Bordering Insanity

It hit the news headlines big time when the Governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, mandated an okay for search and seizure of people who looked suspiciously like illegal immigrants. The enactment of this legislation was either a clever tactic, or a great attention getter, as it mimics Federal search and seizure laws that are already in existence.

So what is the big brouhaha all about? I won't defend Jan Brewer. This isn't an issue about feminism, is it?

No, instead I'll tell you a story about Ralph.

An avid fisherman, Ralph spends much of his summer on Lake Erie fishing. During midsummer, the deeper waters are reputed as the best place to find fish. So, as per every season, Ralph and his wife could be found near the deeper Canadian waters where they had usually had pretty good luck throughout the years.

Ralph is an innocuous looking fella. He's an intelligent looking man, clean cut, about sixty-five years old, and wears glasses and a ball cap.

On a day with low swells of three feet or less, he's out there fishing, and suddenly hears a loud engine roaring. By the time he turned his head, whirring red lights, sirens, and strange figures dressed like Ninjas with machine guns, were upon him.

Ralph couldn't see their faces because of the dark netting material draped from the bill of their hats. His heart took a leap, and his brain couldn't register what was going on.

The intruders demanded to see Ralph's registration, and drivers license as they visually inspected his boat (for bombs, or what?).

Who were these interlopers?

They were Homeland Security Border Patrol Officers. They were just doing their job, checking out little old gray haired retired people.

Granted, Lake Erie is one of the biggest of the Great Lakes, but isn't this just a little bit of overkill? So, for this size of a lake, that the area is divided between Canada and the U.S., there are approximately 52 officers representing the Homeland Security. More than this, the Coastguard, located in Marblehead Ohio, at the southern tip of the Lake Erie, has forty some recruits stationed there.

Legal immigrants and many others have been protesting. Yes, it might appear that chances are they could be asked to provide I.D. or green cards. But they won't be alone.

Ralph is a U.S. citizen who was born, and raised here. It's ridiculous to imagine how a white haired Caucasian retiree out on his little boat fishing could be a suspect, but after the scare, he got over it, I think.