On passports, borders and checkpoints.

[Kali]

Wonder if we will have to show our passports when we pass homeland security/immigration chckpoints at various locations 20 miles NORTH of the actual BORDER?

[RB TexLa]

1. I guess the capitol letters indicate you have a problem with where

checkpoints are constructed in regards to the location of the border?

[Kali]

2. No, I have a problem with "inland" checkpoints PERIOD.

They are a farce and they are insulting. Here in AZ Kolbe at least got them to have to move every couple of weeks, but they were still so predictable anybody with the slightest knowledge of local back roads could get around them - and therein lies my personal gripe with them. All the back trails are filled with trash, the fences are constantly cut, and the little cat an mouse game between the migrants and the morans chasing them gets real tiresome if you live in the middle of it, never mind working with all this BS going on. Try to manage a herd of livestock on remote rangeland with fences constantly down. Try to keep animals healthy when they tend to love eating crap like plastic bags and old clothing. "Wars on <fill in symptom of a problem here>" never work, they only cause escalation and attract more dangerous participants.

We used to get the occasional lost person on foot - feed 'em and give em a rid to the next stop. Big deal - and back in the day you could let them work for a few days for traveling money (or god forbid even hire them long term) but now the money is so good that the polleros tend to have unsavory backers and are much more organized and potentially dangerous (higher profit = more willingness to take greater risks, like shooting somebody over cargo or running on the highways...)

No border "security" is a joke that is not funny. People are dying in the desert and it isn't stopping anything.