I bumped into a US consulate worker today in Tyson's Wal Mart of all places. He had worked previously in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on the border across from El Paso, TX, I saw the offical insignia on his polo shirt and starting asking questions. Ciudad Juarez was in 2010 the world's murder capital but has made a turnaround since then.
He had some very interesting perspectives:
-Border walls are often easy to climb. Some drug cartels bring trucks with ladders. Some guys can just jump up and climb over in a matter of "seconds." There is no barbed wire or electrification so there is no reason not to give it a try, other than the risk of getting caught.
-Mexican students "in the hundreds" are picked up on the border by US schoolbuses every day to go to US schools. Many come from far away, some getting up at 3 am to travel to the border then get picked up and go to school. They are either US citizens by virtue of being born in US hospitals or have some other legal right to US education.
-We talked about how border security has vastly improved in the last 5-10 years. Obama rarely talks about it, but there has been a major increase in US enforcement of border laws and protections.
-His biggest suggestion to curb illegal migration is to fine US employers $100,000 for each illegal worker they hire. Makes sense to me, that would reduce the magnet for illegal workers to come over direct the punishment toward the US companies who would have a lot to lose.
When I asked what he was doing here, interestingly the consulate worker said he was studying Hungarian because his next post is in Budapest. I told him that, in a way, that's another border region, the border between the EU and non-EU. Hungary and Serbia share a long border that marks the end of the EU, and there is a 109-mile Hungarian Border Barrier i.e. a fence with Serbia. This border has been a major issue with the mass migrant influx from Syria.
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