President Obama visited Fort Bliss in El Paso Tuesday most notably for an Immigration Reform speech, but apparently backed off advocating any specific, hard programs. The issue is too heated now between Democrats and Republicans for there to be any progress in Washington. There's only the risk of losing votes in next year's elections. It's too bad the way we've paralyzed government—it's from heat we expect political leaders to emerge usually.
Meanwhile--cognizant that schools are doing their next year's budgets now, and that slashing funds is extremely fashionable due to high deficits--the U. S. Dept. of Education sent letters out to districts around the country reminding them of federal law: Whether here legal or not, all kids in their districts are entitled to a public education. Don't thread on 'em! Hee, hee. Bureaucrats don't have to face re-election, do they?.
But shaking fingers at the states isn't helping the problems. The Pew Hispanic Center has released figures showing the numbers of these undocumented children increased from 4.3 million in 2003 to 5.5 million in 2008. That's a lot of extra heads in the classrooms.
Had an ol' coffee-buddy named Jesse Rojas who use to stop in for early coffee with me at the JP office in Presidio back in the 90's, several mornings a week for years. And believe you me, he had something to say about damn near anything under the sun. Big, jovial guy. Bulbous nose; thinning white hair.
“What would you do if the county (government) ever decided to stop making coffee available to the public here at the Annex?” I asked him once.
“No problem!” he answered. “I'd just go find somebody else to mooch off of!” And then he'd laugh some kind of whacky and crackling, high-speed, hah-hah-hah laugh. Always enjoyed listening to Jesse, I did.
Jesse had been a wholesale grocer distributor in the early days, running trucks from El Paso all the way to Del Rio along the old Hwy 90. He also served some time as a Marfa school board member. He knew Immigration, and the problems with “illegals.” Mexico has always exported workers. And lived off the proceeds.
“It's not the children's fault that they're over here illegal!” he'd say. “And it's not the parents. They're just trying to survive. It's the Mexican government's fault! With remittances (money sent back home to family members—one of Mexico's largest revenue sources) as high as they are, the government there is not about to do anything to disturb that revenue stream. Nothing! The U.S. oughta go over there and seize their oil or something, to pay for what it's causing.”
There's another unique situation in this for border schools. Beginning a week or so before the fall term started each August—back during the 90's, it seemed, before a law changed that sent parents or guardians to higher courts in Marfa—our local justice court was flooded with notary affidavit requests, stating that such-and-such student was some kind of relative and, indeed, “residing” with such-and-such family. The papers were for school purposes, of course. School districts can't ask a student if he or she is “legal.” But if they're here; you educate them here.
Many of the Mexican parents from Ojinaga, across the stream, would get indignant about this extra step at times. They were simply trying to get the best possible education for their children, of course. And getting them an English education in Presidio, in the U.S.A., was definitely available. One of the couples I remember, good friends of Noemi and I (in fact, were our padrinos at our church wedding) questioned us once, “Why doesn't the school district just charge us (out-of-district tuition) extra fee? We'd find the money somehow to pay!” They considered the affidavits harassment.
But those affidavits were about the only thing poor border schools like Presidio ISD could do to try and thwart the onslaught, it seemed. Even then, it was always “street knowledge” that half or more of the kids in school there, in one way or another, were from Ojinaga. Border districts, yes, are especially hit hard by this phenomenon. And the ripples go into almost every sector of government and society. Jesse's answer to it, I always considered, was too simple and unrealistic, of course. But maybe he was just too far ahead of his time.
What is emerging more and more now to difficult political situations, is the quasi jurisdictional state—sometimes a combination of agencies and business corporations; or non-profits empowered by agencies; or sometimes even a dominant group in an actual physical territory--of what usually is considered a recognized but weak state--and simply performing the duties of the legitimate government.
Between Pakistan and India, for instance, probably the largest international geographical example, there is Kashmir, especially Azad Kashmir, which is protected by and administered by Pakistan. Yet it's considered an “independent,” neither a province nor an agency of Pakistan. Cooler heads prevailed somewhere between the two countries and supposedly trade is prospering.
Perhaps the most extreme quasi state example, of course, is the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. It not only enjoys the loyalty of the people in that region but it provides probably most of traditional governmental services for them. Yet, it's not recognized as a state in the international community, certainly not by Israel.
With the growing violence of the drug war in Mexico, and its adverse effects striking directly many U.S. communities, one of the fears about what will eventually happen is that the U.S. will have a Hezbollah-type, narco-trafficking quasi state operating just across the Texas border. That's a no-no.
Among the topics flying beneath major media radar now, one can imagine, is putting together somehow a collection of agreements in this country, with Mexico, that can perform the duties of these quasi states. The U. S. already has a number of quasi organizations, usually established as a function of a specific agency. Even the Red Cross is a quasi relief group
Putting armed forces across the border is controversial, yes, but you can bet the ideas are there. And if the U.S. ever went into Mexico to quell something like this, too, you can bet there would be “arrangements” to recoup the costs.
And folks like Jesse would be close behind, saying, Ok, if you can do it for the narco-traffickers, you can sure do it for the public school systems. Mexico can, too, pay!
And we will have climbed another notch in our togetherness. Hee, hee. Good friends and good coffee. Problem-solving at its best.
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