El Pasoans in the news

Here are a couple of items I saw today from/about El Pasoans. They're worth a read.
This story in the Dallas Morning News is about a Latina doctor in Dallas who grew up in El Segundo Barrio in the 1950s. I couldn't help but think about the two young ladies I spoke with recently who are applying to the first class at the medical school in El Paso. I'm sure their experiences are better now, but I wonder, also, how much might be the same.
This is a column in the Washington Post from a former El Pasoan lamenting the disappearance of the Rio Grande. She writes beautifully about how the river is part of who she is and worries about how the border fence might change the place she calls home.

Comments

[hellraizer]

im sorry brandi, but the washington post article is from someone who hasnt lived in el paso for 20 years. she doesnt have a clue why we need the border fence. 9/11 for one and when she talks about swimming in the river she is talking about the new mexico rio grande, not the one that is totally canaled off to the water plant on canal street and to the farmers in the lower valley. its not really a river after this, it becomes a stinky ditch. im sure she played in both cities with no fear of perverts,cholos, or being shot by cartels 20 years ago. she can dream and remember but thats not reality. el paso and juarez have perverts,cholos, and cartels and everyone is scared of letting their children out of their site. we want to keep the cartels, the radical arabs, and the bad illegals out of the country and the fence is the only way to do it. el paso and juarez are not el paso and juarez of 20 years ago. wish they were but they are not.

[30young]

The fence is a temporary situation to a permanent problem. Why is it that people that live north of us feel that they know what is best for us? It would be best if we use those resources to improve other areas for the long-term, like hiring more agents, providing better equipment, improving the immigration process, etc. It would be nice to think that 20 years ago we did not have the same problems of perverts and cartels, but we did. The media was just not as advanced as it is today and they are able to provide us real time stories, quickly. And today, we have the Internet that is used in a much bigger capacity than 20 years ago. I think our border agents do a fantastic job of doing their part to keep us safe. I personally love the Southwest region we live in and also think that the fence will change us. I don't feel that the fence will make me feel safer than what I do now.

[hellraizer]

to 30 young.

my wife road her bicycle across the bridge and then to utep to go to college 20 years ago. no way in hell we would let any of our kids do that today. this is not even close to the same city. dont blame the media. as a college student at utep i hit every bar in juarez. the mariachi, chihuahua charlies, all of them. i would not go today and im in my 40's. ask the mayor of juarez, he knows how much better it was back in the day when his dad was mayor. the cartels were not as bad and neither the police. we didnt have 100 cars stolen weekly either. crime has gone up. put up the fence, it will help the border patrol do its job. we didnt have radical arabs crashing into buildings with planes back then either. yes we had a few cholos riding there lowriders but not involved in crime like they are today. yes we have perverts but check the child molester website and you will find we have more now. if you are related to the lawyer then ask him if he is gonna let his kids go over to juarez when they hit 16. he will tell you no. the fence will help the border patrol do its job better. the government should give work visas and make those people pay taxes. less people would be here illegally and there would be better tracking. hey, we may not even have two border patrol agents in jail right now for shooting
a known drug lord in the arse. he wouldnt have been able to cross the border because of the wall.

[9/11 a reason for the border fence?]

umm, maybe its just me but i dont think a fence would have done much to stop an airplane from crashing into the buildings. and the high-jackers had visas, or fake ones at least, so they didn't run across the border. it's going to be a huge waste of money to build a fence because i doubt it will be that effective. look for a penn & teller clip, where they have a fence built by some workers that it is similar to the one that is it to be built, and then have them try to go over it, under it, and through it. The lesson learned was that we'd be wasting tons of money to add a few minutes delay in crossing. and yes people did swim in the river here in el paso. there actually used to be water there

[hellraizer]

were there not arabs caught crossing the canadian border up in washington who just came through the forest after 9/11 ? how much have you crossed to mexico on a day to day basis ? arabs and mexicans tend to be similar in features so you dont see this as a security problem ? the way our federal government hires sometimes it would not surprise me if a border agent couldnt tell the difference between an arab faking spanish and a mexican speaking it. my wife could tell you what state of mexico or latin country they were from and would know who is faking it just by their accent. the wall will help if its built correctly. obviously you have more faith in government employees than the wall. well i can say that i have crossed the border many times when the guy asking me "nationality"
was white or black. yep, i sure wouldnt bet they can tell the difference between a mexican speaking spanish and an arab burbeling it out. well when a dirty bomb hits el paso or contaminated drinking water just remember " i told you so ."

[hellraizer]

not trying to be ugly, but when you live in austin or been away from el paso for 20 years you really dont have a clue to what goes on here. if you dont have relatives and never visit and cross the border ocassionally it makes
you think it is the same but its not even close.

[sheeptender]

911 was an inside job. Do the research and quit believing the phony main stream media.

[hellraizer]

to sheeptender, i dont listen to the media, i dont even watch tv. i just know how easy it is to cross this border. i have been crossing it for 20 years at least once a week for business. ask yourself this, how did franz fulhaber who was just recently in the news cross 1.2 mil in money and didnt declare it. he passed through without even being checked. so how hard do you beleive it is to cross without even going through customs the way illegals do it by wading the river or whatever. a proper built wall will slow it down wether you like it or not.
why dont you take a stroll down paisano at 10 oclock tonight and walk from the river bridge on mcnutt to the train station. juarez gangs come right across the river all the time.

[Dave in El Paso]

The truth is that the border fence is not the solution. It is part of the solution, but in order to stop illegal immigration, changes would have to happen in Mexico as well. I have always said that people from Mexico dont want to be US citizens they are proud Mexicans. Unfortunately because their country is so corrupt and they are forced to live in poverty, they have no choice but to go elsewhere to provide for their families. I am not against immigration, I am against illegal immigration. What the fence does is help narrow the opportunities for crossing the border from the over 100,000 different areas to the official ports of entry and those few areas where illegal smugglers penetrate the fence. Face it your typical illegal does not carry a blowtorch with him or her as they walk through the desert. The other piece that will help is welfare reform. Until we can get people to stop living on welfare and get to work, we are going to have problems with illegal immigration. It is too easy for people to stay home and get paid instead of getting a job and so someone is going to do the work. Welfare was meant to get you back on your feet not sustain you for life. If you want your check your going to have to whatever job is available, even if you dont like it. Then and only then will companies have to hire US citizens and not immigrants who are willing to do any work they can find. This in turn will hopefully force them to return to their country and demand the fair labor and wages that they so desperately deserve. Remember in Mexico there is no Middle class. Just the Rich and the poor. Time for a Revolution!!