WEBVTT - CZM Rewind: An Update on Border Patrol Outdoor Detention 0:00:01.760 --> 0:00:07.800 Also media. Hello, and welcome to it Could Happen Here 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:12.800 podcast about things falling apart and people putting them back together. 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:15.159 I am back. After a lengthy court battle, have been 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:18.200 allowed to return to the podcast, which I'm very grateful for. 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:21.360 And I'm joined today by John and Haval, two friends 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:23.840 of mine who volunteer out here in Cucumber a lot, 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:25.639 a lot more than I do. And we're going to 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:28.880 explain some developments sort have happened, give you all an 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:31.040 update on the situation here and let you know how 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:33.120 you could help. So welcome to the show, both of you. 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:35.120 Hello, thank you going to be back. 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:38.120 Yeah, welcome back. If you'd like to just introduce yourselves, 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:43.400 like your name, like whatever role you play out here, pronouns, 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:46.720 and any affiliation with any organization you feel is relevant. 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.280 So my name is John. I'm someone that lives in 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.920 the area. This situation just kind of showed up in 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:58.880 my backyard. I was kind of forced into it rather 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:01.560 than volunteer into it, and I've been dealing with it 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:04.480 NonStop since the beginning. Yeah, I'm one of the main 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:06.559 sets of booths on the ground. 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:11.200 Have all I used, they them pronouns, and I organized 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:15.080 with direct Action Drumline and Zene Distro doing a lot 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:17.520 of mutual aid, which is how I got involved in 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:20.600 all this, and also with Alocholato helping out on the 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:23.640 ground since the beginning with John, pretty much just a 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:25.600 little after John started. 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:30.920 So yeah, so that's what nearly six months, so if 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:34.080 you're not counting me, yeah, yeah, wow, yeah. 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:37.039 So yeah, it started in May and then it stopped 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:39.920 during the summertime. It picked up again in September, and 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:42.000 we've been dealing with it NonStop since then. 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:44.680 People will have heard briefly from John's Faber sam In 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:48.640 in our May episodes about title forty two, which we did. Yeah, 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:51.360 it seems like forever ago. Also doesn't seem like very 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:55.640 long ago. It's just one big weird collapsing of time. 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:01.520 So last time we spent last time with HAVAL, we 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:04.800 had this situation where we had three distinct concrete camps 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:09.639 right adjacent to gaps in the wall, which volunteers were 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:16.200 servicing with food, water, warm blankets, were building shelters, and 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:18.520 we've heard a lot about those camps. Does one of 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:22.200 you guys want to explain how things have changed since then, 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.120 and really particularly in the last six weeks. 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:29.000 So yeah, it's changed quite radically. Actually, So between the 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:32.959 months of September and December, we were servicing these three 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:35.680 camps kind of more or less in our immediate area. 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:39.440 It was pretty straightforward. Our routine would consist of stopping 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:43.160 at each camp two times a day and feeding people, 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:46.079 providing them with all the different things that the US 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:51.000 government was not and I kind of wish things were 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:54.639 simpler like they were back then. Yeah, So at the 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.160 end of the month of December, Secretary Blinken made a 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:03.800 visit to Mexico, and I suspect that he pressured the 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:07.440 Mexican government to police our border for US. One of 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.320 the immediate changes that we saw as a result of 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:14.760 that was the foundation of two Mexican National Guard camps 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:18.320 at two of the gaps that feed into those camps 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:24.000 in our area, and that has basically stopped any people 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:27.880 coming through those areas. This has not made any less 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:30.600 people come into the country. Actually, the numbers have been 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:34.359 fairly consistent. It's just that people have been forced to 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:38.840 go in through other areas. So there have been many 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:42.520 many new oads that have popped up west of US. 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.800 We have to drive quite a bit further towards San 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:49.200 Diego to go and service those areas, the main one 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:53.400 being Sliders, which we're seeing about two hundred people come 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:57.640 in sometimes in a night. It's not a good scene. 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:03.040 Whereas those three ones that were originally servicing had dumpsters 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:05.280 and porta potties at the very least, Yeah. 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:05.640 They still do. 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:09.000 They still still there exactly. 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:10.680 Yeah, moving at the speed of government. 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.320 The new ones don't have that, and people are having 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:16.400 to spend Well, how long were the people there most 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:19.920 during that crazy, crazy time, just like a few days ago. 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:23.480 I think they were up They were there for up 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:25.160 till like nineteen hours. 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:27.600 Yeah, going on a day right now. Yeah, because we 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.880 first to backtrack to people, like we we heard from 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.040 a member of the community that there have been people 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:37.760 seen held there right at Sliders, And then we went 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:41.680 out there and we kept finding like warm fires, like 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.640 where people hope clearly been there and built fires. We 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:47.400 could see where people have scavenged to brush, and a. 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.960 Lot of documents ripped up around there, the Mill Hill signs. 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.440 Yeah, yeah, all these signs until we were able to 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:55.520 use that to suppose that that was a place where 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:58.400 people were and then I guess was it eventually someone 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:00.960 stayed the night there and that was what we bumped 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:02.839 into people there. Someone bumped into people there. 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:06.960 Well, we have an acquaintance that's been very helpful towards 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:09.960 the cause that lives just close by to there, and 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:11.920 he's kind of one of the one that sounded the alarm. 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:15.320 And from there, it's like you said, it's a lot 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:18.360 more difficult, right, Like it's probably a thirty minute drive. 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.200 It's a steep off road, so like when it rains, 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.440 it's hard to get to. So that makes it more 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:27.600 difficult for us to provide stuff for people there. And like, 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:30.680 I guess people should realize that we didn't find out 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:32.920 about this because Border Patrol called us and said like, hey, 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:35.160 there are people here without food, water show don't do that. 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:36.400 But yeah, that's not the thing that they do. 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.960 We actually did one another volunteer, Brendan and I were 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:42.440 driving out and we stopped on the road. I don't 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.640 think you were with us, John, but we started talking 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:47.800 to one of the agents because there was two or 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:50.200 a group of people from I think Egypt. That was 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.960 the day everyone did the mass exodus from one seven seven. 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:56.080 So we stopped and we're talking to one of the 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.680 agents and he did slip that there was another camp. 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:00.400 He didn't name it, didn't say where it was, he 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:02.599 just said it was that way. And that was around 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:04.560 the same time that Morgan had mentioned it to us. 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:06.520 So it's you know, we kind of pulled it out 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:09.280 of this agent because we were talking very nonchalantly with 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:11.520 him and he was being generally nice. 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:14.159 But yeah, they don't tell us about this stuff. 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:16.680 Yeah, and we have to find him myself. And what 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.839 I think that brings up is that there are potentially more, 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:22.240 right we think, we know for a fact there are. 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:25.640 We know that there are more. And like I think 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:28.160 it's obviously people and people think of California and they 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:29.640 think of LA and they think of San Diego and 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:31.600 they think of the beach and like pleasant weather. But 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.520 can you explain, like it's been really cold out here. 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:36.960 I'm pretty miserable right with the wet weather we've been having. 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:40.240 This is a pretty unknown part of southern California. You know, 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:44.040 we're a mountainous region just just east of San Diego, 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:47.880 within San Diego County. It's I mean it's not it's 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:50.440 not crazy high, it's you know, it's about on an 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:53.160 average of three thousand and four thousand feet above sea level. 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:56.479 But yeah, it gets very windy over here, gets very unpleasant. 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:58.320 It often drops down to freezing. 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:02.280 Yeah, and that's if you're out there all night and 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:04.480 you have any shelter and anyway to get warm, and 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:07.240 you're potentially wet from crossing a river or crossing a 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.400 stream that often pops up in the desert, can be 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:12.800 a really miserable situation. So, like, it's important that these 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.920 people receive help. And right now it's just through word 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:18.400 of mouth and the local community that we're able to 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:19.920 find them right and give them their help. 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:21.880 Yep. Yeah, So. 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:29.119 Going forward, like we've seen like this movement of migration west, 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:32.520 what does that mean for the ability of volunteers to 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:35.200 provide services to migrants and what does it mean for 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:39.320 the safety Like you said that the push factors haven't changed, right, 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:42.520 So people are still coming here. They still have things 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:44.920 to get away from that lead them to come here, 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:48.400 but they're not coming the same way where we could 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:50.600 so easily help them in these three concrete sites. 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:54.120 So like what does that mean, Well, it's takes a 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:56.480 lot more time out of our day just to drive there. 0:07:56.600 --> 0:08:01.520 For one, the main one sliders is up a very 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:02.200 shitty road. 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:02.720 Yeah. 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:04.960 So I think they call it sliders because it's so 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:07.360 muddy and slidy over there when you're trying. 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.160 To be Yeah, I put someone's head into the roof 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:11.840 of my trucks. That's so long ago. 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:14.000 Yeah, And uh, you know, we're not the only ones 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:16.080 that are displeased with this. It's more it makes the 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:18.960 life for the border patrol more difficult, makes life for 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:22.600 the emergency medical services more difficult, and of course it 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:25.880 makes life for the migrants more miserable. And the owner 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:27.760 of the property and the owners of the property in 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:31.400 which they're hosting these you know, detaining these migrants. 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.240 Yeah, I think if every single one has been on 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.800 private property so far, right, and I think we spoke 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:39.360 to most of the property owners at this point, and 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.000 it just seems to come out of the blue at them. 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:42.160 It's a very. 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:44.240 Strange permission has never sought. 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:46.920 Yeah, and I think I know one of them is 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:50.199 suing the Border Patrol for it, but fake months. But 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:52.960 obviously it does have an impact on a landscape as well. 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:55.000 People understand to be a coal so they're cutting down 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:58.400 whatever they can to burn to make shelter, to make 0:08:58.440 --> 0:08:59.959 their experience a little bit less miserable. 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:03.880 So that's the Yeah, that's that's kind of a bargaining 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:08.000 tool that we try and use when trying to convince 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:10.600 the property owners to allow us to build shelters over there. 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:13.800 It's just to try and convince them that it'll be 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:16.000 good for them to have migrants not be in a 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:18.439 position to be forced to have to cut down the 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:22.199 vegetation on their land and trash their land, and you know, 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.400 by allowing us to build shelters on their property and 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:27.920 give firewood to the to the to the migrants that 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:31.760 are being held on their property, it's better for them 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:32.800 in the long run. Yeah. 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:34.640 And the first time we went out there, they had 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:37.679 created these shelters by just ripping brush and creating these 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:40.040 like semi circles that were maybe about a foot or. 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:41.360 Some of them are very impressive. 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.520 Yeah, yeah, like two three feet high, and it was nice, 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:46.920 you know, and enclosed, so they had some sort of shelter. 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:49.160 But yeah, they had to rip all that from the 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:52.400 vegetation around the area, which just ruins the ecosystem there, 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:52.800 I'm sure. 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:55.120 Yeah, and it must tear up your hands as well. 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:58.360 It list of storny bushes and stuff. Yeah, it's it's 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:01.719 not desirable for anyone talking of things aren't desirable. We 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:04.320 unfortunately have to take an advertising break, so we will 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:17.280 do that. Here's some stuff that you don't need. All right, 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:20.880 we're back. Those are some products and services. Now we're 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.680 going to talk about the way John being very local 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:27.360 to Hacumber, right, how it is like organizing in a 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:30.960 rural community, and the way that obviously you have people 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:36.040 of very disparate political leanings in the area, and like 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:40.480 how you've managed to like phrase what we're doing and 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:43.040 to organize in such a way that the very least 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:45.640 people aren't like actively pissed off at you. 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:48.640 Yeah. So, first of all, I'm a Quaker, come from 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:53.320 a Quaker family, and first and foremost I am doing 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:55.839 this for religious reasons, and I like to try and 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:58.400 remind people of that. So when people try and come 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:02.880 at me with high immigrants sentiment, I just try and 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:05.880 remind them that you know, this is this is basically 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:08.120 what you're supposed to do according to the Bible. And 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:11.800 you know, to hate on any of these people is 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:15.079 very Unchristian. And when I do so, it's very hard 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:16.800 for them to come at me with any of that stuff. 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:20.839 But still yes, for the most part, the community over 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.719 here have not been very helpful towards this. They have 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:27.439 not been very enthused with all these migrants coming in, 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:33.400 and you know, they've been very regrettably misinformed about it all. 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:37.839 They're still looking at various crazy sources for their news, 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:40.280 like YouTube channels and stuff like that, and it's kind 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:42.600 of kind of hard to believe. It's like, you guys 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:44.839 live in the area. You can just drive straight out there. 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:46.959 You can talk to me a person that you guys know, 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.760 yet you still choose to look up all these various 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:52.120 whack jobs on YouTube. 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:54.920 Yeah. Yeah, we've had something of a problem with the 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:59.400 YouTube people. Right, there's a whole info a whole ecosystem 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:01.920 of right wing you tubers that I think probably most 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:04.640 folks don't know about, even if you take an interest 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:06.800 in other like right wing conspiracy stuff, as a whole 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:10.120 ecosystem of right wing border YouTubers who have been I mean, 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:12.360 describe what you've seen, right, We've had like a new 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:14.920 right wing fascist out every day. 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:19.400 It seems there's Oreo Express, Anthony Aguero has been out here, 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:21.840 JLR Investigation JLR. 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:25.600 Roger Ogden was out here the other day classic. It's 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:28.040 kind of calmed down though in the last last couple 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:32.360 of days. But there was a period in late February 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:34.559 where it seemed like they were coming out every single day. 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:36.920 Yeah, just a different guy in a different lifted jeep. 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:40.200 Yeah, exactly just after that whole border what. 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:42.200 Was it that take back our Border? 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.600 Yeah, I got them all rouled up to come out 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:48.160 of Actually, what really set them off to be aware 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:49.839 of all of this is when Fox did their big 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:52.560 piece out here and they were out here for multiple days. Yeah, 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:54.480 that's what kind of like turned on the tap. 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:58.200 Yeah, and that's very common anyway you go on the border, right, 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:02.040 Like Fox has a border report to Bill Malugan. People 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:05.120 will be familiar with Bill Malugan from publishing a story 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:07.240 in twenty twenty which suggested the police officer had a 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:11.760 tampon used tampon put in his Starbucks coffee, which was 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:15.320 demonstrably false and didn't really very much look like a tampon. 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:18.000 You can google more about that if that's interesting to you. 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:20.160 But like someone who preps should have lost their journalistic 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:23.480 credibility at that point. It's now doing border reporting for Fox. 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.040 And this is like when I speak to people all 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:28.800 along the border right here, Arizona, Texas. Yeah, the stuff 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:33.440 that Fox puts out very strongly correlates with anti migrant sentiment, 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:36.120 both both locally and with like these these folks coming 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:39.360 in and streaming, and they're always asking for donations, right, 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:43.439 Like it's not a then they're they're not like advert 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:46.280 funded or like publicly funded like that, they're funded by 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:47.319 donations for what. 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:50.160 Yeah, well, I forget the channel there Aguero is on, 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:52.360 but he's constantly asking for the nations. 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:54.320 And like, oh, thank you, you just dropped ten dollars, 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:55.920 thank you for the five spot. 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:58.000 Other of like they're sitting in his car. 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:01.599 That's that's what their grift. That's what they're out there for. 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.720 Every It seems like a third of their broadcast time 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.320 is spent asking for donations. 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:09.360 Right yeah. Yeah, it's like a like a charity stream, 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:12.360 except it's the opposite of charity, I guess exactly, so 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:15.160 pay me to do hateful things streams. Yeah, And I 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:19.520 think like that as we get as we look between 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:21.920 now and November, I think it's really important that like 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.840 the border will be a topic that people who never 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:28.320 come to the border will argue about constantly between now 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:30.960 and November, right, Fox News will have reporting on it, 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:33.640 NBC will have reporting on it, like and both of 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:36.720 them will have reporting that isn't anchored on what we 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.840 see every single day out here, which is whateverariety of 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:43.560 people from all over the world who are having a 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:48.520 very difficult time right here and need a help, right 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:51.960 and we're doing what we can to help them. So 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:55.600 I guess what, like people who are listening to this 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:58.000 will in the next I don't know how long it 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:02.920 is to a November, what six months, they'll have conversations 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:06.760 with their family members, with their friends, with people in bars, whatever, 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:11.600 regarding the border. What do you think they should know about, 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:16.920 like what we're seeing and like what because there's this 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:19.520 whole border invasion narrative, right, and like, this is not 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:22.160 an invasion. We were just out joking with some people 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:25.680 and helping them get the firewood prepped, Like these people 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:26.240 are not a threat. 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:29.600 I think people often make the mistake of considering this 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:32.080 issue to be a political issue. It really is just 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:34.920 a humanitarian issue. Vast majority of the people that I've 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:37.760 talked to have very legitimate reasons for needing to come 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:40.920 into this country, whether they're from Ecuador, you know, you 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:43.440 know the situation over there recently there were gangsters that 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:47.280 took over a TV station right, Or in Guatemala, where 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:49.840 I spoke to a man who told me that his 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:53.120 children with college degrees can make enough family money to 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:58.240 feed their families. Or even in Afghanistan where people have 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:02.720 literally had the talib and threatened their families' lives. 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:05.920 The same with and the Iatola escaping, all. 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:08.440 The Kurdish people in Turkey. I mean, the list goes on, 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:12.520 or you know, climate refugees like the Mauritanians that we 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:16.920 just spoke with earlier. Yes, they're they're coming, and they 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:21.200 have really reasonable grounds for asylum over here. 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.840 Yeah, and it wouldn't be such an quote unquote invasion 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:27.280 if they were just allowed to walk through the port 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:30.440 of entry. This it's this process is so silly because 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:32.480 they cross They could just do this all at the 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:33.120 port of entry. 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:36.200 They really could be safe. The policies just choose not 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:36.760 to do this. 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.000 Yeah, that's the part that really doesn't make sense, is 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:43.400 like we're letting them in anyways, Why do we need 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:46.840 to make their lives so uncomfortable you know and dangerous? 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:47.040 Right? 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:47.640 Dangerous? 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.160 I mean, John, you and I were on a water 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.600 drop maybe two months ago, now six weeks ago in 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:57.000 slightly west of here, right, Yeah, do you remember we 0:16:57.080 --> 0:16:58.760 were driving down to where we're going to get off 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:02.840 and we met that family from Guinea. There was like, 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:04.840 do you you want to just describe what you saw 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:06.920 because I think it was like, at least for me, 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:08.520 there was like I've seen it a lot, but it 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:10.159 still emotionally affected me, so that. 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:12.240 Yeah, there was a there was a Guinean woman and 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:14.480 her kid. I think he might have been like what 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:18.239 four or something three? Three? Yeah, and uh, and there 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:21.640 was also a Nigerian woman and you know, Nigerian speak 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:24.560 English and Guineans speak French. They weren't really able to 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:28.440 communicate with one another, and yet they were still traveling 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:32.720 side by side because they they just teamed up because 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:36.080 they were in a desperate situation together. One of them 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:39.879 was was she and sandals. One of them didn't have 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:42.080 shoes tois didn't have shoes at all. Right, Yeah, yeah, 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:44.639 it's six weeks is a long time, you know what 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:45.159 you're doing this? 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:47.119 Yeah, well you see horrible things every day. 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:49.480 Yeah, it's been a very eventful time. Yeah, every day 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:54.160 feels like a news story. Yeah, and they just kind 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:58.560 of sat on the side of the road and were 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:02.439 out of breath, and they were just basically asking us 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:02.960 to help them. 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:05.360 Yeah, I remember the little girl, but because we were 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:07.680 obviously concerned with the lady who didn't have shoes and 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:09.840 trying to help like bandage her feet and stuff. But 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:11.840 then I remember the little girl just wasn't saying anything, 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:14.320 and I suddenly realized, oh, this little girl is probably 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:20.200 very cold. She was like, you know, early, like mildly hypothermic. Yeah, 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:23.200 So I had her wrapped up in a little mylaud 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:25.600 blanket with me to warm her up, and it's just 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:28.359 I don't know, it just for one reason or another, 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:29.879 that was a moment where I was like, why on 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:31.720 earth are we doing this to a three year old? 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:34.719 Like what possible reason could there be this three year 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:38.400 old girl to have hypothermia here in like the richest country. 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:40.879 In the world. Who could possibly agree that this is 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:41.320 a good thing? 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:41.680 Yes? 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.680 Yeah, Or another experience I had in the beginning of 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:47.080 February where there was this Colombian man who was in 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.960 tears who approached me and told me that his daughter 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:54.600 was very very ill, and he dragged me over to 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:57.480 a porta potty and she was there bundled up with 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:01.520 like nine blankets or something, not really responding to my questions. 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:04.000 He was trying to contact nine to one one, but 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:06.639 the responder on a nine to one one or the 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:10.320 dispatcher didn't speak Spanish, so I had to communicate with 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:13.080 them and navigate the whole situation. Turns out she did 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:18.880 have hypothermia. Yeah, but the ambulance would not take him 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:22.080 along with the mother and the child to the hospital. 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:25.600 So again it's another case of family separation. Who knows 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:28.000 what might have happened. They would have gotten processed separately. 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:31.760 He could have ended up in Louisiana and she could 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:33.760 have ended up in Riverside or somewhere. 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:36.399 Yeah, And at that point, once again, it's not the 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:38.760 government or your taxes that will pay for those people 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:41.840 to be reunified. Right lately, that's work that's done by 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.360 NGOs and moderntary organizations exactly. 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:46.080 Yeah, despite the. 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:48.800 Massive amount of money we spend on And we were 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:52.040 just talking the other day about how the architectural marvel 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:54.080 of sections of the border wall right where they've poured 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:57.560 concrete at like a forty five plus degree angle and 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:01.399 spent millions of dollars for every yard that and we 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:03.320 don't have enough money to give this three year oldue 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:06.439