As violence continues to surge across Mexico I am certain that I have no solution. I am also certain that we will continue to help one child at a time and not become discouraged because we can't immediately solve the big picture.
When we began, we never envisioned a 'war on poverty' or providing medical help to every child in need. Instead, we walked down the dusty streets gave away sacks of groceries.
People from all walks of life continue to send money and we continue to pay for life changing medical treatments; we continue to support shelters for children and we continue to help in the best ways that we can. It seems that every week we see another miracle.
We can all become discouraged when we focus on what we cannot fix. However, when we focus on little Ambar and Juan Pedro receiving prosthetic limbs, or when we sit with the children as they eat the lunches we provide - there is great satisfaction.
I do not know how long the drug violence will last and we've had to curtail mission trips for the time being. But, I return to the border every few weeks to bring a few more children to the hospital, to help a few more families over a rough spot and to make sure that the people know we are still with them.
We fix the things we can fix and we do it right now!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Nowhere Near the Truth
Blogs, editorials, news accounts, and editorials pretending to be news accounts are nowhere near the truth about the real situation on the border.
Today doctors and other health care practitioners in Acuna are preparing for tomorrow's Second Annual Health Fair. Kick off was held this morning with a proclamation at the Mexican Consulate. Oh, I forgot to mention the location: the Second Annual Health Fair will be held Friday, Oct. 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Plaza del Sol Mall in Del Rio, Texas.
Doctors, nurses and other volunteers from Acuna, Mexico will come to the United States to help the people of Del Rio, Texas provide health care services.
In a way it makes sense that this news will go largely unreported in the United States. Border cities typically provide help to each-other. Also, it is a very small act. It is not something important like an American being robbed in Mexico. THAT would be a national news story.
Let's hope that the good doctors, nurses and aids are not arrested and detained until their papers can be checked.
I will not be able to attend the health fair. I am waiting at my mailbox for a big tax refund now that the total number of 'illegals' has decreased by a half million per year since 2008. Certainly we will all see reduced medical costs, lower taxes, and lower crime. We will see those things about the same time we see good stories about our good neighbors to the south.
Today doctors and other health care practitioners in Acuna are preparing for tomorrow's Second Annual Health Fair. Kick off was held this morning with a proclamation at the Mexican Consulate. Oh, I forgot to mention the location: the Second Annual Health Fair will be held Friday, Oct. 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Plaza del Sol Mall in Del Rio, Texas.
Doctors, nurses and other volunteers from Acuna, Mexico will come to the United States to help the people of Del Rio, Texas provide health care services.
In a way it makes sense that this news will go largely unreported in the United States. Border cities typically provide help to each-other. Also, it is a very small act. It is not something important like an American being robbed in Mexico. THAT would be a national news story.
Let's hope that the good doctors, nurses and aids are not arrested and detained until their papers can be checked.
I will not be able to attend the health fair. I am waiting at my mailbox for a big tax refund now that the total number of 'illegals' has decreased by a half million per year since 2008. Certainly we will all see reduced medical costs, lower taxes, and lower crime. We will see those things about the same time we see good stories about our good neighbors to the south.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Where Will It All End?
Reading the news tonight about another Mexican Mayor's assassination and the fact that his 4-year old daughter was also shot was the start of the bad news day. Four devices exploded separately in Tamaulipas in just 24 hours , injuring at least 17 people.The top prosecutor in Mexico is reported to be missing. "Where will it all end?" popped into my mind.
It does not matter. Our work with the poor will not end. What began as a cop giving away a few sacks of food evolved into a sacred trust. God entrusted the poor in these colonias to us and many of us accepted that trust. We till treat the violence in the same way that we treat bad weather or the death of a little child. It is all sad and disturbing, but we will continue.Will the violence in Mexico end? Yes. Will our commitment to the poor in the colonias end? No, not really. Our work with these people makes us better people and we will continue to be worthy of their example of faith, hope and hard work.
It does not matter. Our work with the poor will not end. What began as a cop giving away a few sacks of food evolved into a sacred trust. God entrusted the poor in these colonias to us and many of us accepted that trust. We till treat the violence in the same way that we treat bad weather or the death of a little child. It is all sad and disturbing, but we will continue.Will the violence in Mexico end? Yes. Will our commitment to the poor in the colonias end? No, not really. Our work with these people makes us better people and we will continue to be worthy of their example of faith, hope and hard work.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Many Have Given Up in Acuna
Several recent news articles about the impact of the cartels on local businesses included two that mentioned the tourist area of Acuna. While I am glad that someone is writing about the impact on Acuna business owners, I remain disappointed that nobody writes a word about the impact on the average worker.
Many of the waiters, waitresses, busboys, dishwashers and many of the sales-people have been without work for so long that they've abandoned Acuna and returned to their former homes. "We can grow some vegetables and get some help from our family." explained one man as he packed the family belongings. He continued, "The saddest thing is that our children will not receive the kind of education that they can receive in Acuna. Our town is very small and the school does not have very much. We saw a better life for our children in Acuna. Now we must go home. I have to feed my family and I can no longer feed them in Acuna."
As I walk the dirt streets I see another abandoned home. This was the home of Javier, a little boy with an eye disease. I speak with the neighbors and learn that his mother, sister and extended family all returned to their former home 'on the other side of Monterrey'. The ophthalmologist was preparing to operate on Javier in the hope of restoring some sight in his right eye. I don't know what will become of him now.
So many of these people traveled hundreds of miles to reach Acuna in search of work. They were not crossing into the United States illegally. They were working hard to succeed in Mexico. Hundreds of these people began their lives in Acuna by building a cardboard shack. They worked hard and many built or began to build cinder-block houses. Families with a weekly income of $60 sacrificed to purchase $70 of school supplies and another $70 of school uniforms for each child - so the children would have a good education. Many of these children ran to show me their report cards! They were so proud! Many received 'straight 10's and 9's' on their report cards. (The highest grade on a report card is a 10. The lowest is a zero. Nothing is curved and the children receive what they earn. None seem stigmatized and would never expect a teacher to 'only put a '4' on the report card to save someone's feelings).
After all of the sacrifice and hard work they return home with nothing.
The drug cartels destroyed the tourist economy in Acuna. The U.S. news media helped the cartels by exaggerating the violence and by often calling murders hundreds of miles from the border - "Border Violence".
Many of the waiters, waitresses, busboys, dishwashers and many of the sales-people have been without work for so long that they've abandoned Acuna and returned to their former homes. "We can grow some vegetables and get some help from our family." explained one man as he packed the family belongings. He continued, "The saddest thing is that our children will not receive the kind of education that they can receive in Acuna. Our town is very small and the school does not have very much. We saw a better life for our children in Acuna. Now we must go home. I have to feed my family and I can no longer feed them in Acuna."
As I walk the dirt streets I see another abandoned home. This was the home of Javier, a little boy with an eye disease. I speak with the neighbors and learn that his mother, sister and extended family all returned to their former home 'on the other side of Monterrey'. The ophthalmologist was preparing to operate on Javier in the hope of restoring some sight in his right eye. I don't know what will become of him now.
So many of these people traveled hundreds of miles to reach Acuna in search of work. They were not crossing into the United States illegally. They were working hard to succeed in Mexico. Hundreds of these people began their lives in Acuna by building a cardboard shack. They worked hard and many built or began to build cinder-block houses. Families with a weekly income of $60 sacrificed to purchase $70 of school supplies and another $70 of school uniforms for each child - so the children would have a good education. Many of these children ran to show me their report cards! They were so proud! Many received 'straight 10's and 9's' on their report cards. (The highest grade on a report card is a 10. The lowest is a zero. Nothing is curved and the children receive what they earn. None seem stigmatized and would never expect a teacher to 'only put a '4' on the report card to save someone's feelings).
After all of the sacrifice and hard work they return home with nothing.
The drug cartels destroyed the tourist economy in Acuna. The U.S. news media helped the cartels by exaggerating the violence and by often calling murders hundreds of miles from the border - "Border Violence".
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Careful What You Blog For
Let us deal with facts and not fantasy. When ICE receives 5,000 requests from police agencies across the nation to pick up and deport suspected illegal aliens and they only have suffieicent staff to pick up 2,000 of these cases - do you really want evey case treated equally? Do you want ICE to process the first 2,000 requests, regardless of the fact that request number 2001 is to pick up a convicted drug dealer or murderer?
I know: you want enough ICE personnel to pick up every single person accused of being in the country illegally. Even the 67 year old lady who is from England and overstayed her visa by 2-days needs to be deported. Right. Well, a police officer on every corner would also be nice. So would radar cameras on every street so that everyone driving even 1-mile over the limit would pay. (Thing of the huge reduction of accidents, injuries and death!)
In the real world, we want freedom and we don't want every technical violation to result in an arrest or even a fine. In the real world there are not enough ICE agents to arrest every person in violation of immigration rules.
Only a few years ago the official policy of the Border Patrol was to deport Mexicans and to issue citations to illegals that were not from Mexico. (See: you should educate yourself about the facts). The policy was known as OTM (other than Mexican). Radio stations in Latin America acutally told listeners that if they are 'going north' and stopped by the Border Patrol to declare that they are from any country except Mexico and that they will only be issued a ticket that orders them to appear before a judge.
Many listeners telephoned the radio station because they were certain this was a joke. However, once in the United States the listeners found that the joke got even funnier. The citation process included being detained while a computer check was made to make certain that they were not on a watch list, wanted or from a country that was on a watch list (i.e. Iran). This was a bit inconvenient but here is the punch-line. Once issed a citation and set free, the citation served as a sort of protection from other federal agents. If they were ever stopped again, the immigrants learned that they could hand the agent their previous citation and the agent would immediately let them go about their business and not detain them for another background check.
How does such a ridiculous policy get in place? Constant reports from the media, blogs, etc. pushed the agency to do something about 'all these Mexicans' and there are simply not enouth resources to process everyone in the United States without the proper papers.
Today, the cry is to round them all up. So while we spend limited resources to process the little old lady from England who overstayed her visa, we do not focus on the drug dealers because we only have a certain number of agents.
In fact, the screaming about 'more arrests' led to the policy of checking immigration status of people leaving the United States. This is purly a numbers game that is forced on the officers at the border. They would prefer focusing on dope dealers coming into the country, but instead they question Mexicans leaving the United States.
I see this at several U.S. Border Crossings into Mexico. A man is walking across the International Bridge and is stopped by the four ICE Officers working this check-point. He is patted down and asked about his citizenship. The man explains he is going back to Mexico and was in the United States without papers, looking for work. He is arrested, processed and then volunteers to return home. A complete waste of time and a waste of the limited resources and the sole purpose is to increase the number of illegal aliens being arrested.
While this nonsense is going on, the overworked and understaffed officers assigned to check people entering the United States can't possible search as many vehicles as they could with the staff that is required to waste their time checking immigration status of those leaving the U.S.
A valid reason to stop people leaving the United States and returning to Mexico is to stem the flow of illegal cash and weapons that are shipped to Mexico for the cartels. This effort I applaud, even as my own vehicle is searched. However, this would not require the arrest of every illegal immigrant that is simply leaving. I would really prefer that the ICE report their arrest statistics with a breakdown that shows the number of felons, people in direct possession of narcotics, people and organizations smuggling people, and the number of people leaving the United States. Perhaps we the people would then demand a proper use of resources.
Instead, in response to the public outcry, we just grab whatever we can and pretend we are all safer.
I know: you want enough ICE personnel to pick up every single person accused of being in the country illegally. Even the 67 year old lady who is from England and overstayed her visa by 2-days needs to be deported. Right. Well, a police officer on every corner would also be nice. So would radar cameras on every street so that everyone driving even 1-mile over the limit would pay. (Thing of the huge reduction of accidents, injuries and death!)
In the real world, we want freedom and we don't want every technical violation to result in an arrest or even a fine. In the real world there are not enough ICE agents to arrest every person in violation of immigration rules.
Only a few years ago the official policy of the Border Patrol was to deport Mexicans and to issue citations to illegals that were not from Mexico. (See: you should educate yourself about the facts). The policy was known as OTM (other than Mexican). Radio stations in Latin America acutally told listeners that if they are 'going north' and stopped by the Border Patrol to declare that they are from any country except Mexico and that they will only be issued a ticket that orders them to appear before a judge.
Many listeners telephoned the radio station because they were certain this was a joke. However, once in the United States the listeners found that the joke got even funnier. The citation process included being detained while a computer check was made to make certain that they were not on a watch list, wanted or from a country that was on a watch list (i.e. Iran). This was a bit inconvenient but here is the punch-line. Once issed a citation and set free, the citation served as a sort of protection from other federal agents. If they were ever stopped again, the immigrants learned that they could hand the agent their previous citation and the agent would immediately let them go about their business and not detain them for another background check.
How does such a ridiculous policy get in place? Constant reports from the media, blogs, etc. pushed the agency to do something about 'all these Mexicans' and there are simply not enouth resources to process everyone in the United States without the proper papers.
Today, the cry is to round them all up. So while we spend limited resources to process the little old lady from England who overstayed her visa, we do not focus on the drug dealers because we only have a certain number of agents.
In fact, the screaming about 'more arrests' led to the policy of checking immigration status of people leaving the United States. This is purly a numbers game that is forced on the officers at the border. They would prefer focusing on dope dealers coming into the country, but instead they question Mexicans leaving the United States.
I see this at several U.S. Border Crossings into Mexico. A man is walking across the International Bridge and is stopped by the four ICE Officers working this check-point. He is patted down and asked about his citizenship. The man explains he is going back to Mexico and was in the United States without papers, looking for work. He is arrested, processed and then volunteers to return home. A complete waste of time and a waste of the limited resources and the sole purpose is to increase the number of illegal aliens being arrested.
While this nonsense is going on, the overworked and understaffed officers assigned to check people entering the United States can't possible search as many vehicles as they could with the staff that is required to waste their time checking immigration status of those leaving the U.S.
A valid reason to stop people leaving the United States and returning to Mexico is to stem the flow of illegal cash and weapons that are shipped to Mexico for the cartels. This effort I applaud, even as my own vehicle is searched. However, this would not require the arrest of every illegal immigrant that is simply leaving. I would really prefer that the ICE report their arrest statistics with a breakdown that shows the number of felons, people in direct possession of narcotics, people and organizations smuggling people, and the number of people leaving the United States. Perhaps we the people would then demand a proper use of resources.
Instead, in response to the public outcry, we just grab whatever we can and pretend we are all safer.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Where is the Media???
FLASH FLASH FLASH
San Antonio is only 155 miles from Acuna, Mexico. This must be news to the media outlets in San Antonio because of the almost complete lack of news coverage about last week's floods and the loss of lives. The dramatic photos that we never saw: the cardboard houses washed away, the thousands of people left homeless and the damage caused by the storms to the thousands of families living on the river were not newsworthy.
The heart-wrenching stories of children unable to get their treatments for cancer, families without food, water, electricity and many without homes went unreported. Yes, there were very general stories about the flooding where some cities were mentioned, but where were the stories and photos about the victims.
I am deeply disappointed by this lack of coverage. Many of these stories would have been picked up by the national press if reported properly and with compassion by the San Antonio media.
Our churches pray and meet about the gulf oil spill. Yet, not a word about our neighbors to the south. Does Mexico simply not matter?
San Antonio is only 155 miles from Acuna, Mexico. This must be news to the media outlets in San Antonio because of the almost complete lack of news coverage about last week's floods and the loss of lives. The dramatic photos that we never saw: the cardboard houses washed away, the thousands of people left homeless and the damage caused by the storms to the thousands of families living on the river were not newsworthy.
The heart-wrenching stories of children unable to get their treatments for cancer, families without food, water, electricity and many without homes went unreported. Yes, there were very general stories about the flooding where some cities were mentioned, but where were the stories and photos about the victims.
I am deeply disappointed by this lack of coverage. Many of these stories would have been picked up by the national press if reported properly and with compassion by the San Antonio media.
Our churches pray and meet about the gulf oil spill. Yet, not a word about our neighbors to the south. Does Mexico simply not matter?
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The Politics
Mexico was often described as the perfect dictatorship. For 70-years the PRI (pronounced pree) party held power. Presidents literally hand-picked their successors. For 70-years the people were offered bribes for votes.
"The process is simple. They hand the first person in line to vote a (stolen) ballot that is already completed. Each box on that ballot is already marked with an 'x'. The election official gives you a blank ballot. You deposit the one that was already filled in and return the blank ballot to the guy paying the bribe. He marks that ballot and gives it to the next person in line."
Sometimes a family receives a washing-machine. Often, a few weeks before the election, the politicians in power send money, groceries, and other things to a community. More is promised (and often delivered) when that politician is re-elected.
The party system in Mexico has intense loyalty. The governor first helps those cities where mayors are from his party. Charities are often managed by wives and relatives of politicians. For example, a city food bank may be managed by a relative of the mayor. Food is distributed to those in need - but party members and people who can 'get out the vote' come first.
The common people believe that all politicians are corrupt and that most provide help to the drug cartels. In fairness to the politicians, those that refuse the cartels are threatened and their children are threatened. Every once in a while, the cartels kill and kidnap to drive home their point.
"The process is simple. They hand the first person in line to vote a (stolen) ballot that is already completed. Each box on that ballot is already marked with an 'x'. The election official gives you a blank ballot. You deposit the one that was already filled in and return the blank ballot to the guy paying the bribe. He marks that ballot and gives it to the next person in line."
Sometimes a family receives a washing-machine. Often, a few weeks before the election, the politicians in power send money, groceries, and other things to a community. More is promised (and often delivered) when that politician is re-elected.
The party system in Mexico has intense loyalty. The governor first helps those cities where mayors are from his party. Charities are often managed by wives and relatives of politicians. For example, a city food bank may be managed by a relative of the mayor. Food is distributed to those in need - but party members and people who can 'get out the vote' come first.
The common people believe that all politicians are corrupt and that most provide help to the drug cartels. In fairness to the politicians, those that refuse the cartels are threatened and their children are threatened. Every once in a while, the cartels kill and kidnap to drive home their point.
Welcome
I am in a Mexican border city at least twice a month and walk the dirt streets of the colonias while running an NPO. Although sympathetic to the Mexican people, I am a conservative American and my country comes first.
This blog exists to share what I see, hear, read and believe to be the honest situation along the border of Mexico and Texas. What happens in Mexico profoundly impacts the United States.
For 35-years I served as a law enforcement officer, first in Baltimore, Maryland and then in Houston, Texas. I've also developed database analysis applications that pinpointed and predicted patterns of criminal behavior. I've developed analysis programs, managed large and small scale criminal investigations and have five years of experience as an instructor in various analysis techniques and programs.
Since 2002, I've created and managed Paper Houses Across the Border, Inc., a nonprofit corporation originally funded by the Police Officer's Patrolman's Union. Since that time, I've walked the streets of the colonias in several Mexican border-cities and met with clergy, business people, administrators, school teachers, children, and spent thousands of hours in the homes of ordinary, hard-working, Mexicans that live and work in the colonias of Mexico.
My hope is that this blog will provide honest insight into the problems in Mexico that directly impact the United States.
This blog exists to share what I see, hear, read and believe to be the honest situation along the border of Mexico and Texas. What happens in Mexico profoundly impacts the United States.
For 35-years I served as a law enforcement officer, first in Baltimore, Maryland and then in Houston, Texas. I've also developed database analysis applications that pinpointed and predicted patterns of criminal behavior. I've developed analysis programs, managed large and small scale criminal investigations and have five years of experience as an instructor in various analysis techniques and programs.
Since 2002, I've created and managed Paper Houses Across the Border, Inc., a nonprofit corporation originally funded by the Police Officer's Patrolman's Union. Since that time, I've walked the streets of the colonias in several Mexican border-cities and met with clergy, business people, administrators, school teachers, children, and spent thousands of hours in the homes of ordinary, hard-working, Mexicans that live and work in the colonias of Mexico.
My hope is that this blog will provide honest insight into the problems in Mexico that directly impact the United States.
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