The Wall of Shame

There is a myth that people who go to elite universities are really smart people & that’s why they run the world. There is, however, considerable evidence to the contrary. This photo is the terminal point of the border wall between the US & Mexico, located at Tijuana, Baja California. Do you see any evidence of smarts here!? This is no Great Wall of China--though it’s certainly an even bigger boondoggle. It isn’t really true you can see the Great Wall of China from the moon but this one was probably invented by someone from outer space, schooled in the Ivy League, of course. And that’s without mentioning the road headed into the Pacific Ocean on the US side! The US side of the fence is a state park kept intentionally desolate to function as a buffer zone for border patrol purposes but if they think this piddly little thing will deter migrants who have just completed an over 1000-mile treacherous trek from Central America, they’re even dumber than the wall suggests.

There are signs posted saying, "Danger - Objects Under The Water" & some border patrol guards claim raw sewage is pumped into the Pacific by the Tijuana, MX city government. But Tijuana sewage is treated elsewhere in Mexico. These postings are intended to scare off immigrants & are reminiscent of signs posted in the McAllen, TX-Reynosa, MX border area warning of alligators in the Rio Grande River--a border patrol version of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, since alligators are not native to the area.

At this terminus you can see the folly & low intelligence behind the border wall; further along the nearly 2,000 mile wall, the malice & criminality are more evident. Beginning in the Bush regime, nearly thirty-six environmental, public health, & cultural heritage laws were waived to facilitate wall construction, including statutes designed to protect endangered wildlife, drinking water, & Native American graves. Massive flooding in Arizona causing millions of dollars in property damage has been attributed to the wall; the wall cuts straight through the heart of north-south avian migration routes & breeding corridors used by threatened species like the jaguar, ocelot, & pygmy owl; dozens of Native American burial sites have been destroyed by bulldozers used in wall construction; & the dynamic cultural exchange along the US-Mexican border has been replaced with paranoia & fear. Most important of all, it is an assault on the human rights of immigrants. The barbarians behind US immigration law defend the right of US business to prowl the planet looking for cheap labor but then deny working people the right to go where they want to earn a living for themselves & their families. It truly is a Wall of Shame. Tear the damn thing down. Immigration is a human right! (Photo by Bob Chamberlin/LA Times)