Thread: Border families cope (a sob story)

Published: 09.17.2006

Border families cope
' ... People will keep coming and they'll keep crossing; they'll just go somewhere else, someplace farther out and more dangerous.' — Rodrigo Nuñez, border resident
By James Gregg
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Star photographer James Gregg, who spent two days and a night with the Zarate family, narrates this slide show depicting the family's life south of the border.

Rodrigo Nuñez lives 100 feet from the U.S. - Mexico border in San Luis, Arizona. He talks about his interactions with both illegal crossers and Border Patrol alike.

SAN LUIS, Mexico — Twelve-year-old Jairo Zarate plays on a dilapidated vehicle bridge spanning the Sanchez Canal near his home in a place the U.S. Border Patrol describes as a dangerous smuggling route.
He shares the bridge with would-be-migrants and smugglers who gather here for their nightly attempts to steal into the United States.
Just beyond the corrugated steel barrier and barbed wire-topped chain-link fence that separate the United States from Mexico, a large green and white U.S. Border Patrol vehicle keeps constant guard on the small gap in the border wall.
The truck looks like something out of a "Mad Max" movie, with its windows and light bar caged in steel armor to protect them from objects hurled from across the fence. BorStar Agent Tyler Emblem describes this stretch of border as a "war zone," one in which it's not always clear who the good guys are.
In this neighborhood you trust no one, agrees Jairo's mother, Marcelina Perez. She knows that trafficking happens here, and that living here makes her family suspect.
"Just because we live here, they think we have something to do with what goes on," she says. "It's normal to think that if someone runs from them, they would come here."
Across the border in Arizona, Rodrigo Nuñez, 43, says he believes in the value of a good fence, but he shares Perez's concerns.
Since immigrating to the U.S. from Mexico 11 years ago, Nuñez, now a business owner and U.S. citizen, and his family have lived less than a quarter mile from the border. In the beginning, they didn't have a backyard fence and their backyard and storage shed became a convenient hiding place for entrants trying to avoid the Border Patrol.
"They used to all come here; they'd leave their documents scattered around. They'd come from Mexico, from Puebla, the federal district, from all over central Mexico," he said.
About three years ago, the number of agents increased and other visible efforts to secure the border began. Now, a brick fence keeps most foot traffic out of the Nuñez backyard just as the border fence has pushed much of the cross- border traffic elsewhere.
But security has come at a price for Nuñez and other border residents.
"Vigilance is good, but when they're driving around here, the Border Patrol doesn't care when they're driving by at full speed, with their radios blaring at full volume at all hours of the night; they don't care when they shine a light into your bedroom, or call in a helicopter; they don't care if you have to go to work early," he said.
In the end, Nuñez says he's not convinced that more fencing and increased security will solve the problem.
"The people will keep crossing. People will keep coming and they'll keep crossing; they'll just go somewhere else, some place farther out and more dangerous," said the father of three. "They'll cross through the deserts, they'll cross through the mountains, but they'll keep coming."
Three blocks from the border, Ramon Samaniego and his family like having a border fence and appreciate the added security, including the National Guard.
"Before the National Guard (came), people were jumping the fence," said Samaniego, who immigrated to the U.S. 20 years ago. "I feel better for my family now."
Across the border, night falls as Marcelina Perez's husband, Jorge Zarate, returns from his blue-collar job at a factory. With the darkness, activity starts to buzz near his home. A group of men walking by his home near the fence catch his attention. "Did you hear them?" Zarate asks. "They're going to cross tonight, probably somewhere down by the river, where it's easier."
The amber light of passing headlights are answered by the glow of U.S. Border Patrol lighting. Across the bridge, the green and white Border Patrol truck leaves its headlights on and the engine idles, ready to do its part.

Star photographer James Gregg, who spent two days and a night with the Zarate family, narrates this slide show depicting the family's life south of the border.

Rodrigo Nuñez lives 100 feet from the U.S. - Mexico border in San Luis, Arizona. He talks about his interactions with both illegal crossers and Border Patrol alike.

Editor's note: The Arizona Daily Star will publish a four-day investigative report beginning next Sunday that examines the feasibility of sealing the U.S.-Mexican border. This week, leading up to that report, look for stories and photos in the Star of the places and people our team of journalists discovered during their journey along the nearly 2,000-mile border. ● Arizona Daily Star reporters Brady McCombs and Stephanie Innes contributed to this article. Contact photographer James Gregg at 573-4155 or at jgregg@azstarnet.com.

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/147072

"Vigilance is good, but when they're driving around here, the Border Patrol doesn't care when they're driving by at full speed, with their radios blaring at full volume at all hours of the night; they don't care when they shine a light into your bedroom, or call in a helicopter; they don't care if you have to go to work early," he said.

Know what you mean. Once the aliens set up in ther interior it's the same story. The police just don't care if you are kept awake. They have a job to do. If they succeed then you get to wake up another day.

They may keep coming but if we enact laws to make it tougher on them to get jobs and easier for them to get caught then it may change. Make stiffer sentences for employers, people making and using illegal SSN. As I said numerous times before we must enact a law allowing asset forfeiture for businesses who hire them and make it harder for them to use the excuse that they didn't the person was illegal. If they have a harder time getting employment and word gets out fewer will attempt risking it.