Can We Close Our Borders?



No, not the southern border. Or even the northern. State borders.

There used to be check points on the borders between New Mexico and California. Supposedly it prevented you from bringing illegal fruits? And vegetables? From one state to another. I can remember in college smuggling back papaya from spring break in California. I have joked in the past of nobody missing New Mexico if we decided to no longer belong to the US and where we could put up ports of entry on the major interstate highways: I25, I10, I40.

News has reported there are seven states which are doing Nothing to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. Two are direct neighbors: Oklahoma and Texas. Because of the total and absolute lack of leadership from the top down states have been reacting piecemeal to the crisis. The various Governors in Washington and California, New Mexico, and Colorado have taken action for their own states. But while they have taken decisive action to hopefully head off the pandemic eleven states have chosen to totally ignore it. A couple like Wyoming and Idaho I can sort of understand. They are off the beaten path. But Texas!!! They even have major ports. And major hubs for airline travel.

So can we close the border between Texas and Oklahoma? Which would mean forbidding citizens who have second homes here. But spring break is over and they won't be back to May to open their vacation homes. If we had ports of entry we could keep them out if they have a fever.

What good does it do to closely monitor our own citizens, close our schools and restaurants and bars, if we are going to let people from states with no responsibility to flow across our common border? No problems with our neighbors to the north. They closed their ski areas before we did. A warning would have been nice because they all fled south in search of snow. We could have coordinated the closure of ski areas in our state so there was no reason to come here.

We need a national policy. We need a national leader. But clearly that isn't going to happen so until then can we please close our borders.

Note: I opened with a photo of Utah Canyonlands. If you have spent any time on the internet you know there are a bunch of people with RV's heading there to isolate. Is something like this why the ancient people vanished? Wasn't drought at all.


Comments

Post a Comment

I write for me but I care what my readers think. Please be polite and no scamming.

Popular posts from this blog

Swimming

Image
For much of my college career my fitness workout was swimming on the B squad of the swim team. I remember it as the days before heated pools and women coaches. I also remember being so exhausted and cold I could only lean against the shower wall and throw up. Not exactly warm fuzzy images but I was in awesome shape. Needless to say it did not leave me with a overpowering desire to swim laps. Point of fact for years my swimming became really informal: Swimming to shore after the canoe tipped over, challenging my sister once a summer to across the lake and back, seeing how long I could back float without moving a muscle, and a scuba course. I also played around with other ways of staying fit: aerobics, bicycling, jogging, skiing and dance classes. All of which seem to be bad for the knees, back or feet. After my ski accident my physical therapist steered me back to the pool. Damn if I was going to swim laps! However, aqua fit was just getting rather seriously taken so I took it. It r
Read more

The Pruning the Crown of Thorns

Image
Crown of Thorns Before I am a lover of Euphorbias . They are from the deserts of Southern Africa and Madagascar. They have evolved physical characteristics and forms similar to cacti of North and South America and are often incorrectly referred to as cacti. My big Crown of Thorns was one of my first of a growing collection of these succulents from the spurge family of Euphorbiaceae. I picked it up as a 6 inch plant in a New Iberia nursery when my sister and I were touring the northern gulf coast. I believe that was 15 years ago. I made an attempt at limiting its height a few years back to allow it to devote more energy to the new branches and make it a denser plant. That failed. And the height of the plant continued to challenge the window space and soon the long branches were leaning over and leaning against the window. I googled and found the proper way to prune this treasured plant. Still it was very difficult to cut off the four longer branches. Even with a plan. The f
Read more

Eagle Nest Dam

Image
Tour of Eagle Nest Dam Eagle Nest Dam is the largest privately built dam in the United States. It was begun by the Springer family in 1917 and completed in 1920. It and the reservoir beyond it one was privately owned by the CS Ranch which recently sold it to the state of New Mexico. Eagle Nest Lake is now a state park, but the dam and the waters in the lake are another matter all together. Water is well regulated in New Mexico especially during a drought. The lake is now at 25% of its normal capacity, and the water in the lake are water right lease holds of Raton, Cimarron, and historic ranches in the area like the UU Bar and the CS Ranch. Game and Fish department also get involved because the Cimarron River is an active fishery of the state. Our guide was a state engineer and the Gateway Museum secured permission of the land owners below the dam for us to gain access to the area. Some 100 locals and tourists attended this rare event. I have lived here almost twenty years and th
Read more