Distance from the border equals ignorance of the border
If you have driven to or from San Diego in the last couple of months, you have seen construction on Interstate 8 just west of the Buckman Springs rest area. The Border Patrol is building Our Lady of the Border, or so it appears, to add on to the inspection station up the mountain from the current temporary one. It is not a new project so don’t blame the Trump Administration.
The budgeting and planning began under President Obama. Indeed, an online search yielded a 2012 “Environmental Assessment” for the improvements at the I-8 checkpoint. U.S. Customs and Border Protection complied with environmental restrictions and received the green light for construction. The purpose of the inspection stations’ expansion on I-8 and Old Highway 80 is to provide all weather protection so the stations can remain open during inclement weather.
I have been at the west bound I-8 inspection stop during rain, sleet, high winds and searing heat. It can be uncomfortable to be standing out there inspecting cars so the response is often to close the inspection stations during nasty weather. The construction of sheltered areas will enable weatherproof inspection. There will also be considerably more lighting, covered lifts for car searches and administrative facilities. I couldn’t find how much this will cost, but the Border Patrol budget has been increasing despite sharply declining cross-border apprehensions.
According to the San Diego Union Tribune, people caught illegally crossing the Southwest border fell to a 17-year low in March 2017. March arrests were down to 12,500 according to that UT article. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelley crows that the lower number of arrests are due to President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Others who study the border over long periods of time point out that illegal immigration has been declining steadily for years. Much of this is due to the economic recession of 2008 which froze the U.S. economy and thus hiring. Also, the Mexican economy has been growing in recent years canceling the need to migrate for many since employment opportunities have increased in Mexico. No doubt President Trump’s rhetoric has scared many potential immigrants although most of his administrative changes, including building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, have not yet been realized.
However, President Trump has proposed a 7 percent increase for the Department of Homeland Security budget in fiscal year 2018 which begins in September. This includes $2.6 billion for a border wall and enhanced “border security technology.” The DHS increase also includes $314 million to hire 500 new Border Patrol agents according to Voice of America News. Subsequently, BP officials have announced the discontinuance of polygraph tests for new hires since many recruits were, well, failing. I cannot see how this will enhance the quality of agent hires. For the most part, I am treated respectfully by BP agents at checkpoints from San Diego to east of Yuma, but not always. Most hires are not from the Southwest, don’t understand border bi-culturalism, and, at times, unnecessarily brandish weapons. Primarily, I don’t enjoy being treated as a suspect at inspection stops.
Washington, D.C. is very distant in space and thinking from the Southwest border. For this reason, I wish President Trump and DHS Secretary Kelley could have been at the Calexico Unified School District Employee Recognition Ceremony last week. They might have recalibrated their view of the border as a dangerous place in need of a wall and more security. During President Trump’s visit to Mexico last year, he did note that there are 1 million legal daily crossings of the Southwest border. I’d like to hear more of that. I’d like Trump administration officials to witness the strength of local communities along the border. To see, for example, the dedication of employees who have worked for Calexico schools for 10 to 35 years. To meet border residents with families and careers that straddle both sides of the border.
Enough with the “bad hombres.” Meet some of the dedicated locals and invest U.S. dollars into improving local schools and commerce instead of more layers of security.