WEBVTT - An Update on Border Patrol Outdoor Detention 0:00:01.760 --> 0:00:04.960 Also media. 0:00:05.800 --> 0:00:09.360 Hello, and welcome to it Could Happen Here podcast about 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:13.159 things falling apart and people putting them back together. I 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:15.159 am back after 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 that 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 --> 0:00:38.080 Yeah, welcome back. If you'd like to just introduce yourself, 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 --> 0:00:50.320 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 --> 0:01:11.319 Have all I used them pronouns and I organized with 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:15.160 direct Action Drumline and Zene Distro doing a lot of 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:17.840 mutual aid, which is how I got involved in all this, 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:21.320 and also with Alocholato helping out on the ground since 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:24.279 the beginning with John, pretty much just a little after 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:25.600 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 father 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 --> 0:01:51.160 it seems like forever ago. It also doesn't seem like 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:55.640 very long ago. It's just one big, weird collapsing of time. 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:01.560 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 0:02:16.240 --> 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 --> 0:02:45.800 providing them with all of the different things that the 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:50.800 US government was not and I kind of wish things 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:54.600 were simpler like they were back then. Yeah, So at 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:58.040 the end of the month of December, Secretary Blinken made 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:03.359 a visit to Mexico, and I suspect that he pressured 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:07.320 the Mexican government to police our border for US. One 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:10.160 of the immediate changes that we saw as a result 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:14.360 of that was the foundation of two Mexican National Guard 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:18.040 camps at two of the gaps that feed into those 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:23.680 camps in our area, and that has basically stopped any 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:27.400 people coming through those areas. This has not made any 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:30.280 less people come into the country. Actually, the numbers have 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.880 been fairly consistent. It's just that people have been forced 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:37.480 to go in through other areas. So there have been 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:42.480 many 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 0:03:45.840 --> 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 --> 0:04:02.320 Whereas those three ones that we were originally servicing had 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:05.240 dumpsters and porta potties at the very least, Yeah. 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:05.640 They still do. 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:06.480 They still. 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:10.680 Still there exactly, 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 --> 0:04:16.440 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. 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:23.480 I think they were up They were there for up 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:25.160 to 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 --> 0:04:33.080 a member of the community that there have been people 0:04:33.640 --> 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 --> 0:04:44.840 where people hopefully been there and built fires. We could 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:47.400 see where people have scavenged to brush, and a. 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:51.320 Lot of documents ripped up around there, the Mill Hill signs. 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.360 Yeah, yeah, all these signs, and so we were able 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:55.320 to use that to suppose that that was a place 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:58.120 where people were and then I guess was it. Eventually 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:00.600 someone stayed the night there, and that was what we 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:02.839 bumped 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 --> 0:05:34.960 there are people here without food, water show they don't 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:36.400 do that, but yeah, that's not the thing that they do. 0:05:36.560 --> 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 --> 0:05:56.120 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 --> 0:06:12.680 him and he was being generally nice. But yeah, they 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:14.159 don't tell us about this stuff. 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:16.720 Yeah, and we have to find him myself. And what 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:20.000 I think that brings up is that there are potentially. 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:22.240 More, 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 --> 0:06:28.120 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 --> 0:07:15.960 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 the help. 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:21.280 Yep. Yeah. 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:27.720 So going forward, like we've seen like this movement of 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.880 migration west, what does that mean for the ability of 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.680 volunteers to provide services to migrants and what does it 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:38.200 mean for the safety Like you said that the push 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:40.560 factors haven't changed, right, So people are still coming here. 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:44.280 They still have things to get away from that lead 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:47.320 them to come here, but they're not coming the same 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:49.560 way where we could so easily help them in these 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:50.600 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 --> 0:08:07.320 muddy and slidy over there when you're trying to be. 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:09.720 Yeah, I put someone's head into the roof of my trucks. 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:11.840 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. 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.280 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 --> 0:08:42.520 It's very strange. 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:44.240 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 0:08:50.480 --> 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 0:09:03.960 --> 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 --> 0:09:18.480 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 --> 0:09:39.720 like semi circles that were maybe about a. 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:41.360 Foot or some of them are very impressive. 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.520 Yeah, yeah, 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 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:52.400 vegetation around the area, which just ruined the ecosystem there, 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:52.800 I'm sure. 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:53.440 Yeah. 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:55.439 And it must tear up your hands as well, lost 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:59.079 of thlny bushes and stuff. Yeah, it's it's not desirable 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:02.319 for anyone talking of things aren't desirable. We unfortunately have 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:04.559 to take an advertising break, so we will do that. 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:17.720 Hit some stuff that you don't need. All right, we're back. 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:21.079 Those are some products and services. Now we're going to 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:25.719 talk about the way John being very local to hocumber right, 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:28.679 how it is like organizing in a rural community, and 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:33.720 the way that obviously you have people of very disparate 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:38.200 political leanings in the area, and like how you've managed 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:41.800 to like phrase what we're doing and to organize in 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:43.559 such a way that the very least people aren't like 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:45.640 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 --> 0:11:37.840 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 --> 0:11:59.480 YouTube people. Right, there's a whole info, wholely ecosystem of 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:02.200 right wing you tubers that I think probably most folks 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:04.719 don't know about, even if you take an interest in 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.400 other like right wing conspiracy stuff, as a whole ecosystem 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:10.120 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. 0:12:15.240 --> 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 --> 0:12:40.560 Yeah, exactly, just after that whole border what was it. 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:42.200 That take back our Border? 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.600 Yeah, I got them all rouled up to come out. 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.240 Actually, what really set them off to be aware of 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:50.199 all of this is when Fox did their big piece 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:52.560 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 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:15.320 demonstrably false and didn't really very much look like a tampon. 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:18.040 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 --> 0:13:50.199 Yeah, well, I forget the channel there Aguero is on, 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:52.600 but he's constantly asking for the nations and like, oh, 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:55.079 thank you, you just dropped ten dollars, thank you for 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:58.000 the five spot the other like they're sitting in his car. 0:13:58.320 --> 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 --> 0:14:40.400 see every single day out here, which is a whate 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:42.600 variety of people from all over the world who are 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:48.560 having a very difficult time right here and need a help, right, 0:14:48.800 --> 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 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:02.920 is to a November, what six months, they'll have conversations 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:06.760 with their family members, with their friends, with people in bars, whatever, 0:15:07.320 --> 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 0:15:25.720 --> 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 --> 0:15:49.880 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 threaten their families' lives. 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.920 The same with and the Iatola escaping, all. 0:16:05.880 --> 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 --> 0:16:35.320 port of entry. They really could be safe. The policies 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:36.760 just choose not to do this. 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:39.800 Yeah, but that's the part that really doesn't make sense, 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:43.240 is like we're letting them in anyways, Why do we 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:46.840 need to make their lives so uncomfortable you know and dangerous? 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:47.640 Right? 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 --> 0:16:57.160 slightly west of here, right, do you remember we were 0:16:57.240 --> 0:16:58.840 driving down to where we're going to get off and 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:03.080 we met that family from Guinea. There was like do 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:04.840 you and 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 --> 0:17:09.680 still emotionally affected me. 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:12.040 So, yeah, there was a there was a Guinean woman 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:14.320 and her kid. I think he might have been like 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:18.040 what four or something three? Three? Yeah, and uh, and 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:21.360 there was also a Nigerian woman and you know, Nigerian 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:24.480 speak English and Guineans speak French. They weren't really able 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.880 to communicate with one another, and yet they were still 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:32.240 traveling side by side because they they just teamed up 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.879 because they were in a desperate situation together. One of 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:38.880 them was was she and sandals. 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:40.960 One of them didn't have shoes tois didn't. 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:43.200 Have shoes at all. Right, Yeah, yeah, it's six weeks 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:45.080 is a long time, you know what you're doing? 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:47.160 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 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:03.560 to help them. Yeah. 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:06.600 I remember the little girl because we were obviously concerned 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:08.000 with the lady who didn't have shoes and trying to 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:10.040 help like bandage her feet and stuff. But then I 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.359 remember the little girl just wasn't saying anything, and I 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:15.400 suddenly realized, oh, this little girl is probably very cold. 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:20.200 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, 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:28.399 I know it just for one reason or another, that 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:30.240 was a moment where I was like, why on earth 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:31.840 are we doing this to a three year old? Like 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:34.880 what possible reason could there be this three year old 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:38.200 girl to have hypothermia here in like the richest country 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:38.600 in the world. 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:41.320 Who could possibly agree that this is a good thing? 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:41.680 Yes? 0:18:41.920 --> 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 0:18:51.200 --> 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. 0:19:01.920 --> 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 0:19:13.119 --> 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 --> 0:19:28.040 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 --> 0:19:42.520 to be reunified. Right, that's work that's done by NGOs 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:46.920 and moderntary organizations exactly. Yeah, despite the massive amount of 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:49.240 money we spend on And we were just talking the 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:52.720 other day about how the architectural marvel of sections of 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:54.760 the border wall right where they've poured concrete at like 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:58.480 a forty five plus degree angle and spent millions of 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:02.040 dollars for every yard that and we don't have enough 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:03.919 money to give this three year ogue out a blanket 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:06.439 or to get that family back together. 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:10.000