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Nogales is half sleepy town, half industrial city. Prior to the Battle of Both Nogales (Battle of Ambros Nogales) in 1918, International Street ran straight down the center. Today, there is little on the US side: a few hotels, restaurants, and gas stations pretty much describe the town. On the Sonora side, it’s a hopping working-class city. I spent a lot of time there when Trump was running to be 45.
I was helping a company start up a new plant. Crime was rampant. One week after I came home, there was a story on the news about ten bodies found lined up on a street in Nogales. My wife wasn’t happy about me being there. You do what you have to do to make a living. A rule of thumb was that if you weren’t in the drug trade, you probably wouldn’t be killed.
I had a simple routine. I stayed at a nice golf course north of Nogales in Rio Rico throughout the trip. I would drive to McDonald's for a coffee and breakfast burrito every morning. They were $1 then, and always double-stuffed compared to what you get here. I’d park in the daily parking lot next to the fence and walk across the border. Only one time did a Mexican border guard ask me anything. I would walk into the immigration office and pay $40 for a work permit if I needed to. From there, I would walk another 100 feet to the street corner where someone from the company would be waiting to pick me up. I would repeat this routine daily.
This routine on the first day of a trip was the most dangerous for me. Just by my looks and with a computer slung over my shoulder, I was clearly a controls guy (i.e., cartel bait). I didn’t trust the border officers all around me. I assumed they were just another part of the cartel. I would leave my PPE and laptop in Mexico all week.
Today there is a story on Fox News, Mexican border town sees fewer crossing attempts, deportations than expected under Trump. It reminded me of my friend (Juan) in Mexico. We would go out to lunch and lazily ride around town burning the lunch hour.
Living in Massachusetts, I stay away from politics by default, so he had to bring up Trump. Juan asked something about Trump’s statement that Mexico is dumping all its garbage over the border. It was some Trumpism referring to all the illegals coming into our country. I said to myself, "Oh, boy. Here we go."
But his five-minute rant blew me away. He asked where he could contribute to help build the wall. All these Mexican dirtbags, and who knows who else, come up from the south. They break into our cars. They steal anything they can before jumping the fence. We just want to live and work like anyone else. He was shaking mad; I could tell it had been building for a while.
I once took a picture of a billboard just a few feet over the fence. It was a picture of Obama in a lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck. It said, “Got Your Obamacare Yet?”
Maybe with the border closed to illegals, Nogales and the rest of the border towns can become nice cities. It’s just better for all of us. Now, if we can stop the drugs coming across, that would be great! Just a request.
Discussion (11)
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During my years working in Rochester, NY and living in a northeast area suburb thereof, large parts of the northeast part of Rochester had the most violence, drug, and gang activity. But I figured out if I drove through only during daylight hours, and stayed away from drug dealing, there would be no problems. The problems tended to exist entirely during the warmer weather months between 9 pm (dusk) and 2 or 3 am, when I was safely tucked away in my suburban house. [I was always amazed when some child bystander was hurt or killed by gunfire between gang members, that said child was on a street corner at hours like 11 pm or 1 am.]
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For one year I worked for Zeller Corp. in Rochester. I hated the half dozen times I had to go there. Nogales does remind me of Rochester now that you mention it.
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This post sounds about right. Some years ago I spent time in west Texas. Some parallels. I got along well with some local Texans of Germanic derivation that opened up to me about the border issues and apparent drug trafficking. I was told of instances of suspected cartel personnel using Texas farmers' land and larger land owners for staging areas or storage. It wasn't done some much with the landowners consent. It was more of a situation where the cartels say: "we're going to use this area, don't be too curious. As long as you keep quiet and don't make a stink all will be well. But if you cause problems or go to the authorities it will be an 'OR ELSE'". So with not necessarily having any confidence in the authorities to protect them in rural exposed areas most land owners simply turned a blind eye. Who knows if Federal authorities would be assertive in their actions in law enforcement. But the cartel seemed to have zero issues in coming to and from the area.
I also heard of odd experiences people had in south Texas in the Eagle vicinity. People driving in rural areas and stopping at a gate to open in order to pass and then suddenly be approached by a stranger etc.
Basically I think much of the US population is ignorant of the issues at the border and doesn't get the information from media. Other liberal of Progressive types might just be in denial. But it is certainly strange that the USA as a country doesn't take boarder security and protect of domestic citizens more seriously. We talk a lot in the media about groups in the Middle East and Afghanistan, but the cartels are truly vicious organizations that destabilize functioning Mexican government. They also contribute to crime and social problems in the USA.
It is also true that a certain portion of the US population fuels the cartels business with demand for drugs and cheap black market labor. So cutting down on the demand side is important to mitigate the problem. One solution that may be unpopular, but I think is necessary: draconian penalties for drug dealers with mandatory sentences that can't be plea bargained away. Also, drug testing required to receive tax payer funded social welfare benefits and eligibility to receive federal loans. This would suppress demand I think.
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Imagine a world where you didn't have any organized crime. Few even think about it.
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As long as there are people they will organize and there will be crime. Why think about a fairy tale world?
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