_____________________________________________
We received a missive from El Zorro who is having the joys of dealing with Agent Orange overdoses during two tours in a place called Vietnam. He has been resting up and feeling useless, so he caught us up on the comings and goings. Most of the information was private medical stuff, but then he went on to cover his most recent outing with his wife:
Yesterday, xxxxxxx and I went to Jack County where xxxxx have 360 acres and about 30 head of longhorn cattle. I took one of my newest acquisitions, a WWII M1 Garand I purchased at an online auction. A younger couple we know were spending the weekend at the ranch and the fellow who is just getting started collecting wanted to see the rifle. (you might like to see some of his and his wife’s work at Goode Photography on Facebook.)
We had several other collector war surplus rifles we were sighting in and generally making a lot of noise and the subject, between rounds of making brass, got around to McAllen and the border issues. Back in the day, I had a British Enfield 303 that you and I used to take with us as well as your SW 38 spl w/6 inch barrel (if I remember correctly) when we toured the river. I especially remember the nights we heard voices, in Spanish, e.g. “Ven p’ca, silencio hombres” etc. Also there were gun shots, not ours. All the regular paths leading up to from the south and on from the river heading north where the illegals and drug runners used to cross were everywhere.
And we were approached by Border Patrol and Fish and Game officials regularly. It was a cacophony of activity even that long ago. Unfortunately, as I discussed the situation with xxxxx, he said, “It’s not my problem. I’ll be gone before it affects me.” And, unfortunately that is the problem with most of the legal population. A “comprehensive” plan is the most ridiculous idea of all. We do not have any direction for this problem.(emphasis underlining from El Gringo Viejo) There are no adults in the room.
I am in agreement that the border needs to be enforced because without a border there is not a country. However, we can have a reasonable solution and it is really simple. Work with the Mexican Government, and I think it is possible, to enforce immigration both ways at the organized crossings and use police and military to catch and prosecute criminals by the law in the long stretches of unpopulated land. We have the technology to locate and assist in apprehension. Satellite, drone, camera fitted aircraft, ground radar, etc. is all available and used together should be able to catch 90% of the illegals. Then there has to be a program of identification and processing each individual to determine penalty or return and, in some instances possibly, release. Use extradition as necessary and reinstitute the Bracero program all along the border. In other words, respect the Mexican government and work together to enforce the laws we have and institute international policies as necessary on both sides of the border to enhance elimination of illegal crossings. If Mexico needs assistance at their southern border and along the coast, that would not be a waste of foreign aid.
A serious campaign of information to the rest of the world that “We will catch you, you cannot stay, and there is no free stuff here for you here. You will be dealt with.” Employers who hire illegals will be prosecuted. Individuals who harbor illegals will be prosecuted. Those who are already here illegally cannot be immediately rounded up but as they come in contact with the authorities, they could and would be dealt with at that time. They will be subjugated to the “shadows” that do not exist today. Common sense can go a long way toward a solution. There may never be a perfect one but getting rid of the political hacks that are not interested in solving the problem is, and should be, the number one priority.
Why is this so difficult (rhetorical)? We need conservative leadership in November.
Your blog is much appreciated. I just wish there was a way to get it out to more readers, not in disregard of your other excellent articles and observations, especially your business activities at your southern home.
Give Diana my best.
While some folks might scoff about the idea of the Mexican governmental authority being a worthy adjunct to any activity such as control of the border, there are a few surprises (for most folks) that would back up El Zorro's point. For one, the Mexican record on extradition of Mexicans wanted for crimes in the United States, starting in about the year 1997, began to change radically in terms of extradition. They began to move with increasing efficiency and rapidity concerning these matters. In these days, compliance with a request for extradition is commonplace to the point of not being comment-worthy. Also, during the Bush administration, Mexican military co-ordination with American police agencies concerning trafficking of minors and drug cartel activity moved very close to a "hand in glove" relationship. Obama's relationship with Mexico is very much like his handling of the Muslim Brotherhood vs. The Egyptian Military situation. In other words, "If you Mexicans aren't going to elect a marxist (Lopez Obrador) or a Muslim extremist, I really don't see any need to talk about much".
The American Right dismisses and oversimplifies the Mexican issue at its own peril. Many speak with great authority without having any understanding of the past or present of Mexico. Louie Gohmer...one of my guys....made a typical misstatement when he pointed out that Woodrow Wilson flooded the border with troops in the Lower Rio Grande Valley to fight off Pancho Villa. Wilson did not understand things well either, but he sent over 100,000 mounted cavalry and infantry into the McAllen area in the 1915 - 1916 period because of depredations committed by primarily Venustiano Carranza's troops and deserters, and agent provocateurs.
Carranza was essentially a tyrant with communist leanings. He was also an arch-enemy of Pancho Villa. Carranza conducted many assaults on American soil even as President of Mexico during the World War I period. Villa's most famous assault on anything American was the Columbus, New Mexico attack, after Wilson demonically changed American loyalty from Villa to Carranza after Villa had supported American interests, somewhat clumsily, much moreso than Carranza. Many students of the Columbus event think to this day the Columbus attack was a sham conducted by Carranza to defame his greatest detractor, Villa.
This diversion from the issue is placed to show how complicated the Mexican issue was, is, and forever will be. It is not a game Obama, for instance, can play well even to his own ends. His dealings with Mexico and Central America will wind up looking something like his backing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and his "line in the sand" positions against Assad in Syria.
And we should include his abrupt departure from Iraq....and his naming of the time, place, minute, hour, day, month, and year of our departure from Afghanistan.
So, what many might even want to dismiss as folly that....the development of a working relationship with Mexico concerning the imperative of the United States having control over who comes in and who is prevented from coming in to the country....can be achieved. Anyone who believes to the contrary overlooks various periods when the frontier had relative to total order. Even to-day, over 99% of the crossings into and out of the United States by Mexicans and Canadians number in the millions weekly. So, it can be done. The root of the problem now is the notion that we must "do something" about immigration reform. The answer is to seal the border....permit no ingress or egress save at official ports of entry....allow only people with correct documentation to come and go. It is what Mexico should and must do at their southern border with Belize and Guatemala, tout suite!
El Zorro and I have a lot of common experiences, common notions about this issue. But, be certain. No one has the right to simply barge into the kitchen without being given the right to enter the home. If Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala do not and can not provide a theatre upon which their citizens can prosper and have some reasonable degree of public tranquillity, it is not incumbent upon us to provide it. Were we to go there and impose such a thing, we would certainly be called invaders imposing our exploitation and subjugation upon the people. Obama is a demonic instrument for using this old tactic, so injurious both to the Central Americans and to the Americans....and especially to the Texians.
More later
El Gringo Viejo
__________________________________________
389 Comments 
