Postcard from the Edge…

Recently, I had a unique opportunity while out on the West Coast.  I had a chance to see the US/Mexico Border up close and personal.  The experience really opened my eyes to the complicated relationship we have with our southern neighbor… A relationship that could become even more complicated if a certain Presidential candidate were to become the 45th President of the United States.

While I won’t get into too many details about the time I spent along our southern edge, I will say the relationship between the two countries is not one-way.  I saw just as many people crossing into Mexico for goods and business as I saw people crossing into the US for similar reasons.  I did not interact with these travelers; merely I observed the comings and goings of daily life along this narrow line.  It is a relationship that even the most observant people cannot fully explain.

Like it or not, Mexican culture is prevalent across a huge part of the American Southwest.  It’s been that way since the 1840s , when the US and Mexico fought a war that initially started over the land claims of the newly acquired Texas territory, and ended with the US claiming what would eventually become the states of California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, and portions of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.  It can be difficult at times to determine who is native to the area and who has migrated up from the south.  Going through Old Town San Diego was an example of this.  There was a lot of Mexican heritage seen in the area in the form of restaurants, art, music, and culture.  And it’s not just San Diego as Mexican culture is clearly evident up the California coastline.

Now, from where I was, there was a fence separating the two nations.  I do not know when that fence was built, but you could clearly see it on Interstate 5 South several miles before you reached the border. You could clearly see the city of Tijuana even before you can make the outline of the fence. But the fence is visible… a clear dividing line.

Are there issues in Mexico?  Certainly.  Rival drug gangs are committing violence along the border.  The things I heard were very shocking and sobering.  And yet, many Americans will cross gladly into places like Tijuana for fun, for adventure, for medical reasons… And some Americans have decided to settle down and live their remaining years south of the border.  Like I said, the issues between the United States and Mexico are not simple.

A ten foot high fence does not and will not stop the two-way traffic between the two nations, whether people cross into this country through legal means or non-legal ones.  Neither will a 35-foot wall (or higher wall) across the entire southern border do anything to stem the flow.  You can always find a big enough ladder, or a longer rope to get over.  You can go under the above ground obstructions by digging tunnels.  Or you can manage to sneak past the checkpoints if you have the means to do so.  To think a wall will protect your job or your life from southern non-legal incursions is simple-minded and unrealistic.  That is reality.  All building a 35-foot wall will do is strain relations between neighbors on the continent.  I’m not saying the border should be open like it is with our neighbors to the north.  However, what Trump is proposing will do little to change the flow, and may instead backfire on the US if things “go south”, if you pardon the pun.

For now, I am grateful for my time visiting our southernmost limits.  Big picture perspective helps keep me grounded and forces me to confront my own heretofore ignorant observations.  I am more knowledgeable now than I was this time last week.  That is always a good thing.