Not sure about this but here goes............
I will be posting for the next few days on what it means to live in a border state and city.
As I am not a writer. I hope to keep it as short as I can. Each post I will write about one subject from Mexico, economics, exploitation of women and children by the drug cartels and their own families. How the illegals have affected my family and two very close friends, These are the stories you will never see on the news. It is the real life I/we live every day.
A little background on me.
I live in Tucson, Arizona which is about 66 miles from Nogales, Arizona and across the border to Nogales Mexico.
My family moved from Chicago to Tucson when I was very young. All and all my family has live here for almost 100 years. Not a super long time but enough time to see what is happening in my state. I lived here till I graduated from The University Of Arizona in Tucson, then moved away to work.
Born in the 40's I grew up in the 50's lived through the 60's and made it through to today.
Today in the news our border with Mexico is overwhelmed by children who are being used by the Cartels, Mexico and even their families.
I have lived with this for most of my life in California and Arizona. It is plain and simple exploitation to circumvent the law for monetary gain and power on both sides of the border.
I lived through the Vietnam War protests but my cause was Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez and the battle to start the United Farm Workers of America. I am not sure if anyone reading this will remember the grape boycotts (started in 1965 lasted 6 years) in California that helped galvanize the UFWA. But I do and I still have a hard time buying grapes even today. This was a big impact on my life.
I will not go into the fight for UFWA but what it boils down to is the rights of workers for better working conditions, payment and the health problems of working with pesticides.
What I learned about economics, was something Cesar Chavez said. He was talking about the growers hiring illegal workers undercutting the boycott by UFWA.
Illegal workers who would work for less money, longer hours in horrible conditions. The very things the union organize the boycott against the growers for.
What was true then has come around and is true today.
It was my "aha" moment.
You can't have a strong middle class (me) or any middle class when we are being undercut by someone who will work for less money, paid under the table and not report it and for longer hours with no benefits.
A strong legal workforce, befits us all.
Next post....... Mexico.
We here living on an island Gayle, have absolutely no idea of this sort of thing. Do keep your posts coming - they promise to be most enlightening.
ReplyDeleteThe wave of children being crushed across the border and all the finger pointing was the last straw for me.
DeleteI just had to say something.
100 years seems like a long time to me. Do you ever consider moving away from the area?
ReplyDeleteKeep writing!
Well there is something out the southwest that gets in your soul. I have lived many places and adored each one of them but Tucson and the big sky when you live here it gets in your soul.
DeleteI moved back here after the x's girlfriend had him file for divorce (he dumped her later) It was keep my cottage by the ocean or have a life and take care of my children.
So Tucson was a perfect choice. Beautiful city, lovely area, crazy funny people and easy living.
Fascinating and pertinent - looking forward to the next one Parsnip. Nice to have some background on you too.
ReplyDeleteThank you I will try to keep it short.
Deletethis is very interesting to me too honey. please keep posting. most of us are totally clueless and don't mean to be.
ReplyDeleteyert!
hugs, bee
xoxoxoxoox
Well it is from my point of view but I have lived here a long time.
DeleteUnfortunately it seems there are too many politicos out there- on this side of the border- whose very interests are in not having a strong legal workforce
ReplyDeleteGosh William you have hit the nail on the head. This will be in my economic post.
DeleteVery interesting post. Illegal immigrant seems to be issue that never ends. What you experience as resident in the border state is beyond my imagination. I look forward to reading more on this subject!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Fortunately my boys won't drop down on me from high perches :-)
I figured they wouldn't but you never know.....
DeleteThe situation is heartbreaking at the border. Children are being used for purposes that help the cartels, parents are hoping for a better life for their children, taxpayers are burdened beyond what they can bear, states are not being supported by their own government, and sex traffickers are having a heyday. The media is not reporting what is really going on so the truth is not recognizable. I am glad you have chosen to write on the subject. It is a hard topic to handle without being called names by someone.
ReplyDeleteThank you Carol...
DeleteI will be writing about parents in one of my post and it is horrible reading. Children are used as money and that horrifies me more than anyone knows.
Gayle -- a friend on Facebook has posted some interesting comments. He lives in Mexico. He's posted links to articles and photos of the "children" trying to get into the US. It's pretty clear they're not starving--they look pretty well-fed, actually. They're teenagers, not children. And from the looks of their cellphones, they're not broke.
ReplyDeleteI'm very interested in your take on the situation.
I shall read this with great interest. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for tackling this topic. It'll be great to get the straight story from someone who's actually living near the border and affected by the influx of immigrants, as opposed to hearing the questionable spin spouted by reporters and politicos.
ReplyDelete