Barry Graham: Illusory Flowers in an Empty Sky

This article about about how Explorer Scouts (an affiliate of the Boy Scouts) are being trained by the Border Patrol is the latest example of the paramilitary measures being taken to fight illegal immigration, a problem that doesn’t exist.

A year ago, in Southern California, I was stopped at two La Migra checkpoints. In both cases, it was National Guardsmen rather than Border Patrol officers.

At the first one, they just had a drug-sniffer dog check out the car for around 30 seconds, then waved me on.

At the second one, the young man in his paramilitary costume walked up to the window of the car I was driving and said one word:

“Citizenship?”