Day Four - Border Enforcement and Hike

We started this day out with a meeting with two representatives from the Border Patrol. It is certainly a fact that Border Patrol has saved lives but there is also a case to made that some of their staff have done some bad things. The feeling of the group was that we mostly were not a fan of the institution. In some ways, that is difficult because we went in having an opinion already. Nevertheless, I went in with an open mind but also understanding that these guys are required to represent the organization through a positive light. 

We met them in a neutral location. I know, it is weird but it's what we did. 

They talked about some of the good stuff they have done and the difficult things they had seen. 

There were some weird moments of the conversation that I did not like. I did not like that one of them said they were puppets. Or that one of them lied about the effectiveness of USAID. 

Some people were troubled by how someone might sacrifice their morals to do such work. That's a rather big question to ask. I will say, as a student we explore a lot of theories and expect people to do things rationally and somewhat perfect. 

That is not reality. 

I don't know what it is like to work in Border Patrol or what I would do if I worked for such an organization. I don't know what inspires people to work for Border Patrol. I hope it is to do good work for our country but I can't say that for everyone. I only talked to two agents. 

We must recall that institutions are made up of people - imperfect people. We are all imperfect. 

At what point our morals may bend under pressure, I do not know. 

Perhaps we should teach ethics in school. We should teach ethics in school. It's a great subject. 

I'll be honest, I would like to work in the government someday. I feel like America has treated me well for the most part and now it is my turn to give back and try to make this country better. Just a little bit. Perhaps this is what motivates people to work for the U.S. government. 

I think we need to work to hold these institutions accountable. What the agents said is that they respond to policies and they follow the rules set for them. The just "following order" argument is somewhat problematic but just following orders doesn't make you a Nazi. But you should never blindly follow orders. Policies need to be challenged by protests in the streets and votes in the ballot box. We simply cannot turn a blind eye as to what they do. Accountability and transparency are key. 

On a lighter note, we then went on a nice hike to Mt. Cristo Rey. Because there are 14 crosses along the way, my Christian friends stopped 14 times along the way. All respect to their faith - I was happy we could stop along the way so I did not appear as out of shape as I really am. It was a beautiful hike and it was my first time in New Mexico. It's a beautiful state. It was interesting observing people reflect on their faith whilst on this hike. I also thankfully had just enough water. 

We then had a pleasant conversation with Father Mike Gallagher who is quite a well-traveled man. We talked a little bit about South Africa because we both had been there. He talked about the refugee populations that he encountered and some facts about migration. Majority travel for economics and they can afford to. It makes the discussion of migration more complex because it is such a complex topic. It furthers a point I have made before - immigration is complicated and we should stop trying to simplify it.