No Go
It was not an easy life and they had to be vigilant. They knew that they were being watched, so they could not leave their home unguarded. A trip to town meant one of them had to stay behind with a gun and stand watch. Some of their neighbors who had left their homes unguarded had been robbed. Others had been attacked, and some even killed. At times they could see the lookouts watching them, waiting for an opportunity. Fear was a key component of their lives. It was not an easy life.
While this could be a description of many places, and many times, it is not some distant land, it is the United States. It is not a description of the early life on the frontier. The above description is the real life experience that many American citizens face in this country today. This is life for those who live near the border in Arizona, and whose homes now lie within the paths used by the cartels that smuggle drugs and people into the country.
They can see the lookouts for the cartels watching them. In theory they could call the police, but local law enforcement is ill equipped to deal with the cartels. So calling the police would only mark them for retribution by the cartels, and the cartels do not simply kill you, they make sure that you and your family suffer horribly as a warning to others.
The Federal government certainly has the power and authority to deal with the cartels. But Washington is a long ways away, and the problem faced by these American citizens is far removed and easy to ignore. Besides, taking a strong stance against the cartels would mean effectively closing the border, and this immediately raises the issue of illegal immigrants, which many politicians support with talk of amnesty in order to get votes from the Hispanic community. Others are afraid to take any action for fear of losing Hispanics votes. While some do talk of building a fence and getting the boarder under control, so far the other two groups have successfully been able to block them.
So the only real action that the Federal Government has taken, other than the crazy attempt to sell the cartels weapons, which has already resulted in the numerous deaths, has been to mark off certain areas of the country as dangerous and post signs that say in big red letters:
DANGER – PUBLIC WARNING
TRAVEL NOT RECOMMENDED
* Active Drug and Human Smuggling Area
* Visitors May Encounter Armed Criminals
They have, in effect ceded those parts of America to the cartels. This is all well and good if you live in Washington or elsewhere in America and will probably never go there anyway. If you ever do take a vacation and happen to come across one of those areas, now you will know to turn around. But it is not so good if you happen to live in one of those areas.
It is not as if these people chose to live in fear of the cartels. These areas are not some unclaimed wilds. This is simply southern Arizona between the cities of Phoenix and Tucson. It was not all that long ago that these areas were just as safe as anywhere else in the country.
But the politicians in Washington are sacrificing this and other areas of the country in order to pursue their own political self-interests. The longer they ignore the problem the bigger it will become. One of the main jobs of the Federal Government is to defend the country. Any politician of either party that does not demand immediate actions to defend these citizens from foreign invaders is failing to do their constitutional duty, and should be kicked out at the first opportunity.
The idea that we have no-go areas in this country is an abomination that should not be allowed to stand. The very fact that the government has put up these signs is proof that they have failed in one of their most basic jobs.
