Silly politicians, troops are for war
SAN DIEGO -- In the Southwest, four governors are sending National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. To understand how dangerous this could be, you can listen to politicians or poets.
Consider what California Gov. Jerry Brown -- the only Democrat in that cohort -- said last week at the National Press Club in Washington. Reluctant to honor President Trump's request for troops, but afraid to be seen as weak on immigration, Brown is in quite a pickle.
In his remarks to reporters, the governor of the Golden State downplayed his showdown with Trump. The president -- who seems to enjoy using California as a foil -- has accused the Democrat of undermining border security.
Last week, Brown -- who claimed that California and the Trump administration are "pretty close to an agreement" -- pledged to send as many as 400 National Guard troops to the border, but only on the condition that they not enforce immigration law or build a wall.
"Trying to stop drug smuggling, human trafficking and guns going to Mexico to the cartels, that sounds to me like fighting crime," he said.
Hold on. Brown must think he is being clever, doing Trump's bidding but on his own terms. Yet how are the California National Guard troops supposed to "fight crime" -- which isn't their job by the way -- without interacting with illegal immigrants? Are troops supposed to arrest the human traffickers and not also take into custody the humans being trafficked?
"Trying to catch some desperate mothers and children, unaccompanied minors coming from Central America? That sounds like something else," Brown said.
Agreed. To many Latinos, it sounds like someone is trying to bleach out the brown and make America white again.
Let's consult with a band of Mexican poets who have -- as naturalized U.S. citizens living in San Jose, California, since the 1960s -- used music to decipher the Mexican diaspora.
To unpack the experience of working-class whites in the Rust Belt, you turn to Bruce Springsteen. But to decode what it means to be an undocumented Mexican immigrant living on this side of the line, you need to soak up the wisdom of Los Tigres del Norte -- a band that has sold more than 30 million records.
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