One in ten only....

I talked with a man today who actually believes people crossing the river into the u.s. are allowed to keep all their belongs & are granted 5 years during which to apply for asylum.

And he believes they can immediately begin work.

He is white, cowboy-ish with his pointed toe boots and brimmed hat, maybe 50. So I ask him when was the last time he welcomed refugees at the border. He kinda scoffs and claims he's seen the truth in a film.

I tell him his film is wrong, if not lying to him. I've been on the border in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. He looks doubtfully at me as I pick up a plastic bag that's blowing by our feet.

I flatten it and examine it - then I tell him this bag is about 3" taller and 6" wider than the plastic bag that border patrol gives people to put all their valuables in when they are lined up, waiting to board the van to go to the 'detention' center.

Border patrol then points to the two big dumpsters along the 'wall' and instructs people to toss everything else into that dumpster: backpacks, diaper bags, extra clothes - anything that will not fit into the little clear plastic bag.

The guy, Robert, looks at me with such disbelief until I pull up the pictures of the plastic bag I have on my phone.

More misinformation: asylum seekers can't work for the first 6 months they are here and only ONE in TEN will eventually be sucessful in their bid for asylum. The other nine will be returned to their countries of origin or dumped into Mexico, no matter how dangerous it is for them or their family.

He then points to two small clouds gathering overhead and tells me they are full of chemicals and if I watch them long enough, they will dissipate and send chemicals down on us.

He's a 'government is trying to control us, take away our guns, and leave us vulnerable to the cartel'. Plus everyone is blaming white men now - he feels it.

I ask him where he lives and I'm not thrilled to know it's Cochise - I don't want to run into him there when I make my delivery.

I want him to know that he has mis-information about refugees. He lives he on the border. He has guns. He is white and male. I will not get into his white man pity-party while I'm trying to touch some kind of compassion he might have.

So I tell him I have to leave but I really want him to know the truth about people crossing the border and how we are treating them. I tell him again that I've been there, on both sides of the border and he can believe me.

Oh well, on to Cochise