runways and enforcement run amok

On Friday I went with the BAE (Border Awareness Experience) Group from UC-Boulder to UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso) to have a small Q&A session with Dr. Irasema Coronado, assistant provost from the Political Science Dept. (she was fairly radical so far as bureaucrats go) and a recent Obama appointee to the Joint Public Advisory Committee of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation.

Speaking with her about the border, especially after talking to the DEA Agent Gilberto Gonzalez really made me think a lot about the complex dynamics that are at play along the border...specifically el papel of the US.

One of the points that Coronado kept bringing up was the role of economics, specifically that of jobs for US citizens/residents. She was not talking about the jobs that "illegal aliens" supposedly take from US citizens.


She was talking about the vast number of jobs created for the sole-purpose of drug enforcement and locking people (immigrants/migrants) up.

If the US decided to change its approach in relation to drugs, perhaps opting for legalization (a stance that Coronado admittedly favors), then the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) would be obsolete. If the US decided to opt for an open border (another stance that Coronado espouses), Border Patrol would also be virtually useless. Border Patrol provides many well-paying jobs with good benefits, and all one needs is a high-school diploma.

I think we can do better, though. I think the citizens of the US can use their creativity and ingenuity (and easy access to credit, a luxury not available to citizens of other countries like Mexico...) to make a living. We don't need to be in the business of locking people up to support ourselves.

We don't have to infringe on other people's freedom to enjoy our own...

Just something I've been thinking about.

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Yesterday Kyla and I organized a fashion show with clothes from the clothing bank. We pushed all the tables in the comedor (dining room) to the side to make our runway and put the benches opposite so that people could watch. It was a lot of fun to see everyone let loose a bit, and it was cool showing off the nice things we have in the clothing bank.

I was on shift this morning and I couldn't help but feel exhausted. It was pretty uneventful, just a few donations, but I could hardly keep my eyes open. I think I will take a siesta soon.