“I know you!” Border Patrol agent Hector Covarrubias exclaimed in his rapid-fire Spanish to two women from Torreón, Mexico who he had just detained. We were in a desert area on the U.S. side of the border wall that separates Sunland Park, New Mexico from Anapra, Mexico.

This is a heavily trafficked area by migrants only a few miles west of the large cities, El Paso, Texas and Juárez, Mexico.

“I detained you yesterday,” he continued. “I had you returned to Mexico.”

The two women were kneeling meekly in the sand as he took their documents, removed their shoelaces, and prepared them to be taken to a detention center.

I was there with three other Border Patrol agents as part of what they call a “ride along” that they will give to members of the press. Although I am just a freelance journalist, I have been visiting the border at least once a month for the last thirteen years and write extensively about border issue. I also help a number of humanitarian programs including migrant shelters in Juárez, El Paso, Deming, New Mexico, and Palomas, Mexico. This would be my third early morning trip with Border Patrol agents.

Too often all migrants coming to the U.S. border are referred to as “illegal” but a substantial majority are simply exercising their legal right to apply for asylum or parole. This article only covers those who are attempting to cross illegally and offers several potential solutions — more Border Patrol agents, an expanded and simplified work program, new technology to inspect the large trucks which bring fentanyl and other drugs into the U.S., and a continuing strong relationship with Mexico.

Border Patrol Agents

Although I have been pro-immigration since my experience looking for workers for the peach harvest in Palisade, Colorado, as Commissioner of Agriculture under Gov. Dick Lamm, it’s obvious that we must control our border. This particular area west of El Paso (pop. 678,000) and Juárez ( 1.6 million) and between Sunland Park (18,000) and Anapra (30,000) is a microcosm of the problem.

Juárez is a natural arrival point for migrants who have been brought north by ruthless, multi-country cartels. Anapra is just to the west, abuts the border wall and has houses where migrants and their “coyotes” can hide before attempting an early morning crossing.

The border here has a huge wall which I have seen breached in split seconds by what are called “coyotes” with lightweight aluminum ladders. To the east is a very rugged mountain, Monte Cristo Rey, where there is no wall.

The “coyotes” who work for these cartels and lead groups of migrants are highly sophisticated and extremely ruthless. For example, in March 2021, they dropped two Ecuadoran children, ages 3 and 5, over the wall at the west end of Anapra in an effort to distract the Border Patrol so they could bring other migrants down the mountain to the east. Fortunately, this was spotted via a recently installed surveillance tower and the children were saved.

But this is a continuing “cat and mouse” game whereby they try to lure the Border Patrol agents in one direction and cross in another.

However, the agents here are highly trained, respectful of those they detain, and, in effect, form a “human wall” which is more effective than the steel one.

The obvious problem is that there aren’t enough of them to cover the 1,954 miles of our total border. President Joe Biden has been asking for more but the Senate legislation that would have provided them never even got a hearing in the House.

Work Permits

Although crossing like this is illegal, in my opinion, the vast majority of these migrants are actually victims. These multi-national cartels charge them an average of $9,000 a person to be brought to the U.S. and lure them here with promises of well-paid jobs. Given the violence and corruption in their countries as well as the miserable economic opportunities — $9,000 is about the equivalent of two years of an average salary in Honduras, for example — these promises are hard to resist.

Human smuggling is a multi-billion business now and more profitable than smuggling drugs.

Most of those who cross illegally are young men who are looking for work; they know that they don’t qualify for asylum. Without asylum designation or another legal status, it is impossible for them to work legally in the U.S.

Why, when there are so many unfilled jobs in the U.S., aren’t we expanding guest worker programs so that more could get work permits that would allow them to be here legally? There is the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers program but the numbers allotted are too few and, to quote Benjamin Etcheverry, president of the New Mexico Chile Association, “the problem with this program is its extreme inefficiency and cost for employers.”

Given our need for workers in construction as well as agriculture, this would seem like an obvious solution for at least some of those who are now crossing illegally to instead seek a legal path to the U.S.

Fentanyl and Other Drugs

The right-wing claim that migrants are the primary source for the fentanyl and other drugs that are being smuggled into the U.S. has “demonized” the process and made any sort of political compromise even more difficult. The truth, however, is that the overwhelming quantity of drugs smuggled into the U.S. come in large trucks that cross through the various ports of entry.

Trying to search all these trucks would be economically disastrous. Mexico is now our largest trading partner, not only for the U.S. as a whole but also for Colorado and New Mexico. Delaying this transborder shipping would cost billions. For that reason, legislators here in southern New Mexico – Congressman Gabe Vasquez, for example, and Xochitl Torres Small before him — have been pushing hard for the development of new technology that could quickly identify drugs in these trucks.

Relations with Mexico

The recent reduction in the number of migrants reaching our border is due to restrictions put in place by Mexico. The term of the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is coming to an end and there will be a historic election on June 2 when, for the first time in Mexico’s history, a woman will be elected. Claudia Sheinbaum, a member of Obrador’s party, the former Mayor of Mexico City and a scientist with a PhD is well ahead in the polls. Building a strong relationship with her will be essential.

These are solutions that would make a difference but in the meantime, we are lucky to have Border Patrol agents like Hector Covarubias who are willing to do the grueling work of protecting our borders. Now is the time to give them the support they need.

Lastly what happened to these two women from Torreon? Were they prosecuted or simply sent back to Mexico once again? At a minimum, their information would be registered so that they would never be able to apply for asylum or any other legal way of entering the United States. Yes, they broke the law but, to me, they are also victims.”

Morgan Smith lives in Santa Fe but served in the Colorado House of Representatives, as Commissioner of Agriculture, and Director of the Department of Local Affairs and the Colorado International Trade Office. He can be reached at Morgan-smith@comcast.net.