My four years in the U.S. Army (1960-1964), 2nd Armored Division headquartered at Fort Hood of tragic remembrance, were to polish my knowledge of English through my cussing master sergeant and my foul-mouthed comrades-in-arms, i.e., I learned the bottom level of Shakespeare's idiom.
Compared to today's armament, our rifles and our tanks were primitive relics of WWII and yet became the main deterrent to the 40 Soviet tank divisions massed at the border between East and West Germany. This tense situation had a side benefit for me as I was sent twice to an area close to Frankfurt from which I easily traveled to Switzerland to see my folks. That was the last time I talked to my father who already suffered from an incurable cancer.
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The Cold War ended in 1991 (historians may dispute this date) when I was still living in Mexico teaching French and English to the locals. The general feeling of dislike among the Mexican population towards the United States was tempered by a need, yes, an urgent need to buy American products. The Mexican goods suffered from deplorable quality. Thus we took frequent trips to the border where we happily stocked on food, clothing, and even electrical appliances. There were two customs checkpoints at the time on the Mexican side, a limited obstacle to our contraband items. I sometimes 'forgot' a twenty-dollar bill (or higher depending on the size and quantity of the goods) on the driver seat of my car and passed the inspection without problems. Hey, it was a national custom which helped the poor agents who made a miserable salary. I still see the 'mordida' as a necessary evil!
The residents of the Rio Grande Valley know full well that their economy would suffer greatly without the constant influx of Mexican buyers. The recent devaluation of the peso, one of many in the past, has hurt the building industry the most, though special holidays like Easter still see a large number of Mexican plates in the valley's commercial parking lots. Political borders often become business opportunities in which both countries benefit, a factor that Mr. Trump and Sen. Cruz blissfully ignore. Many industries would lose essential manpower, for example in food production, agriculture, personal services, and construction among others, if the 14 or so millions of illegal aliens were suddenly ejected from our country. Many important and rich politicians have been known to hire undocumented immigrants to service their mansions and businesses. Who benefits the most? Everybody.
It is a truism that Washington politicians will never 'fix' the immigration problem even though this nation's might wouldn't exist without these hard working folks. Our bickering Congress is too busy kissing the hands of lobbyists to actually pass meaningful and beneficial legislation that would solve this particular problem.
Yet, we strive as the most powerful nation on Earth even with inept senators and congressmen. That says a lot about the real hero: the ordinary people of this mighty country who sweat bullets to chase the elusive American Dream.
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