My friend Maggie has a brother who lives in Juarez, married to a woman whose family has lived there for many years.  They had a very good life up until the past few years.  The problem with all the anti-immigration hype is the fact that Mexico has many social classes have been completely obscured.  Once upon a time, life in Juarez was good.  

When I moved to New Mexico a decade ago, it was nothing for someone to go to Juarez for a day trip shopping, to the dentist, to purchase eye glasses, or to a pharmacy where they could purchase prescription medication at a small percentage of the price it is here.  People who lived in El Paso would go across the border a couple times a week for dinner, dancing, and the cantinas and night life.  Heavens knows El Paso doesn’t have much.  In many ways Juarez was the cultural sister of El Paso, it’s St. Paul to El Paso’s Minneapolis.  

There were thousands of people (Americans) who lived in Juarez and would cross the border daily to work in El Paso.  There were just as many Americans and ex-pat Mexicans who lived in El Paso who would cross the other way from El Paso to Mexico each day to work.  This was life along the border.

Then the nativists who have nothing to do with the border and have probably never stepped foot in Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona before butting their ugly brains into the way people live here.  The problems they have caused may not be solved for many years.  They have destroyed a way of life that is several hundred years old, and perfectly LEGAL.  They do not comprehend the fact that the Mexican US border is one of the busiest in the world with perfectly LEGAL commerce.  

Things started to change about the time they started putting up that border wall in San Diego.  The greater the enforcement along the border farther west, the greater the incident of crime.  Juarez has now become an armed encampment, with the greatest concentration of criminal activity and drug running in both Mexico and the US right along that border.  No one in their right mind now crosses into Juarez unless it is absolutely necessary.

Maggie’s brother lives in a state of terror.  His once well kept yard is now surrounded by a huge fence, complete with concertina wire.  A bus driver in Juarez, he is counting the days until retirement so he and his wife can move.  They aren’t sure if they are planning to move to the US or away from Juarez where things are much more peaceful, in the interior of Mexico.  

They sold their remaining car after the other one was stolen.  It no longer pays to own a car in Juarez unless you have personal security.  You become the target of kidnapping for ransom or simple theft.  When he and his wife go out, they use his bus pass.  They do not go out at night.  They cross the border into Juarez now to meet Maggie and his family.  It is no longer safe for Americans, even those with Hispanic backgrounds, to cross the border.  

Maggie was telling me an American who is not Hispanic and does not speak Spanish like a native is taking their life into their own hands when they do go to Juarez.  They become a target for theft, kidnapping and murder. She is terrified for her brother and his family.  While they live in a very good neighborhood, it is only a matter of time before they are invaded and bullets start flying.

The problem is organized crime.  
The problem is corruption.
The problem is narco-trafficking.
The problem is this nation’s unending demand for illegal narcotics.
The problem is the fact that nativists are demanding a crack down on illegal migrants, diverting money from the real problem, the movement of drugs into the US and the movement of stolen trucks and SUV’s and weapons into Mexico.

Nativists don’t comprehend the fact that there is more going on than their hard-line demand for anyone who isn’t “legal” to be rounded up like an animal and deported back to their home.  Their incessant litany of “border security” hyped by visions of terrorists crossing in armies to slaughter everyone in their sleep is increasing the problem.  They do not comprehend, or will ot comprehend, until we do something about the narco-trafficking we will have no security along the border.  

The problem isn’t terror.  We’re not talking about al Qaeda crossing illegally from Mexico, they can do that from Canada, legally so why go to all the trouble?  The problem is the movement of illegal narcotics and no one cares to stop it. We are dealing with drug cartels who are out of control.  We are dealing with this country’s insatiable appetite for their product with no end in sight.

Perhaps we would be better served to put some of that “border wall” money into intervention and treatment of drug addicts.  The only way to solve the problem is to eliminate the need for illegal drugs.   There will be no border security until this happens.