Washington, DC - Many years ago my two sons and I took a few days and traveled to Southern California. We enjoyed seeing some sights in Los Angeles and San Diego. It's was one of those fun things we did I'll always remember.
One thing not so fun was our decision to cross the border into Tijuana, Mexico. We had never been to Mexico and thought it would be interesting to visit and then we could say we had been there. We drove to a parking lot just on the border and left our car and took a designated walkway path that led us right into Mexico. We were greeted by lots of taxi drivers who offered us a ride. We climbed into a cab and got our ears full on into the town of Tijuana. The taxi driver was full of expletives about what Tijuana was all about which was mostly drunkenness and prostitution. It felt like the taxi ride from hell. I was embarrassed for our family and was glad when we could get out of the car.
I felt like we had stepped into a scum hole. There was nothing really worth seeing in Tijuana and every other building was a loud bar with lots of men on the street begging us to come in to see the prostitutes. We probably survived our visit maybe an hour hoping to see something worth seeing before we finally found a taxi to take us back to the border. The driver on the way back laughed and said, "We have nothing here worth seeing or losing. We are not like the United States. We have nothing to lose." When we got out of the taxi there was a long line of people waiting to get through customs back into the United States. What took only a minute to cross into Mexico took us almost two hours that day to get back into our country. We were so glad to cross back into California.
I don't have anything against Mexico. There are lots of beautiful vacation spots and lovely people in that country. I eat breakfast at a place in our town operated by wonderful people from Mexico. However, the taxi driver was right in one point of his comparison between Mexico and America. We are worth something and have plenty to lose in this country.
A friend of mine just moved from a Texas border community and was irritated because someone from Mexico came across the border and stole his motorcycle. "I'll never see it again," He said. He also told about families he knew close to the border who would never let their children play outside alone. "Those families are terrified of their children being kidnapped and taken across the border. They know if that happens they will never see their children again."
Utilize our national guard on the border. Drugs are flowing into our nation from Mexico. People are still crossing illegally. We need to protect our people. Our borders should be crossed legally and people should abide in our country legally. America is worth protecting.
Dr. Glenn Mollette is the author of 12 books. His syndicated column is read in all 50 states.
