The absurdity of our country's one-sided border security debate recently lay before my wife and me in a parking lot in my hometown of El Paso. As we sought a bit of life's necessities, namely diapers, from a Target store at a shopping center I frequented as a child, the sea of license plates told a story of remarkable change.
Thirty years ago, there were plenty of license plates that unmasked the roots of vehicle owners — more importantly consumers — as citizens of the neighboring Mexican state of Chihuahua.
But the plates occupying parking spaces on the American side of the border two weeks ago had changed in not only number, but artistry. Stuck in my memory were the rather ugly black-and-yellow Mexican license plates of the 1970s, which bore two strange contractions at the top: "Front Chih."
Some El Pasoans Anglicized that as a two-syllable border adjective. "Look at that frontchih car."
Others knew that it referred to motorists from El Paso's sister city, Ciudad Juárez, which lies on the "Frontera Chihuahua" or the Chihuahuan border.
Like many things, those "Front Chih" plates have been replaced over the decades. Occupying their place now are more elegant plates depicting the area's mountains, which, like the drivers who consume American goods, treat the border as a natural gateway, not a stopping point.
On our way into the store, I made a mental note of the last 20 vehicles we passed. Nine of them were from Mexico.
Thinking it may be an anomaly, I made the same calculation, in a different row, after we finished our shopping. Eight out of 20 were from Mexico.
What does it say?
To me, it says the issues of border security and immigration in places like El Paso are nonnegotiable. You don't, as some congressmen want us to believe, "secure the border first" and then talk about a guest worker program.
What are we securing the border of El Paso from? Consumers who are keeping the city's four major shopping centers afloat?
The contrarian argument is that border crossers in places like El Paso are simply shopping and then going back home. Therefore, it has nothing to do with immigration.
But it does if you live on either side of the Rio Grande. As a country, we can't in one breath talk about erecting border fences to keep Mexicans out and then expect their compatriots to flow over international bridges to bolster our economy.
Richard Dayoub, president of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, knows this firsthand. Particularly frustrating to him is the fact that most congressional proposals to "seal the border" are coming from lawmakers who couldn't find El Paso on a map.
"If you're a congressman from Pennsylvania, God bless you," Dayoub said. "But you really don't know what's going on down here.
"Anything that comes from inside the Beltway (in Washington, D.C.) and says 'we don't want these people here' is a little myopic," he said.
Sadly, politics is often less about good policy than it is about good talking points. But Dayoub is one American businessman who hopes the passing of Tuesday's national elections will lead to more reasonable border legislation.
"You cannot be in the job I'm in," he said, "and not hold out that hope."
To contact Jaime Castillo, call (210) 250-3174 or e-mail jscastillo@express-news.net.
