Migration across the Mexico border
Undocumented aliens and illegal drugs enter Southwest U.S.A. 01 January 2001
San Diego, CA

---

This study will prove beyond any reasonable doubt that millions of illegal aliens enter the U.S. each year by walking, hiking, and driving between the official U.S. Ports Of Entry (P.O.E.s) through the border backcountry of private ranches and government lands, and then make residency in the U.S.

Not the laughable figure of 275,000 per year average listed on the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (I.&N.S.) website table (see: "Illegal Immigration: Ten Fastest Growing Countries - Average Annual Growth, 1992-96,").

The number of illegal aliens coming across the Mexico border may be 1 to 3 million arrivals per year (not necessarily new arrivals, and  not necessarily Mexican, but mostly).

Note: The number of alien nationals illegally living in the United States as of 15 Feb 2003 has been updated to '8 million plus' by the U.S. government's new Department of Homeland Security.

Thank you everyone! We're finally making progress getting out the real facts about what is happening at our border, and near our border on private lands.

The U.S. Border Patrol has responsibility for enforcing the U.S. border between P.O.E.s, and the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration & Naturalization (I.&N.S.) both have responsibility for enforcement at the official U.S. Ports of Entry. Most people get these areas of responsibilities of the different agencies confused; such as they erroneously call the U.S. Customs Service when they see large groups of illegals or smugglers heading north across their private property in the U.S. border backcountry in the Southwestern United States. The U.S. Customs may or may not respond, but they will hopefully tell you to call the proper agency, the U.S. Border Patrol (who may or may not respond).

These above conclusions about illegal alien infiltration into the U.S. today are based on many years of study and research, including daily and nightly contact with illegal aliens; with drug and alien smugglers, with the California Highway Patrol (C.H.P.), and with the U.S. Border Patrol (U.S.B.P.). The U.S. Border Report went on unofficial all-night ride-alongs near the U.S. - Mexico border along I-8 interstate highway, on U.S. Highways 86, 94, and 80, and on many 4-wheel-drive dirt roads along the border in eastern San Diego county and in western Imperial county.

The U.S.B.P., the C.H.P., and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department all use the same office facilities that we worked from consisting of an approximately 10' high barbed-wire-topped cyclone fence, secured by a 24-hour locked gate and a security camera system, and often by trained police dogs. The approximately 200'x200' perimeter of the 3 mobile-home-sized portable offices and holding cell (small jail) are located near the I-8 Campo Exit (first right immediately after making the exit) in Boulevard, CA., about 50 miles east of San Diego, and about 15 miles north of the Mexico border.

We attended informal U.S.B.P. staff and squad meetings and witnessed the processing, detention, and release of a number of illegal aliens from the holding cell, as many Mexican nationals get "voluntary deportation." They are turned loose outside the rural station's front door just 100 yards south of I-8 (easy hitch-hiking) and told, "After you're done visiting your relatives in L.A., go back home to Mexico," (a paraphrase of the Spanish spoken by an Hispanic U.S. Border Patrol agent named Rudy, whom appeared to be in charge at the time). By-the-way, hitch-hiking is illegal on I-8. The Guatemalan nationals and other non-Mexican nationals apprehended from other countries remained in the holding cell for deportation to Tijuana (Mexico), Tecate (Mexico), or to their home countries if Central or South American (Mexico is in North America). 56% are Mexican according to the I.&N.S. website figures, but the number of aliens we observed coming across illegally is closer to 75% or more Mexican.

We (the U.S. Border Report) were once "drafted" to drive a C.H.P. patrol cruiser in an almost all night long rescue operation(!) when a driver shortage developed while helping a stranded female traveler with 2 small children who was lost in a very big U-Haul rental truck towing a car, and stranded on a very steep Sheephead mountain 4WD-only dirt road after making a wrong turn exiting the I-8 Buckman Springs rest stop.

Also, In March 2001, we visited many major Mexican cities and now-shrinking inland villages in the Mexican states of Baja Norte, Baja Sur, Sinaloa, and Jalisco. More on this trip here.

The major immigration issues: Should foreign nationals be allowed to feloniously violate U.S. immigration laws by entering the U.S. using falsified documents; be allowed to violate U.S. border laws, even violating Mexico's border law by entering the U.S. illegally between recognized U.S. - Mexico Ports of Entry (P.O.E.s) while often trespassing on, littering, trampling, polluting, burning, vandalizing, stealing from, or otherwise damaging U.S citizen-owned (and Mexican citizen-owned) private property, state property, and federal property; be allowed to violate U.S. Treasury laws by not paying income taxes; be allowed to violate U.S. Social Security laws by not withholding F.I.C.A. taxes (Federal Insurance Contribution Act); or be allowed to violate U.S. Selective Service laws by not registering for U.S. military service? All this felonious law-breaking so that supposedly "starving" people can earn about 15 times more money on average by working in the United States, rather than working in their home country?

Should foreign nationals be allowed to traffic drugs or smuggle people across the Mexico border into the U.S.? And are these people illegally entering the U.S. really starving in the third world countries they come from, as they and others sometimes say? Or are these people from third world countries really coming to the U.S. simply for economic gain? And if so, is feloniously violating so many U.S. laws justified? Or is immigration being allowed by U.S. politicians, political parties, or other government organizations, or private enterprise lobbies, to change the political, economic, religious, or ethnic makeup of America for some goal or gain?

13 million illegal aliens: A recent study at Northeastern University in Boston by researchers Andrew Sum, Neeta Fogg, and Paul Harrington concludes as many as 13 million illegal aliens may reside in the United States. This is comparable in size to the combined populations of the following 13 states and the District of Columbia (in alphabetical order): Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia; total population of 12,588,161 in the 2000 census. See itemized listing. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service says about 40% of the illegal aliens are in California. The 2000 census counted about 8 million undocumented illegal aliens in the United States, and admits it may have missed some.

Why isn't more done to stop illegal immigration? The vast majority of all illegal immigration today originates from Mexico and/or migrates across the Mexico border from other countries. The study at Northeastern University above concludes that the U.S. government's figure of 5 million has been grossly understating the true number. See: http://www.ins.gov/graphics/aboutins/statistics/299.htm, "Illegal Alien Population, October 1996: Top Ten Countries of Birth, All Countries" (in lower left box), Note "Last modified 03/07/2000" at the bottom of this I.N.S. webpage.

The Northeastern University study additionally finds that from 1994 to 2000, U.S. businesses report creating 5.2 million more jobs than U.S. workers report obtaining. They believe this discrepancy is largely the result of illegal aliens obtaining the new jobs. Aliens who overstay their travel, education, and employment visas also account for an unknown percentage of illegal immigration. The U.S. does not have 13 million agricultural, farm, and hotel jobs, therefore illegal aliens are obtaining employment in other or all sectors of the U.S. economy. Nor does Los Angeles or California have 3 million farm or hotel jobs.

After aliens obtain citizenship, many U.S. politicians desire these new voters, desire their new "swing vote" voting-block political power (i.e., California), which can change election outcomes with as little as 1% of these new swing voters casting ballots, and desire their ability to change the political demographics of congressional districts, cities, and states. Election exit polls in California during the 1998 gubernatorial election indicate 80% or more of former aliens in California from Mexico voted Democratic after obtaining citizenship. And a similar result apparently occurred in the 2000 presidential election nationwide by about a 2 to 1 margin in favor of Democrat candidates.

The irony is that employers of both major political parties desire the inexpensive labor provided by illegal aliens in our service-based U.S. economy. Intentionally or unintentionally, the U.S. government and U.S. businesses are using immigration, both legal and illegal, as one component in their effort to control wage inflation, and thus to a lessor extent to regulate both price inflation and wage inflation in the entire U.S. economy.

Therefore, members of both political parties benefit from immigration today, and there is little incentive for major policy changes. In a very simplistic view, one can say the Democrats benefit from the new voters and the Republicans benefit from the inexpensive labor.

Wages are approximately 15 times greater in the U.S. than in Mexico depending on the value of the Mexican peso, therefore, illegal immigration will continue. The Mexican minimum wage is about $0.47 cents per hour in U.S. denomination as of 01 January 2001, and the U.S. minimum wage is $5.75 per hour in California. In other words, Mexican citizens might make as much working one year in the U.S. as they would make working 15 years in Mexico! And as little as $1.00 a day in earnings is attractive to many, if not most, rural Mexicans who are the vast majority of illegal aliens migrating to the U.S. today. Many citizens of the U.S. find this difficult to understand, or to believe.

Most alien migrants come to the U.S. to work, and some come for other reasons as well. In the shorter term this immigration policy may be beneficial to the majority of Americans by keeping prices (and wages) down, in the longer term it may well be disastrous. The mostly "open" border already is a disaster from the perspective that perhaps 50% to 75% of all illegal drugs in the U.S. today come across the Mexico border. And the related criminal and environmental long-term impacts of illegal immigration are proving to be disastrous as well, as this study will document.

If having millions of illegal aliens employed in the U.S. actually makes things cost less, then why does everything cost more in California? The I.N.S. says California has 40% of all illegal aliens in the U.S., far more illegal aliens than any other state, therefore, California's goods and services should cost less. Why are prices for goods and services so much higher in states like California and New York that have large illegal alien populations?

"Approximately two-thirds of the cocaine available in the United States comes over the U.S.- Mexico border... from the 1930s to the 1960s, Mexico supplied as much as 95 percent of the marijuana consumed in the U.S. market. During the 1970s, when the Mexican Government sprayed its marijuana fields with paraquat, a herbicide, Colombia became the dominant producer for the U.S. market. With the end of the paraquat program, Mexico eventually regained its dominance in the U.S. market..." - Traffickers from Mexico, U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, July 2001 (original link dead - redirecting to a similar link). "90 percent of the meth (methamphetamine) manufactured in this country is manufactured by Mexican national (Mexican non-U.S citizen) drug organizations,"- Ron Gravitt, California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement's clandestine lab unit chief, Oct. 2000, Sacramento Bee Special Report. "Methamphetamine cases today account for 80% of the nation's police departments' drug investigations."- D.E.A. Report 1996.

Why not legalize drugs? Even if illegal drugs are completely legalized, drug smuggling and human smuggling will continue across the U.S.- Mexico border. The U.S. government and U.S. pharmaceutical companies can not produce or distribute cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine, LSD, PCP, heroine, hashish, marijuana, etc., as inexpensively as can narco cartels using peasant labor in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Europe, Asia, India, China, etc. Smuggling organizations use illegal aliens as "mules" to smuggle drugs into the U.S.A., as drug dealers in the U.S.A., and as bank and money exchange "smerfs" to electronically transfer drug profits out of the U.S.A. Experts estimate 50% to 75% of all illegal drugs in the U.S. come across the Mexican border.

Even if illegal drugs are completely legalized they would continue to be illegal for anyone under 18 years of age or under 21 years of age, just like alcohol is illegal to drink under those ages in all states. And this age group is a large segment of the drug using population. It may be the "heavy half." But who really knows? You might find out here (White House Office of National Drug Control Policy - O.N.D.C.P.).

Actually, there is no "drug war," this term is a misnomer and is an inappropriate definition. But there is an unlimited number of winnable battles against lawbreaking, drug use, crime, and criminals. The "drug war" is as unwinnable as would be a "war" declared against evil. Americans continue to use illegal drugs, therefore, drug smuggling across the Mexico border will continue. Some citizens of all countries refuse to obey U.S. immigration, employment, and drug laws, therefore, immigration crimes, unlawful employment crimes, and drug crimes will continue.

Little known Mexico border facts: Mexican illegal aliens get 30 "free" border crossing attempts before they are prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), parent agency of the I&NS. Another fact is that 1,000 safety and medical emergency call boxes are planned to be installed in 2001 on the U.S. side of the Mexico border in California and Arizona to aid lost or injured illegal aliens attempting to enter the U.S. illegally. Another fact is that resident aliens, and their families, may collect Social Security and Medicare for the rest of their lives after working as little as 10 quarters (2 1/2 years) in the U.S. even if living in Mexico. Another fact is that children born to illegal aliens on U.S. soil are automatically U.S. citizens entitled to full citizenship rights and benefits, and their parents and extended families may be entitled to many of these new rights and benefits as well causing "chain migration."

Another little known border fact is smuggling of groups of 10 or fewer people, the vast majority of groups now, is seldom prosecuted. And another fact is marijuana in amounts of 10 lb. or less is often ignored in California. A notice to appear in court may be issued which might result in as little as a $15 fine. No, you can't keep the marijuana, not even for medical use according to the U.S. Supreme court.

Also, beginning in fiscal year 1999 the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (I&NS) will count all the apprehensions of the same individual as one (1) attempted border crossing after they have been identified and finger-printed in the IDENT program, whether they are caught one time or thirty times. The result is the official U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (I&NS) 1999 illegal alien apprehension figure will appear to be lower, and thus border enforcement will look to be improving while in fact it is not.

U.S. citizens have the right to decide who is entering, and who is trespassing, on their private property, as well as the right to help determine who enters their country. Article 12 and Article 17 of the United Nations "Universal Human Rights Declaration" provides that everyone has the right to own property, the right to be secure in that property, and the right to privacy, and the right to freedom from arbitrary interference on that property, and the right not to be deprived capriciously of the use of that property.

Therefore, the U.S. Border Report supports finding a viable solution for U.S. citizens now deprived of these United Nations Universal Human Rights by depredations occurring near and on the Mexico border in the U.S. and Mexico. And we support the U.S. Border Patrol's efforts to gain control of our border with Mexico. We also have great sympathy for the people who voluntarily choose to come encouraged by the economic advantages, or forced by economic circumstances across the roughest, hottest, driest, and possibly the most dangerous border terrain in the world, even if this violates many laws in the U.S. and Mexico, rather than using the already established legal methods for immigrating to the U.S.A.

Unless you live directly on the Mexico border, you will probably never believe the amount of smuggling and the number of people illegally entering the U.S. from Mexico today. Many of my personal observations in this study and in my other study "Smuggling on the Mexico border today" are made on only about a one mile section of Mexico border in eastern San Diego county, California.

The original objective of this website beginning in October 1995 was to document this smuggling. Much of it we still do not understand, but our hope is people with more law enforcement, border enforcement, and human rights experience might benefit from this information. This goal evolved into a study of illegal immigration, illegal alien smuggling, drugs, drug smuggling, Mexico, crime, and a number of related areas.

There are more refugees fleeing Mexico and Central America and into the U.S. than in any other area of the world today - including the Balkans and Kosovo. And Mexico's 98.1 million population is doubling every 2 generations (40 years). These are the facts I've discovered. Why is the mainstream media and just about everyone ignoring these realities? And why is the word "immigration" unmentionable today in U.S. politics?

San Diego county, California, is a bit smaller than the country of El Salvador in Central America. We have hiked or ridden on horseback almost every trail near the U.S.- Mexico border. In our dry backcountry almost all trails eventually lead to a water source such as a spring, well, or a rancher's water tank. Only a few years ago these beautiful places were very remote and pristine. However, these are today the favored areas of smugglers and illegal aliens on their way north into the U.S. from Mexico.

Illegal drugs are ruining and corrupting Mexico. More so than most Americans yet realize. New information indicates Mexico may not resolve its economic problems and corruption anytime soon, and we entered a trade agreement (N.A.F.T.A.) with a genuine world-class narco-nation. Drugs are doing the same to our U.S. border areas and to many cities and towns in the United States. Smuggling is the new profession in many border communities. Drug use among our children is increasing. We could not separate the illegal drug problem from the illegal alien problem. Not here on the border. They are interwoven, closely related, and have one common solution: Improved control of our U.S.-Mexico Southwest border.

We favor a National Border Fence - like the new 14 mile triple-barrier border fence in San Diego. A well planned triple-fence to keep illegal drugs, criminals, smugglers, illegal entrants, and foreign terrorists out of the U.S.A.

However, one solution rarely fixes a complicated and difficult problem. But a National Border Fence will be a step in the right direction. It will be our first line of defense against foreign terrorism as well. The fence will dramatically raise the cost of smuggling and the cost of drug trafficking from south of the border to a level which will take Mexico out of the pipeline. It will no longer be profitable using the Southwest border, and thus Mexico, as an entry point. This will be good for both nations, and we will have both gained. The cost of a 2000 mile triple-fence is insignificant. We spend as much in one week of bombing in Kosovo, Serbia, Iraq's no-fly zones, and Afghanistan. Cost estimates range from $4,000 to $1 million dollars per mile, or $2.2 billion dollars using the highest cost estimate - we spend 10 times that amount of money on farm subsidies every year paying U.S. farmers not to grow certain crops or plow certain fields. We should start construction of the National Border Fence today, for our children's sake before it's too late.

Uncontrolled immigration and entry is dangerous to us personally and it's dangerous to the U.S. as a nation. National security requires a controlled and secure national border. I have some idea just how dangerous terrorism can be, because I have an U.S. Army background in chemical, biological, and radiological (nuclear) warfare. I was a chemical weapons specialist in the 378th Chemical Co. (Black Hawks), 5th U.S. Army. Today, it is no more difficult for a terrorist carrying a 40 lb. chemical, biological, or nuclear weapon across the Southwest border into the U.S. than it is for a smuggler with 40 lb. of pot in his backpack. Illegal entry across the U.S.-Mexico Southern border should be stopped.

Another possible solution is a legal one: Immigrant Rights attorneys filing class-action lawsuits against the American employers of illegal aliens who work in U.S. jobs at sub-minimum wages and peonage (economic slavery). A few multi-million dollar favorable class-action judgments or settlements against major U.S. companies, farms, and businesses which criminally employ these illegal workers might accomplish more than the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (I&NS) or the U.S.B.P. have yet achieved, even as the I&NS demonstrates once more it does not take prosecution of these employers seriously (Only 10 were prosecuted in San Diego county last year).

New laws need passed in Congress as well. A new federal law such as "felony trespass" or "felony invasion" and which gives U.S.B.P. agents the right to use deadly force in its enforcement would put strength back in a border control policy which today has little or none.

Wake up Arizonans and New Mexicans. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (I&NS) and the city dwellers of San Diego and Southern California are moving their illegal immigration problems over to you. And an U.S. Border Patrol agent every 475 feet on your border won't fix it any better there than it did here in California. According to another border study "Condemning immigrant job seekers to death," by Claudia Smith, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, and using official I&NS statistics, this study states during fiscal year 1994 before Operation Gatekeeper, there were 477,806 apprehensions in the San Diego and Imperial counties of California combined (CA's two Mexico border counties), as compared to 474,795 apprehensions in fiscal year 1998. And these figures indicate the number of apprehensions along the entire California border today (fiscal 1998) is almost exactly the same number as it was at the outset of Operation Gatekeeper in 1994.

These are apprehensions, NOT total entries. Therefore, the total entries in California each year may be 500% higher (2,373,975) using fiscal year 1998's 474,795 apprehensions as a 20% rate of apprehension, or the total entries in California each year may be 1000% higher (4,747,950) using the same 474,795 figure as a 10% rate of apprehension. And these California total entry estimates are based on the I&NS's own official numbers. And the true numbers may be even higher. (See a more detailed explanation based on extrapolated count-data from electronic sensors placed on illegal alien foot trails in San Diego county below).

Based on the above apprehension figures being almost identical in CA from 1994 to 1998, this often quoted  "Gatekeeper displaced illegal immigration to AZ and NM in 1999" is, therefore, actually more new illegal immigration, and a tremendous increase in illegal immigration from Mexico. Some of the new AZ figures alone extrapolate to more than 2 million illegal alien crossings per year.

Future hugh population increases and natural disasters in Mexico, Central America, and South America are other possible risks, and the improved border control provided by a National Border Fence will prevent millions of illegal aliens from getting mired in the present immigration tragedy. A border fence would also properly define the Mexican border and prevent the Mexican Army from entering the U.S.A., and chasing and shooting at U.S. Border Patrol agents, as they did on March 14, 2000, in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, and on October 24, 2000, near San Diego, California. If the U.S. can go to the Moon... we CAN build the fence. It's nothing technologically difficult, or even expensive.

Then the U.S. would no longer need Operation Gatekeeper. It could be disbanded, protecting the illegal aliens from the additional grief, hardship, and personal danger they experience today unsafely crossing into the U.S. through the dangerous and remote areas of San Diego county, and the Southwest United States.

The aggressive green Mojave rattlesnake with its deadly nerve toxin venom was believed identified in San Diego county on March 15, 1998. Then on August 6, 1998, Africanized Killer bees were positively identified 3 miles from my Jade Mesa horse camp near Jacumba, CA, under an I-8 over-crossing. Next, a Black bear returned to San Diego county on May 15, 2000, and attacked a Witch Creek, CA, rancher resulting in the rancher shooting the 200 pound bear to death. The last Black bear in San Diego county was in 1948. And the Mountain lion population is way up, and we see their tracks often. And two very unusual coyote attacks on humans were reported in May 2000 near San Diego. And we have 3 new colonies of fierce biting Brazilian Fire ants. And the Rocky Mountain brown ticks in the mountains of San Diego county are the worst of all, in my opinion.

Considering this new resident wildlife, and the Mexican Army or Mexican border-smugglers shooting at U.S. ranchers and at U.S. Border Patrol agents, and with temperatures ranging from 0 F. in Winter to +120 F. in Summer, and with the slippery-sided fast-moving All-American canal forming another lethal barrier with Mexico in Imperial county, the San Diego county and Imperial county backcountry may be the most dangerous border in the world.

With the new triple border fence completed and Operation Gatekeeper discontinued, illegal aliens could legally immigrate to the United States with dignity and safety, instead of sneaking dangerously across the border and trespassing on private property as criminals.

"Estimating a hidden population is inherently difficult..." (actual quote from the I&NS website)

This U.S. Border Report N.G.O. (non-government organization) illegal immigration study of the Mexican border concludes that as many as 15,000 illegal aliens cross the border into California each day from Mexico, or about 5,475,000 per year in California only. Or the equivalent of two cities the size of San Diego moving northward into the U.S. every year in only San Diego county and Imperial county, California (the 2 Mexican border counties in California). The increasing population, the devaluation of the Mexican Peso in 1994, the hugh wage disparity of about 1500% between the U.S. and Mexico, and the increasing corruption of Mexico's government by drug cartels, are forcing perhaps as many as 25 million Mexicans to attempt residency in the U.S. (Mexico's estimated population in year 2,002 is about 102 million).

Starvation does not appear to be a significant factor contributing to emigration from Mexico. The consumer price of corn and flour tortillas is subsidized about 50% by the Mexican government.

The total number entering the entire U.S. illegally each year is likely about 7 1/2 million (7,500,000) based on an extrapolation of new data recently obtained and explained in more detail below. Many of these illegal alien entries may be multiple entries by the same individuals, as most illegal aliens entering from Mexico will continue their border crossing attempts until crossing successfully, even after repeated deportations. But if one is to believe the I&NS statistics - that an average TOTAL FROM ALL OTHER COUNTRIES of 275,000 illegal aliens successfully entered the U.S. annually from 1992 through 1996 - one must also believe the I&NS apprehension figure indicating the U.S. Border Patrol catch about 90.4% of all Mexican border crossers, or also believe each illegal alien is caught over 20 times annually, if one uses the electronic trail sensor data from the foot trails in San Diego county discussed in detail below.

Both a 90.4% apprehension rate and 20 annual crossings per individual alien resulting in apprehension are highly unlikely, meaning the total annual entry figure could as likely be anything... because no one really knows. This study attempts to make a more realistic estimate based on personal border observations, realistic facts and published border patrol figures.

"Estimating the size of a hidden population is inherently difficult."- Immigration and Naturalization Service (I&NS) website, 1998. In my opinion and based on this research, the I&NS statistics are understated, erroneous, and outdated.

Today, smuggling illegal aliens, like smuggling illegal drugs, is a multi-billion dollar business in the U.S. of about $10 billion dollars a year. And it is often the same people who manage both criminal enterprises. We must control our country's border if we are going to control illegal drugs and illegal immigration. We can find dozens of charts, graphs, and pages of information about "undocumented migrants" entering and residing in the U.S. at the above I&NS website, but we can find no information about I&NS illegal alien deportations -- the other lawful responsibility and mandate of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (I&NS).

Assuming the I&NS deported 1.5 million illegal aliens on the Southwest border in 1997 would make the U.S. Border Patrol apprehension rate only 20%. And 4,498 illegal aliens have died while crossing the U.S.- Mexico border since 1985 according to a study last year by the University of Houston plus this year's border death toll as of 9-15-98.

Another Peso devaluation is probable at the close of President Zedillo's term in office in December 2000, as happened with Presidents Salinas, Madrid, and Portillo. The effect will be more immigration. So far this devaluation has not occurred.

"The [5 million] Mexican born workers in the U.S. labor force today are equivalent to one-eighth of Mexico's entire labor force of 37 million and one-half of the 10 million Mexican workers with formal sector private jobs. Most of these Mexican born workers arrived in the U.S. within the past decade." (Bi-National Study, 1997). But by the experts' own admissions these figures are only best-guess estimates.

There are approximately 5,000 N.A.F.T.A. maquiladoras (twin factories) in Mexico as of March 26, 1999, including 740 plants in Baja, California (mostly in Tijuana and Mexicali, but a few in Tecate and elsewhere). The average wage ($U.S.) paid in these plants is $0.37 per hour to about $1.00 per hour. The Mexico minimum wage is $0.41 per hour ($3.30 per day) in the northern Mexico border regions ($0.37 per hour elsewhere). Young females are the predominant employees of the maquiladora. Typically these plants manufacture in Mexico and have their transportation and distribution facilities in the U.S. In 1997 Mexico listed its official unemployment as 3.7%. But other non-government estimates range up to 45% (forty-five percent) when not including subsistence agriculture.

More Mexico Statistics: Population: 98.1m (1999 - 40% under age 18) Population growth: 2.3% per year (1992-96); Ethnicity: Mestizo 60%, American Indian 30%, Caucasian 9%; Languages: Spanish, Mayan; Religions: Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%; Currency (New Peso): Ps7.60:$1 (1996, average) G.D.P.: Ps2.55trn; $334.8bn (1996) G.D.P. growth: 1.2% per year (1992-96); 5.1% (1996) G.D.P. per head: $3,520 (1996) Inflation: 20.5% per year (1992-96); 35.2% (1996, average) Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited © 1998.

"With a total in 1997 of $71.4 billion worth of merchandise exports (N.A.F.T.A.) from the United States, Mexico is our nation's second largest export market"... from a speech by Barry R. McCaffrey, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy (O.N.D.C.P.), San Diego, California, August 4, 1998.

"The heavy toll drug use exacts on the United States is most easily measured by the criminal and medical costs imposed on and paid for by the Nation's taxpaying citizens. One estimate places the total cost of drug use at $67 billion. Almost 70% of this is attributable to the costs of crimes; the remainder reflects medical and death-related costs."... Barry R. McCaffrey, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy (O.N.D.C.P.), 1998.

"Before blaming Mexico for the drug trade, we must face the fact that our own country is one of the largest consumers of illegal drugs in the world. Although drug abuse among American adults is far lower (and among children far higher) than it was a decade ago, we still spend some $50 billion dollars a year on cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, and other illegal drugs. Mexican traffickers wouldn't be selling if we weren't buying."... from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (O.N.D.C.P.) website, 1998.

Experts and research indicates approximately 50% to 75% of the illegal drugs in the U.S.A. originate in Mexico, or pass through Mexico, and enter the U.S.A. across the U.S.- Mexico Border.

"While estimates vary, the D.E.A. believes that Mexico is the transit station for 50-70% of the cocaine, a quarter to a third of the heroin, 80% of the marijuana, and 90% of the ephedrine used to make methamphetamine entering the United States." - Diane Feinstein, Senate Mexico Certification Hearings, 1998.

"Methamphetamine cases now account for 80% of the [nation's] police departments' drug investigations." - The Supply of Illicit Drugs to the United States - D.E.A. Report 1996.

"In 1996, about 900,000 U.S.-bound trucks were subjected to a full drug inspection -- one quarter of all the trucks entering the U.S. This marked a substantial increase in the percentage of inspections carried out over past years. However, despite this magnificent effort by the women and men of the Customs Service, cocaine was found in just sixteen of these vehicles."... Barry R. McCaffrey, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy (O.N.D.C.P.), El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, August 26, 1998.

"In 1997, officials inspected 1.09 million of the 3.54 million commercial trucks and rail cars that crossed into the United States from Mexico. Cocaine was found in the cargo only six times."... Deputy National (O.N.D.C.P.) Drug Czar Tom Umberg, San Diego, CA, October 1, 1998.

Today the Mexican drug cartels often "mule" their cocaine and other drugs across the Mexico border on the backs of illegal aliens on foot, who then load it into semi-trucks and other vehicles near the border on the U.S. side... A 2001 version of the Ho Chi Minh Trail used so successfully by the enemy communists during the Vietnam War.

These same illegal alien smugglers may often later contribute to the cartel's distribution infrastructure as drug dealers and traffickers throughout the U.S.A. The Salt Lake City, Utah, Hispanic police chief reports 87% of their drug arrests are illegal aliens mostly from Mexico. But few cities will release this information.

Colombia, Peru and Bolivia produce about 772 tons of cocaine annually. The D.E.A. estimates as much as 342 tons of this amount is for U.S. distribution. 342 tons is 310,909 kilos. 1 kilo is 2.2 lb. If only 2% of the illegal aliens crossing our U.S. border smuggle only 2 kilos of cocaine each this could account for all 342 tons.

For every $10 billion dollars of legal U.S. N.A.F.T.A. exports to Mexico... we receive $12.28 billion dollars of illegal drugs and drug related social costs in return. This cost was $87.75 billion (with a "b") in 1997. This is a good deal? If so, for who?

In 1997 we exported $71.4 billion of legal exports to Mexico with N.A.F.T.A., and also "locally produced" or imported $50 billion worth of illegal drugs, and we had $67 billion of drug-related medical, crime, and social costs, of which about 75% or $87.75 billion is directly attributable to drugs produced in Mexico or coming directly from Mexico.

We in the U.S., therefore, incur $12.28 billion dollars in drug-related costs for every $10 billion dollars of N.A.F.T.A. exports we ship to Mexico. The U.S. government and its agencies will never tell you this information because it's not politically correct to do so.

"Our military offers some effective tools in this [illegal drug interdiction] struggle, but manning a picket line along the border is not one of them."... General Barry R. McCaffrey, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy, San Diego, California, August 4, 1998.

Why not man a picket line? What would General John J. Pershing do today? In 1916 General Pershing headed a punitive expedition into Mexico in pursuit of the bandito Pancho Villa who had committed depredations in U.S. territory. There were as many as 111,954 U.S. National Guardsmen troops along the Mexico border at the end of August 1916. In 1917 Pershing commanded all U.S. forces in WW1. He later became the only U.S. general to ever hold the rank of "Commander of All U.S. Armies."

This disrespect of borders, disrespect of private property, and drug trafficking is NOT acceptable behavior among civilized governments, countries, and peoples.

Eduardo Valles Espinosa, a deputy to two Mexican Attorney Generals in the P.G.R. and the man in charge of investigating Juan Garcia Abrego (Gulf Cartel leader arrested and imprisoned in the US in 1996) wrote in his published letter of resignation from the P.G.R. in May 1994:

"I ask: When will we have the courage and political maturity to tell the Mexican people that we are living in a narco-democracy? When will we have the intellectual capability and ethical strength to say that Amado Carrillo, Arellano Felix and Juan Garcia Abrego are, inconceivably and degradingly, the promoters and even the pillars of our socioeconomic growth and development?... Nobody can conceive of a political project in which the narco-trafficking lords and financiers are not included, because if he does so he is dead."

Later in Proseco, he commented:

"'Narco-power' has deformed the economy; it is a cancer that has generated economic, financial, and political dependence, which instead of producing goods has created serious problems and distortions ultimately affecting honest businessmen."

And the above ratio of legal exports to illegal drug costs doesn't include the additional billions of dollars annually that illegal immigration from Mexico costs U.S. Taxpayers -- privately, environmentally, and socially -- in property damage, theft, wildfires, welfare, medical care, education, housing, lower wages, lost jobs, etc.

Economist Dr. Donald Huddle's comprehensive 1995 study at Rice University of the public sector costs of immigration found that 21.9 million legal and illegal immigrants settling here since 1970 had direct and indirect public assistance costs of $51.32 billion in 1994, after subtracting the taxes the immigrants paid. Of this amount the indirect costs of assisting 2.20 million U.S. workers displaced from jobs by immigrants were $12.42 billion. And U.S. teens, older workers, African-American and other minorities, and unskilled workers are most affected, as many try to re-enter the workforce after recent U.S. Congressional federal and state welfare reforms.

"The drug policies of the Clinton Administration appear to be little more than 'Vietnamization', a turning over of the 'War on Drugs' to the Andean nations and a pulling back of U.S. forces and resources within the borders of the United States. What is happening in Mexico should show us such a neo-isolationism on these issues is neither in the national interest of the United States nor those of our trading partners." - Peter A. Lupsha, senior researcher at the Latin American Institute, University of New Mexico.

In 1996 the U.S. Department of Justice (D.o.J. - parent agency of the I&NS and U.S. Border Patrol) estimated a total of 275,000 undocumented illegal aliens gained entry illegally into the U.S. that year from all other countries. But another government agency's figure, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, disagrees with the DoJ figure and indicates a much higher number based on electronic sensors placed on illegal alien trails in 1996 in San Diego County.

Data collected from sensors installed by the U.S. Forest Service (sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) in 1996 along heavily used forest trails in parts of San Diego County indicates on any given day up to 5,000 illegal aliens are scattered throughout the Cleveland National Forest. (2) The Cleveland National Forest represents approximately 1/3 of the border area in San Diego County (21 of 66 miles). A figure of 5,000 illegals per day equals 1,825,000 per year, and multiplying this number times 3 equals 5,475,000 for the entire county.

This above extrapolated data suggests 5,475,000 illegal aliens are entering San Diego County annually. Even if incorrect due to measurement error, or multiple entries by the same individuals, or a migration shift eastward caused by Operation Gatekeeper in the city of San Diego, it still suggests the DoJ's estimate on their website of 275,000 illegal aliens a year entering the U.S. from ALL OTHER COUNTRIES is a gross understatement of the true number.

The U.S. Border Patrol officially reported 477,806 apprehensions in fiscal year 1994 along the entire California border, and 474,795 apprehensions along the entire California border in fiscal year 1998. These are apprehensions, NOT total entries. Therefore, the total entries in California each year may be 500% higher (2,373,975) using fiscal year 1998's 474,795 apprehensions as a 20% rate of apprehension, or the total entries in California each year may be 1000% higher (4,747,950) using the same 474,795 figure as a 10% rate of apprehension.

My personal best guess estimate is about 5% are caught and deported, and most will try the "revolving door" again. Others in the U.S. Border Patrol say it is 10% to 40% that are apprehended. And yet others knowledgeable in the subject say eventually 100% gain entry to the U.S. whom desire to do so. We agree with this last view also.

Most illegal aliens keep trying until they get across the border. At a U.S. Border Patrol apprehension rate of 30%, illegal alien border crossers have a 99.2% probability of successfully entering the U.S. on their fourth illegal crossing attempt. In other words, every 1000 illegal aliens attempting entry generates 1417 entry attempts, 425 apprehensions, and 992 unauthorized illegal aliens gaining entry into the U.S.A. (1)  For the DoJ's estimate to be correct, each illegal alien would have to be crossing the border almost 20 times annually. And after fiscal year 1998 the I&NS (DoJ) no longer recorded multiply crossings by an IDENT-ified individual, and all border crossing attempts by this individual are counted as only "1" (one).

In their efforts some may get four or more rides at taxpayers' expense on the U.S.B.P. buses to Tecate or Tijuana, Mexico. But at least 99.2% continue to get through. This figure is not acceptable and is yet more justification for installing triple border fences, using U.S. military troops at the border for border enforcement, and eliminating all the misplaced and inefficient interior U.S. highway checkpoints on I-5, I-8, I-15, State Routes 94 and 86 (in Imperial county), S.D. county S-2, Sunrise highway S-1, Kitchen Creek road, La Posta road, and all others except those at the real Mexico border.

Improving the border fence, increasing border patrols with the U.S. military, and eliminating the use of inefficient and misplaced checkpoints on the interior highways used as a false border with Mexico will prevent the terrible abuses victimizing U.S. citizens in San Diego county. Wildfire, kidnapping, car-jacking, robbery, assault, theft, reckless driving "load" vehicles, drug smuggling, trespassing, and littering occur daily. Many of these crimes result from illegal border crossers overrunning San Diego county daily from Mexico. Some citizens have even stopped reporting crime because we know little will be done by the authorities, or we no longer trust them.

In addition, these improvements will prevent the alleged U.S. Border Patrol harassment of U.S. citizens and Mexican visitors at the interior highway checkpoints, and will result in our U.S. border being under control at the REAL border... a much better solution than the present Gatekeeper approach of using inland U.S. highways as the pseudo border, thereby in effect giving American citizens' land to Mexico, and subjecting U.S. citizens and property to widespread lawlessness that is occurring south of those U.S. highways and checkpoints all the way to the REAL Mexico border.

The San Diego County segment of the 1,945 mile U.S. border with Mexico begins at the Pacific Ocean and spans 66 miles inland. It divides bustling business districts and manufacturing centers, middle-class urban neighborhoods, and once quiet rural communities, then stretches eastward over snow covered 6500' mountains and through 110 degree desert chaparral. Hikers, horse riders, campers, and inland residents consider the San Diego backcountry to be the most rugged and beautiful anywhere in the United States... and also the most dangerous.

Elsewhere in the world today a migration of 7 1/2 million people per year would be headline news. The United Nations and other world governments would show concern, suggest help, and propose remedies. Why is this mass exodus, primarily from Mexico, being ignored? Is it because it happens at night and involves illegal drug and people smuggling? Or because it's hidden from government policy making authorities and out of sight to network T.V. cameras? Or because it involves the U.S. and Mexico? Or because of the major political implications these new residents represent in future U.S. elections? Or because the refugee illegal border crossers will often tolerate slave-like working conditions and wage peonage?

And what, other than an unprotected border and a love of freedom, is generating the mass movement of humanity from Mexico and Central America? And how can we stop the invasion, and stop its abuses and damage to U.S. citizens, their private property, and our environment? How can we remedy its causes in Mexico and Central America? And is this condition linked to our continuing "war against drugs?" Or is Mexico purposely allowing the exodus? And if so, for what gain?

"I've been in this business 22 years, and this is the worst thing I've ever seen happen to a forest," said Joe McNally, a law enforcement officer for the Cleveland's (National Forest) Descanso District, whose southern boundary straddles the Mexican border. (3)

That route takes people across ranches (in Mexico) like one owned by Josefina Galaz, who described confrontations with groups of illegal immigrants and their smugglers. "The pollos [illegal aliens] are all right; they're good people," she said. "The bad ones are the polleros, the smugglers. They curse at you, they threaten you. Around here, I don't trust my own shadow anymore." (4)

"It's completely out of control," said Charlotte Frye, whose secluded Skye Valley Ranch in the Cleveland National Forest lies within a well-traveled migration corridor. "We get 50, 75 and 100 of them a day funneling through our property," Frye said. "Our house has been ransacked, our horse trailer's been broken into and our barns have been slept in. They're invading us." (3)

Campers and backpackers have reported thefts of food, sleeping bags and clothing from their coolers and tents, according to authorities. Rangers have posted warnings at trail heads and campgrounds urging hikers to use caution when out in the wild. Countless numbers of discarded water jugs and plastic trash bags have turned many areas into garbage dumps. Migrants have beaten dozens of trails up and down hillsides, scarring the earth. Untended campfires that have already touched off several small blazes pose a tremendous fire risk this summer, rangers say. Groups of immigrants also trample meadows and sensitive plants, and foul streambeds with excrement. Piles of cans and bottles litter the ground. (3)

"Operation Gatekeeper is a total failure. The federal government is good at whitewashing its blunders. East County is overrun with illegal immigrants. The historic Tijuana River Valley war zone has shifted east. The back country is littered with trash. More than 40 illegal immigrants have died in the harsh terrain. Their illegal campfires have started at least 240 brush fires last year. The freeway chases are taking lives and costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Everything that isn't nailed down is stolen. I have spent thousands of dollars installing alarms on my property and vehicles. Last month, my alarm called me home from work. Seventeen illegal immigrants were caught, 29 the time before. An alarm saved my pickup truck three times but the attempted thefts cost hundreds of dollars in repairs. Illegal immigration costs Californians $4 billion per year, which is sent back across the border, so we can't expect any help from Mexico. The only hope is that someone will believe the courageous Border Patrol agents who told the truth. Our more honest elected officials like Duncan Hunter, Dianne Jacob and Jan Goldsmith need to hold onto their convictions until the Clinton Administration is only a bad memory." John M. Lowell, Pine Valley, CA, 26 July 1998

"As owners of a recreation cabin in the Cleveland National Forest at Mount Laguna, we can tell you that whether Gatekeeper is working depends totally on where your residence is. The border from the Pacific Ocean to Otay Mountain may be secure, but this is far from the case for East County residents. In the past year, our cabin has been broken into seven times (five times since Christmas). Windows have been smashed, screens ripped out, locks broken, and shutters and doors broken down. Blankets, jackets, radios and kitchen utensils have been stolen. All of these break-ins have the characteristics of illegal immigrants traveling through the mountains, and not vandals. While we may sympathize with the plight of illegal immigrants, they have become common burglars." Robert W. and Janet E. Haas, Ramona, CA, 26 July 1998

"There have been 322 fires sparked by undocumented immigrant campfires so far this year (1996) along the East County's border region, compared with 24 fires reported in 1994 before Operation Gatekeeper. The costs of such fires, added to those of medical costs for immigrants who are injured and treated, by law, in local hospitals, is $228 million." says Diane Jacob, San Diego County Supervisor.

The total environmental damage may exceed $1 billion dollars per year in San Diego County (many more millions if backcountry border property devaluation is included).

In the 1980s, I patrolled the Cleveland National Forest wilderness areas as a Wilderness Ranger volunteer and as a federal and state Wildland Forest Firefighter. Then I might have met three illegal aliens a month, and I sometimes gave them water, food, or small amounts of money.

Now they cross the border every night. In the early morning starlight near my trailer east of Jacumba, and at hundreds of other border crossing points hidden by darkness in the backcountry, countless numbers of illegal aliens cross the border. I can see they're wearing dark clothing, backpacks, and lightweight hiking boots. Some even have black shoe-polish smeared on their lighter-colored exposed faces and arms. Their black silhouettes move north in single file between the boulders and cactus. This border crossing point is one of hundreds in use today in eastern San Diego county and dozens of their new trails criss-cross this 420 acre private ranch that weren't here before 1994.

The moon has set. At 2:15 AM the neighbor's dogs begin to bark a mile to the west, and at 2:30 AM my dog starts barking too. My horse awakes and restlessly bumps against the sides of his trailer. Sound travels far at night out here.

At 3 AM many human figures come out of the darkness and jog-trot northward toward me. The first group passes east of my trailer. Then another group of many, many, silhouettes pass 30 feet away. Maybe 50 people or more. Then another group passes... then another... and another. For more than an hour they silently shuffle by my camp. One half mile to the northeast "load vehicles" noisily rattle along a bumpy backcountry road or wait parked in small clearings in the brush. U-Haul rental trucks and 18 wheeler tractor-trailer trucks sometimes stop on Interstate 8 to haul them away. This scenario replays every night.

At sunrise the only evidence of this new army's invasion will be many shoe and boot prints, but only if you know where to look for them.

Some of the silhouettes are the "coyote" guides also called "polleros." Some are the marijuana and cocaine "mules." Some cross the border to get U.S. jobs. Others cross for U.S. checks. One in four is a female. Most are young. Some are pregnant and want their baby born in the United States as a citizen. Many are poor by our standards. Most are good people. A few flee authorities or politics. Others hope to join family members or friends because their villages south of the border may have few remaining. They've all gone "norte" (north) too. And many will Western Union their U.S. earnings and checks back to Mexican banks or to their remaining family. Some will keep it with a dream of owning their own ranchita (little ranch) in Mexico someday.

All are breaking many U.S. and Mexican laws by entering the U.S. in this manner. Mexico says its constitution prohibits interfering with the right of Mexicans to leave the country, but the constitution extends this right only to authorized exit points, and the constitution could in any event be amended, as it has been for 400 plus times this century. (1)

Gladly or reluctantly the mule accepts $1000 to carry contraband and will use it as his family's grubstake in the U.S., or to pay the additional $1000 demanded by the coyote to bring his pregnant wife along (smugglers charge more for pregnant girls). In Mexico today many things require bribes and payoffs... even leaving. They call it "la mordida" (the bite), and it's as common south of the border as tipping your waiter is in the U.S.

Most illegal border crossers I've contacted in San Diego's backcountry are Mexican, but I've met Guatemalan, Russian, Chinese, and Polish too. It's not illegal to leave Mexico. However, entering the U.S. on private property in the backcountry between official Ports of Entry (P.O.E.s) is a criminal act in both Mexico and the U.S. And it is a crime to smuggle. And it is a crime to trespass. Private property rights founded U.S. democracy. And it is a crime to start wildfires... and to destroy the environment... and to steal from U.S. citizens... and to cause reckless conduct endangering U.S. drivers and pedestrians.

And a near crime too, in my opinion, to deprive U.S citizens of their sleep, of the use of their private property, of the use of their public wilderness areas, and to subject us to embarrassing and time consuming highway checkpoint interrogations and searches because of these illegal border crossers.

"It does not surprise me that those who would not respect our immigration laws will disregard the civil and criminal laws of our country as well," Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) said during a recent House debate (5).

I wonder about this too... will our new U.S. residents act in a more responsible manner after they obtain U.S. citizenship? Only time will tell.

When founded in 1776 the entire United State's population was about 3.5 million people (6), or about the same population as San Diego County's 2.8 million today (7). Today in 2001, the U.S. population is about 286 million people, and we've experienced about a 400% increase in population since 1900 (8). California's Hispanic population increased by about 2.2 million from 1990 to 1997 according to recent U.S. Bureau of Census data. And many, if not most, illegal aliens do not participate in U.S. Census polls.

Over 10 million legal immigrants will arrive in the U.S. this decade making it the highest population growth decade in U.S. history. Do we really need the additional millions of illegal aliens coming to the U.S. per year as well? And what about the U.S. families who responsibly planned one or two "replacement children" in an effort to maintain a reasonable U.S. population and quality of life? Have we maintained small families so millions of illegal aliens can then immigrate illegally to the U.S. and obtain citizenship?

U.S. Border Patrol Agents, we are beginning to understand why the Immigration and Naturalization Service management (I&NS) has tied your hands regarding all these border problems, but keep up your good work anyway. U.S. citizens along the U.S.- Mexico border primarily want back our former peace and quiet, we want to feel safe in our homes again and on our private property, and we want back the use of our private property and public property for whatever uses they are intended. We're tired of sleepless nights, litter, harassment, crime, and people from other countries walking past our bedroom windows and across our yards and property at all hours of the day and night.

Visit the "Smuggling on the Mexico border today" study for more information about our experiences on the Mexican border.

Thank you,

The Author
01 January 2003
San Diego, CA

Endnotes: Migration across the Mexico border study
(1) Illegal Immigration and Economic Integration, Professor of Economics Philip Martin, University of California at Davis, California, from the Internet, 15 Jun 1998 (link is now dead)
(2) Page A-1 San Diego Union Tribune 12 May 1996
(3) Page A-1 San Diego Union Tribune 12 May 1996
(4) Page B-1 San Diego Union Tribune 10 Mar 1996
(5) L.A. Times 05 Nov. 1997
(6) 1790 U.S. Census, 1996 World Almanac, pg. 826
(7) CA Dept. of Finance
(8) 1950, 1990 U.S. Censuses and current Bureau of Census estimate

Author's note: I've lived and worked on the Mexico border for over 22 years as a businessman (heavy equipment sales and service), ranch foreman (California and Colorado), federal and state wildland firefighter (U.S. Forest Service and California Department of Forestry & Fire), mineral prospector and mine claimant (5 placer mining claims in Imperial county, California), and volunteer U.S. Forest Service Wilderness Ranger (Pine Creek and Hauser Mountain federal wilderness areas - volunteer organization board member for 1 year term; and leader of mounted horse patrol and trail foot patrol for 3 years) . We favor fair international trade, proper border enforcement, and a responsible level of legal immigration. Thanks, but this website accepts no donations and is a not-for-profit entity.