blog 15

I agree with everything that Ms. Silko stated in her article. I lived in Yuma for approximately four years, and Yuma is very close to the Mexicali fence she talks about. My family is from Las Cruces, so I recognize many of the checkpoints that she describes. In my journeys and throughout the time that I spent in Arizona and the traveling between Texas, New Mexico and California I have also noticed that many border patrol agents are extremely biased in who they pick for searches. I know that the stories that she tells of people that refuse a search without a warrant are made to wait and subjected to very rude treatment. The demeanor that the border patrol agents have is not one that the police abide by which is to protect and serve, but rather the accomplishment of one mission and that is to find as many drugs or illegal aliens as possible no matter how they come across. The entire border patrol culture is corrupt in my opinion. They feel as though they can treat you however they want with no regard as to how it may dehumanize you. At one time I had a old seventy two Chevy that I had to bring across one of the checkpoints on my way to Arizona from New Mexico, my truck broke down not even several hundred feet from the checkpoint and not one agent came to help me or see what was wrong, the only thing they wanted to know was why I looked suspicious because my truck broke down close to their checkpoint. That brings me back to my original point that their mission is not to protect or serve, they are solely looking for illegal activity in who ever they think may be doing it. I even had a border patrol agent who after Inspecting my military I.D. and confirming the fact that I was a Marine still proceeded to treat me aggressively as if I was trying to sneak something past him.