phoenix is 180 miles north of the border, yet the talking heads imply that it is a border city. If nothing is done to control the activity of the cartels, then Phoenix may actually become a border city someday.
Personally, I am tired of the many misconceptions related to the border. Particularly the tendency of the media to group all the issues into one unclear issue that doesn’t apply to every area along the border.
Maddow’s Misconceptions
One of the reasons I am writing this post, is due to a recent airing of The Rachel Maddow Show. I am rather disappointed with Maddow’s condescending and incomplete coverage of the very real concerns faced in certain sections of the border. The boundary that divides us from Mexico is visually apparent on a map. However, life along border is not as apparent and constant as that dividing line seen on a map.
Maddow recently sent her staff to Nogales to see the border fence. To demonstrate a point, Maddow showed a picture of her staff member walking mockingly along the fence. The entire event was handled by Maddow and her staff like it was a joke. The problem is, this particular stretch of fence is not what concerns us. It’s the fence where I live in the mountains that deserves a good deal of attention. It’s the fence where much of the traffic actually passes through. There are many other stretches like ours, all over entire length of the border. In some places, there is no fence, only a marker to indicate the border.
Maddow is welcome to send her staffers to our stretch of fence in the mountains and see just how cocky they look strutting by that one. I’m sure that she won’t. There are many holes in the fence due to wildlife needing to cross back and forth from Arizona and Mexico. If you think that only animals take advantage of the holes in the fence, you are quite mistaken.
"Secure" border fence near Lochiel
Adding to my frustration is Maddow’s avoidance of a particular fact that has been presented to her at least twice by local law enforcement.
I’ve seen two interviews with Maddow and Santa Cruz County’s Sheriff Antonio Estrada. In both of those interviews, Estrada said that there is really not much of a problem in Nogales, but most the illegal activity actually occurs in the mountains and canyons outside of town. Estrada hasn’t elaborated on that tidbit of information he’s disclosed and Maddow has never questioned it. By questioning it, I mean asking simple questions like: Do people live in the canyons and mountains? What types of things happen in the canyons and mountains? Should we talk to a Border Patrol agent in the heavily traveled areas to get the real scoop?
Nope, it will never happen. Maddow would have to admit that she doesn’t know all the facts.
Another fence section in Lochiel
Instead, Maddow has responded to Estrada’s tidbit of exposing where the action is, by putting on the baffled face, holding up her hands, and shaking her head in disbelief that anything could be amiss on the border, since the City of Nogales is so safe. Her avoidance of where most illegals actually cross is baffling. Her reaction is an insult to those of us on the rural border who actually see the illegal activity and live with it going on around us. Her reaction to what she perceives to be a non-issue, is much like the faux pas made by Wisconsin’s Peggy West, talking so confidently about an issue that she knows very little about.
It’s not only Maddow who doesn’t clearly see border issues. It’s pretty constant among all members of the media.
I’ve seen accurate blogger reporting, from bloggers who actually live along the border. I trust a border blogger’s word more than I trust anything from the media.
When my dad was a child in the area, sure there were plenty of illegals who passed through. That’s nothing new. It was a different era, though. My grandparents provided food and water to those travelers on foot who needed it. They were never hurt by an illegal.
The drug cartels, however, didn’t direct human traffic through here, sitting on hilltops and peaks with their automatic weapons.
Funneled traffic
In a recent Tucson Weekly article, the Border Patrol spoke of their strategy to funnel illegal activity to this and other remote areas. This strategy keeps the activity away from populated areas. So, in Rio Rico, Tubac and other formerly high activity locations, the people who live there have noticed that there has been a significant decrease in traffic near their homes. They attribute it to less illegals entering the U.S.
I see things differently in my neck of the woods.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the traffic is still coming through. It’s coming through somewhere else where the masses don’t see it. Again, I’ll emphasize that the mountain terrain does put the smugglers at a huge advantage from their vantage points on the hilltops and peaks.
Another section of the fence in Lochiel
Despite the dangers that exist in the area should I cross paths with the wrong people, I do love it here. It is quiet and beautiful. I might feel differently if I were the victim of a crime. If the Border Patrol pulls out from the area, or if they significantly decrease the agents covering the area, I might consider moving.
During my great great grandfather’s time in this area, he faced a different problem, in the form of frequent attacks by the Apache. While on a trip to Tucson for supplies, he was shot through the lungs by Cochise, Chief of the Apache. My great great grandfather survived the attack. Not all their problems involved violent attacks. Sometimes those quiet feet in the darkness of the night would come to steal cattle and horses from the settlers.
So, my great great grandfather decided to move his family north of here to Sonoita, near Fort Crittenden. Living near the fort wasn’t any safer. Up to 8 soldiers at a time were stationed at the Gardner ranch for two-week periods to provide additional protection. Some may argue that white man invaded the home of the Apache, so it was their own fault for moving here.
Things haven’t changed that much. Residents here are protected by the Border Patrol. Perhaps the military might also be dispatched to the area to provide additional protection.
That would bring things full circle, back to life as it was in Southern Arizona in the 1800′s.
My life here is significantly less dangerous than it was for my great great grandfather. The activists would like to argue that the land once belonged to Mexico. While this is true, it no longer does. Additionally, the laws related to the border with Mexico were established since then. The activists cite the law to make sure that racial profiling doesn’t happen, due to ethnicity. Yet, they disregard the border laws in place, in defense of people here illegally, due to the ethnicity of the illegals. This ability to twist the law to one’s liking tells me that we need to improve the laws.
I have “invaded” privately owned land in the United States, surrounded by forest land that presently belongs to the United States. Land that is controlled more and more by the Mexican drug cartels. It makes no sense that the government allows this.
If something were to happen to me, I can count on some arguing that it was my own fault for moving here. I can’t argue with that. I wanted to experience life on the frontier like my ancestor. I didn’t expect to be able to draw these particular similarities between life a century-and-a-half ago and the times of the present when I made that choice.
This is how I choose to live, within the boundaries of the United States.
I wanted to present a different view of the border than the media has presented. My view of it. A true view of life where I live along the border. A view that may differ from the view of other border residents. Some face extreme danger. Some don’t. Some experience something in between, which is where I gauge my present situation. It really depends on where the agents funnel the traffic.
It’s certainly a different way of life with some inconveniences. Horrible things do happen around me, which I hope I never witness up close and personal.
I also hope that I don’t ever run into that Mexican drug cartel neighborhood welcoming committee.
Only time will tell.
Arizona-Mexico Boundary Marker
August 21st, 2010 on 6:30 am
Great article !!!!!!!
Getting essentially the same info all across the region from the ranchers.
We need the media and decision makers to really see the border.
August 21st, 2010 on 1:04 pm
Thanks, Hugh. Unfortunately, I think that the media will continue to avoid the issues in these remote areas. I am glad that others along the border are speaking out. I’m posting a link to your Cochise County rancher’s view that you posted this morning, so that this additional perspective is seen, too. http://tucsoncitizen.com/view-from-baja-arizona/2010/08/21/a-cochise-county-ranchers-view-of-the-border/
August 21st, 2010 on 8:56 am
Yes, great article and very interesting read. Thanks for writing and posting it. I live on a 10 acre property just off Highway 191, about 50 miles north of Douglas. While I’ve seen some signs of illegals passing through my property, most pass through the strip of state land between me and the highway – you can easily tell by all the trash left behind. But boy, sure nothing like what you go through.
August 21st, 2010 on 12:59 pm
Thank you. I know others have it much worse along the border, though.
August 22nd, 2010 on 7:40 am
Great article Cheryl. But it’s too late to hope this invasion stops at the border. Our public and private lands ALL over this nation have been occupied by the armed Mexican drug cartels. I live in the woods, too…in No. Calif & Oregon. And we can’t safely enter the woods. See the stories and photos here.
Alien Mexican Cartels occupy land all over the USA!
http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/
August 22nd, 2010 on 11:51 am
Thank you for sharing. I guess we to the south share much in common with you to the north. I guess it must be a grand plan to keep us out of the remote areas and funneled into the cities, never to see the woods again.
August 22nd, 2010 on 8:20 am
Good article Cherlyn, and a far cry from where you used to live here in Tucson.
Be safe and keep writing!
August 22nd, 2010 on 11:53 am
Thanks Carolyn! I miss the neighborhood, but love the forest, even with the inconveniences. If things escalate, I might be back!
August 22nd, 2010 on 9:11 am
Yes, I agree, a very descriptive and colorful exposition of the conditions under which you presently live.
This particular point is confusing to me, though: “The activists cite the law to make sure that racial profiling doesn’t happen, due to ethnicity. Yet, they disregard the border laws in place, in defense of people here illegally, due to the ethnicity of the illegals. This ability to twist the law to one’s liking tells me that we need to improve the laws”.
I can’t speak for all activists in this matter. Further, as per usual, I feel constricted to keep my arguments within the context of bourgeois democracy in response(and so I will). With this in mind and speaking only for myself, this activist takes issue with both current immigration law and SB1070. I am not ignoring one or the other in support of my position. Your point, if I read you correctly, seems to be to argue that SB1070 is a necessary evil; necessary to uphold current immigration law and border security. And, there seems to be an underlying attribution of sacredness to ”The Law”; a belief that, were those laws fully enforced, your situation would be improved. I hold that both set of laws are faulty and both aggravate rather than alleviate the conditions under which you presently live.
August 22nd, 2010 on 12:06 pm
Actually what you are seeking clarification about, is the fact that I am a Mexican-American woman who is pulled over and checked out constantly. I am not crying racism, since I know that there is a very real problem on the border and it is much better if I cooperate rather than cause a fuss. The Border Patrol is probably baffled about why I moved down here. Unless they read the article, they are clueless. They haven’t asked, I haven’t told.
The illegals do not live south of the checkpoint 80 miles north and don’t come back down this way. They would have to state their citizenship at the checkpoint on the way back to the north, unless they walk around it. All along the border, we do not have the same “right” to not have to prove our citizenship and we live in the United States. Where’s the “equal rights” here?
You are welcome to your view of the law or your desire for the lack of law. Some of those crossers could qualify for refugee status if they knew how to get around that. However, many don’t even know which way is north when they are dumped over the US side of the line.
We have to state our citizenship and sometimes be asked for additional documentation or searched to just go to Tucson. I see no one fighting for our plight. We simply cooperate. So, my view of SB1070, it’s happening down here south of the checkpoints already and has been for a very long time. Of course, mostly in the form of Federal enforcement that has been in place for a very long time.
August 22nd, 2010 on 12:26 pm
Actually, a clarification, I personally know of persons who live south of the checkpoints who crossed into the states improperly. They choose to live life confined to the band of land between the border and the checkpoints. I also know some who made it north into Tucson and beyond, but will never come down here to visit me, due to the checkpoints.
August 22nd, 2010 on 9:28 am
Americans do tend to look to the law for answers. Particularly, in times of crisis, we tend to ask ourselves why the “law” isn’t working to provide the peace and tranquility we expect to come from a “nation built on laws”. This kind of collective cognitive dissonance causes us great distress. I think we have to look deeper for answers sometimes. Some things trump the law. International trade in agricultural products such as corn and marijuana trump the law because profit trumps both legality and humane considerations. People exiled from their livelihoods and desperate to provide for their families will ignore the law, as survival trumps legality. Great poverty and violence trump the law. The law is an abstract, rigid and human (thus fallible) construction. The conditions in the borderlands are not abstract, they are real and they are very mutable. I don’t think this continual harping on what is written down in the law and failing to look outside the context of more and greater enforcement efforts is going to bring relief to anyone; not for the migrants and not for the residents of the area.
August 22nd, 2010 on 12:44 pm
From what I’ve read in your comments on other posts, you would like to see the legalization of drugs. From what I and others experience, it is not the marijuana and cocaine sprouting feet that destroy and steal property. it is the human commodity of the cartels causing most of the damage. The illegals pay $1,500 to $2,500 a piece to be brought into the United states. This is profit that the cartels keep, regardless of whether the human commodity successfully crosses, is apprehended, or dies on the journey. If the pot or cocaine they bring over is confiscated, then that profit is lost. So, these crossers are extremely valuable to the cartels. The crossers very much contribute to the drug problem, whether they use the drugs, whether they carry the drugs in exchange for a free escort into the state. Just by giving that money to the drug cartel, even if they don’t have anything to do with the drugs, they also support the cartels.
Three Sonorans, my fellow blogger, says that he is not fighting for the crossers who come over via the cartels. He says he provides a voice to those who overstay their visas or crossed over long ago, long enough to be settled in a location and have contributed to society. Think of the manpower that would go into investigating the manner in which someone entered the United States. That’s not going to happen.
I agree that my “harping” over the way life is supposed to be based on following “law” is a moot point. The laws allow for too much twisting and they aren’t adhered to anyway by those who choose to be outlaws.
August 23rd, 2010 on 8:01 pm
…Well said, leftfield.
August 23rd, 2010 on 8:18 pm
Ron, do you live in a border region?
August 22nd, 2010 on 11:28 am
Good article. If the outcry is “secure the border”, how would you suggest the government do this in your area? There seem to be plenty of border patrol agents in your area, but they can’t cover every foot of the border. Can “the dang fence” be built where you are? And if it is built, couldn’t Mexicans climb over it or under it if border patrol agents are not lined up foot by foot along the border? Should the forests be defoliated so border-crossers can’t hide? As you are on the front line, what would you tell the government to do to secure the border?
August 22nd, 2010 on 11:48 am
Thank you.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. They will scale over or tunnel under any fence. I think it is possible to build a fence, but it would be costly and likely ineffective. I don’t want to have a “war zone” with military all over the place either. Like I said, I am tolerating the inconveniences because I choose to, but most people don’t know about the inconveniences. I thought I’d share. For me, it has not escalated to the point of what the ranchers in Douglas put up with. I hope it does not.
Nope, the forests should not be defoliated. The crossers are doing enough of that by disrupting the environment throughout the forest, as well as occasionally starting forest fires as a diversion.
I don’t know what it would take to “secure the border”. I am not convinced that it will be possible to ever secure a border. If I had a solution, I would have offered it. If I come up with a bright idea, I’ll get back to you.
August 22nd, 2010 on 8:56 pm
So what do you think of all the people who say “the federal government isn’t doing its job!”? There are more border patrol agents are on the job than ever before. More technology is being used than ever before. But you who are on the border say that it can’t be completely sealed.
Perhaps if people who are coming to the US for work could get temporary work papers, the only ones crossing illegally would be drug runners – and the border patrol could be given permission to shoot to kill. But this requires comprehensive immigration reform which can’t be done (according to those making the most noise) until the border is secure. Sounds like a losing battle all the way around.
August 22nd, 2010 on 9:39 pm
I think that the federal government is turning a blind eye. The only times politicians cause a ruckus about the border is during election time. In the meantime, Napolitano states: “The border is safe as it’s ever been”. You mentioned: “There are more border patrol agents are on the job than ever before”, “More technology is being used than ever before”.
Yes, we’ve heard all that. I’m thankful for the heavy Border Patrol presence in my area, even though they don’t recognize me as a resident. On the other hand, I hear that Cochise County sometimes doesn’t see an agent for miles. There is a total lack of consistency.
This is the exact same thing border residents went through five years ago when Governor Napolitano declared a state of emergency at the border in 2005. Napolitano asserts that sending the National Guard for the two years, and increasing agents and technology has decreased the “numbers”. GREAT! However, the numbers have not decreased enough to protect all citizens on the border.
Someone presented me with a “buffer zone” suggestion. The government tosses all civilians out and creates a buffer zone for the entire length. That way, they can fight the smugglers in the buffer zone. My problem with that is that the “border” simply moves further north, then the residents in those areas past the buffer zone can deal being on the front lines for a while.
I also heard that we should invade Mexico. I don’t agree with an invasion, but am thinking that perhaps they need more help in their drug war.
The problem is the cartels, it looks like Mexico’s military is losing against the cartels. We’ve gotten involved in the war/business of other countries before, so that’s a possibility. I don’t know, but nothing else seems to have worked so far.
I’m sure even that, as a thought, is going to tick someone off.
I can sit here and come up with tons of ideas, but the ball is in the court of the Obama Administration. With whatever they’ve got in mind, I hope that things don’t end up coming full circle again, like they have since 2005.
August 23rd, 2010 on 1:53 am
Well written article!! Thank you for your courageous stand and guts. We need a few brigades of US troops here.
August 23rd, 2010 on 7:07 am
Thank you!
August 23rd, 2010 on 10:21 am
Thank you Cheryl for an informative article. I appreciate your insight and background into this border area we all are concerned about. Keep up the good work, and stay safe!
August 23rd, 2010 on 12:49 pm
Thank you! We will stay safe. I feel for the other areas that have it much worse. We are currently trying to get cell service in the area, if a cell phone provider will help us out!
August 23rd, 2010 on 2:40 pm
Tomorrow Arizonans will be going to the poll to vote in the primary. I hope they remember the most important battle America faces is the one against the illegal invasion. I know it is very hard to pick out the liars from the true Patriots, but keep this in mind: If Americans were to establish a memorial to honor innocent men, women and children who have lost their life on American soil at the hands of illegal invaders just since 9/11/2001, the names would exceed those on the Vietnam Memorial. Yeah…that’s right. There would be more than 59,000 names. If that remark didn’t sink in…then read it again. This fact didn’t seem to bother Arizona’s career politician, John McCain…that is of course until this election. In fact he even tried to help the Progressive Ted Kennedy, LaRazza, the ACLU, and 40 Mexican Consulates in 2007 by entering a backroom to write legislation to foist 15 to 20 million Marxist voters into our midst. I hope Arizona realizes that voting for John McCain giving him a fifth term will only generate more of what you have experienced in the past. He and Lindsay Graham have no problem in making promises they have no intention of keeping. Send this pro-NAFTA, pro-CAFTA, pro-NAU, pro-opened border liar packing. We have lost generations of our youth to drugs that flow from the southern border. While our soldiers are in the Middle East fighting for only God knows what, our own government has unleashed barbaric savages upon America’s once civilized communities. Americans who have lived under the rule of law for centuries have no idea how to handle the degree of shocking crimes that is now a part of every day life as our streets and cities become home to Mexico’s drug cartels and their “mules” aka, illegal immigrants who serve as their lookout and infrastructure. VOTE FOR J.D. HAYWORTH and give him at least 1 term to see if he can’t do better. Look around you. I don’t think it could be worse.
August 23rd, 2010 on 3:28 pm
Look around you. I don’t think it could be worse.
Looking around, it seems we are living in different countries. No invasion or invaders here, quite peaceful, and a lot of important things like unemployment to think about.
Not hysteria.
August 23rd, 2010 on 5:08 pm
Excellent article Cherlyn. Very well written- like a riveting NYT bestseller except- yikes -it’s all real. Is there a way you can keep us current on your border experiences as they develope- Facebook , blog site, etc?
August 23rd, 2010 on 5:21 pm
Thank you, Rick. I’ll see about having a blog set up here on the Citizen for that purpose. I am a hermit lately, so I don’t know if I would make daily posts, maybe a couple times a week. Unless I have more to say, which is entirely possible.
August 23rd, 2010 on 5:12 pm
Just in case anyone is interested, this is a blog entry and a short video clip that Maddow’s people posted when they visited the border for a few hours in Nogales (they saw agents everywhere while visiting downtown Nogales). They did find some time to be taken to a section of the fence where it is interrupted by a wash…:
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/08/11/4868171-where-the-border-fence-ends
Then, it was off to Tucson to the Congress Hotel for drinks, arriving at 5:30ish that same day. I wonder how long they were at the bar versus the border? There are certainly many more videos to document the great time they had at the bar!
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/08/11/4868469-how-we-fell-in-love-with-tucson
Based on this visit, Rachel’s scout says:
“The charge that Arizona had to pass an anti-immigration bill because the federal government isn’t enforcing the border proves patently ridiculous once you go down there and take a look.”
August 24th, 2010 on 6:57 am
Good read! I suggest a book called \The Reaper’s Line\, by Lee Morgan, retired Border Patrol Agent mostly working the Douglas area for about 30 years. I live about half time in Puerto Penasco/Rocky Point in Sonoro, exactly 212 miles from Tucson and PHX, each. Most of you know the town. I travel to PHX or Tucson frequently with family or alone, and I do so at all times the border is open (it’s only closed midnight to 6 am). Many times, when alone in my truck or in a large van we use for Costco runs, I am profiled and pulled over. Sometimes they say \your van just looked a bit heavy\. I don’t care and know it can happen. One time I had the sleepies, so pulled onto a dirt road near Sells. I was awakened by a Border Patrol Agent who told me I was breaking a regulation (law?) for hanging out in what he called \A Restricted Zone\. I said \a what? Would it have been good for me to drive when I desparately felt sleep coming on\? He said I needed to leave the area, and suggested I resume my nap about 10 miles up the road in Sells. Anyway. I feel that much of the media does not understand anything, and they report from towers in New York. I feel safe in Mexico and in my travels. The local town of Rocky Point is suffering greatly as people are afraid to simply do what they used to do – - pack their icechests, dogs, and swim trunks and head south.
August 24th, 2010 on 9:47 am
I will certainly check out that book. Many people don’t realize that in the border region, we do live under Federal enforcement of the immigration laws. We are pulled over more frequently, due to where we live. People who travel through the area get to experience being profiled and pulled over., but those who have never been here believe that it is a violation of their rights that they would actually be pulled over (if they aren’t speeding or breaking any laws). I do feel safe where I live, due to the federal enforcement, Border Patrol agents. I just have to put up with inconveniences that others who have never been here, may not know about. I wasn’t trying to make a point on immigration issues, it was just what it looks like, a look at my life in the area.
August 24th, 2010 on 12:52 pm
You can see details on that book by simply googling the title online. Watch out for the language – - the author tells it like it is or was for him, trying to build cases and arrest/convict drug traffic people. The corruption occurs on both sides of the border and convictions on cases according to the author are extremenly difficult to achieve. As to travel and Mexico border towns though, I feel really bad for the locals who remain in Mexico and suffer from the bad media. Investors from Canada or the states who see values drop like a rock in less than one year. Tourists from Arizona (mostly) who headed south a time or two each year to rent a home on the beach of Puerto Penasco are now afraid of doing so. Their kids or grandchildren are missing out because nothing has really changed. The ocean and beaches are still fantastic!! The economy, of course, is a problem, as is the news as related to illegals being smuggled in and the drug wars. The US needs to get on this as the fall out is affecting the ecomony in AZ like a nuclear blast! Control the borders now! Americans need to have the perspective you do, which is that we all have to put up with some inconveniences in order to get things back to a level of confidence where border residents or vehicular travelers feel safe. Iand all the friends I know with homes in Rocky Point feel safe. Many renters or tourists though are steering very clear. S Spackman
August 24th, 2010 on 1:24 pm
Agreed. My aunt owns a home in Rocky Point and feels safe when she goes to stay there several times a year. Mexico’s situation reflects the border problem. The problems exist in regions and not in the entire country of Mexico. The border problem is in certain regions that shift, as well. I guess you can say the same thing about where I live. It is safe, but there are places that you just don’t go in the area, knowing that there is activity there. It might spill over to my front door. It might not. I have been frustrated over the media coverage, especially Maddow’s declaration that the border is safe, based on the one visit made to Nogales. Nogales is a safe city. Tucson’s murder rate is terrifying in comparison to Nogales where murders are rare. Yet, things go on in certain areas on the outskirts of Nogales. Also, the media’s pushing of numbers that say that the border numbers are down, based on numbers that can’t be proven as accurate. So, I’ve been posting on those numbers related items in the news, just to make a point that you can’t really count on the numbers. It’s really complex. My week long look at the border might be coming to a close and I’ll get back to my regular topic.
August 24th, 2010 on 2:22 pm
Of course, as soon as I say that, my dad forwards this from Arizona Daily Star: http://azstarnet.com/news/blogs/senor-reporter/article_78d0fd96-afaf-11df-94b9-001cc4c002e0.html
Isolated incident, I guess?
August 29th, 2010 on 11:15 am
Great article Cherlyn. We have to have lunch soon!
August 29th, 2010 on 12:40 pm
Absolutely!
August 29th, 2010 on 8:01 pm
On any evening you can walk out your door, feel the cool breeze that knows no border, gaze at stars that don’t stop at the fence. In the morning you can watch the wild life that still survives despite what the walls have done to them and forget that you live in a Police State? Good for you.
I could take issue with plenty in this article. For one thing, you seem to regard Maddow as all media. What about the distorted views of most local and National media? Beheadings anyone? Terrorists crossing our AZ Borders? Muslim prayer rugs found as reported on Fox News? Ask your local BP how much of that is real. Maddow was every bit as right as she was wrong. Thats more then I can say for most of the other Border media coverage.
Yes-there is crime and danger. You explained that very well. But how many times have we heard about one white rancher’s unsolved death exploited for political gain while hate crimes involving murder are mostly ignored by local media and completely ignored by those politicians pushing more border militarization?
You seem to disregard the fact that you are on stolen land regardless of your cash deposit. So was your great grand daddy. Spare me the Legality issue of current laws and a broken immigration system. Did he have all of his cattle stolen and was he then forced onto a reservation on the roughest, most uninhabitable areas to survive? Nope. Where Damns constructed so the White town folks could have water thus destroying his hunting and fishing rights? Did he pay some price for free land given to him because he was white and not “Apache” as you call them?
You cannot deny or try to rewrite history to suit a white mans world regardless of your mixed heritage. (actually you can. You just did.) While I may have just offended you and your image of your Great grand father, many are offended by Native land stolen, sacred land desecrated. Think about it. When we acknowledge the sins of our fathers, we grow as people. You seem to be holding back a bit.
Show some respect. We are all illegals somewhere and sometime in our lives. Stealing is wrong regardless of when it was done. Until we come to grips with these facts we will continue to build a false economy with no community around militarizing the border. You may like living in a Police State, others find it offensive and unacceptable. Whatever your views are-it’s not sustainable.
Where you really safer in Tucson? Am I safer in S. Scottsdale or do we just feel that way? Murders take place every week just miles from my home and crime is very low. Don’t forget for one minute that the U.S.A. is only 5% of the worlds population yet consumes 75% of all drugs. It’s our demand and our laws that make your life scary. Don’t forget that the weapons used by those Cartels are purchased right here and profit our firearm industry. Don’t forget that we didn’t have deadly human smuggling Cartels until we decided to militarize the border instead of fixing a broken immigration system that would’ve been beneficial to both Mexico and the U.S. economically and morally. You are writer and an ok one at that. Don’t forget to honor real history and have some respect for those that once migrated freely. If you come to terms with that, you will find much peace and harmony where you live and wont need that police state you seem to accept way too easily for a writer. If you don’t my guess is you will eventually be haunted where you are by the Ghosts of those before you and forced to accept a right wing agenda of madness that many others in this State have so freely accepted under the guise of Security.
August 30th, 2010 on 7:02 am
Actually, while I do single out Maddow as an example, I also state that pretty much all media reporting is skewed one way or another. How is Maddow proving that there’s no problem at the border by sending her scouts to the Port of Entry? Sure, I could have gone on and provided examples of every single member of the media providing false information, but I was not writing a book. I expected more from Maddow and there is no point to be proven by going to the Port of Entry in downtown Nogales.
Politicians do use the border residents during their elections. Once the elections are over, there won’t be much else heard about the border residents. This happened in 2005 when then-Governor Napolitano declared a state of emergency prior to elections and put the National Guard at the border. Gov. Bill Richardson followed suit did the same thing for New Mexico. Both claimed it wasn’t political, but it sure looks like it. This is all nothing new.
If you want to get technical about it we are ALL on stolen land, not just me. I did hold back on my opinion and stated facts so that it did not become a piece for the left or the right to hold up as an example for either side. The media does enough of forming opinions for people. I wished for people to form their own opinions over it.
Yes, I do feel safe with the Border Patrol presence and do heed their advice to avoid certain areas. The murder rate in this county is low and makes Tucson look terrifying in comparison. So, if you compare numbers, yes, I am in a safer area than I was living. I also have the Border Patrol all over the area. I cannot predict how life would change here if they were gone, for better or for worse. I would like them gone, personally, since they do stop and search me and raise a ton of dust when they drive by. However, until the immigration issue is addressed and fixed, they will stay.
I certainly don’t want to repeat history with militarization of the border and do state that rather clearly.
I have peace and harmony with the hummingbirds and other wildlife. I do step outside at night and early in the morning to take it all in. Sometimes, I take the laptop outside and write out there.
Also, what is this with the “white man’s guilt”? Why keep harping on the past? What’s done is done, and unless you have some time machine, we cannot go back and honor the Native Americans in the way that they deserve to be honored. One of the points to this article is that history seems to be repeating itself and that unless we move on and do something different, it will keep on repeating itself. The fact is that TODAY, the land belongs on the United States side of the border, regardless of who owned it in the past. As long as we keep looking back, we will NEVER move forward.
I am not right wing. I am not left wing. I agree with some points on both sides and sometimes don’t agree with either side. Too bad there has to be sides. I wanted to honor my ancestor and live where he did, land stealer or not, he is still my great great grandfather. Perhaps someday if I have money, I’ll go live in Scotland for a while. Maybe someday, I’ll honor the Mexican side of the family and live in Mexico. My great great grandmother was actually part Mayo Indian from Mexico, but I referred to her as Mexican, because that’s where she lived – Mexico.
Where did I say I liked living in a police state? I said that despite the lack of government delivery of the mail, coupled with being pulled over by the Feds/Border Patrol all the time, I love it here. This is due to the beauty of the area. Nice that you read into it that I enjoy that!
August 30th, 2010 on 10:04 am
WOW! Loved your article! So enjoyed reading it from the perspective of someone who’s living it. Thank you!
August 30th, 2010 on 1:48 pm
Thank you for reading and for providing feedback!
September 14th, 2010 on 10:22 am
Hi Cherlyn
Great article. I am a producer on a documentary we’re in Arizona filming called Reasonable Suspicion. We are doing a border tour next month and would love to meet you on the tour. Please contact me at robinsonomnimedia@gmail.com to converse. Thanks!
Tracy Worchoski
ReasonableSuspicionMovie.com