Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi has been sitting in a Mexican prison since March 31 for crossing the border with guns in his car. Mexican citizens are not allowed to own firearms and American tourists should be aware that transporting ammunition or firearms, across the Mexican border, is a crime punishable by jail time….Mexican jail time…sometimes in the La Mesa Penitentary, where cartel members and gangs rule the cell blocks.
Let me start off by saying that I respect a sovereign nation’s right to establish end enforce laws–Mexico is not these United States. It’s government doesn’t trust its good citizens with firearms, turns a blind eye towards the drug cartels’ operations, and its national and local police forces have a reputation for being corrupt. I completely understand why so many Mexican citizens illegally cross our borders. Nonetheless, Mexicans control Mexican soil and we gotta play by their rules when we’re there.
Ideally, the borders would be open for citizens of both countries to traverse but, until we dismantle the welfare state, that’s not practical. Moreover, since this nation was attacked in 2001, an open border invites terrorists and foreign enemies. Relations between Mexico and America are amicable enough but neither side really enforces the border between us. American border patrol agents complain that they aren’t allowed to enforce our immigration laws and the Mexican border is mostly unprotected–virtually anyone can drive right in….or mistakenly get caught in the Mexico entrance chute on I-5 Southbound.
That’s what happened to Marine Sgt. U.Andrew Tahmooressi. He made a few wrong turns in San Ysidro and got caught in the “no return chute” southbound to Mexico. Once there, he realized he wasn’t coming back, and had firearms in his truck, he called 9-1-1. CHP couldn’t help him as he was in already Mexico.
Something’s wrong on the border. America law enforcement is being told to hold back while Mexican law enforcement seems content to lay waiting for unknowing Americans. Onesolution would be to shut the border down but that doesn’t foster trade, friendship, or good will. Maybe a turnaround would be advisable, with LEOs on both sides of the border reminding Americans of Mexican laws and Mexicans of American ones. While ignorance may not be an adequate defense, education might stop Mexicans and Americans from breaking each others laws.
Meanwhile, Andrew Tahmooressi is stuck in a Mexican jail and that’s wrong. The guy made the same mistake Mexican agents made, two years ago, and wasn’t given an opportunity to correct it. Mexican politicians and judges don’t want American media to influence their decisions and their legal system is much different from ours. There are no political incentives for Mexican officials to release Tahmooressi and plenty to prosecute and imprison him. This is where American politicians can get the job done.
Congressman Hunter is leading the charge on this but his tactics are more stick than carrot. Tahmooressi is going to need to support of prominent Democrats if we’re going to bring this Marine home. Democratic politicians may not understand that it’s politically profitable for them to lead this effort because the story has mostly been covered by conservative media and championed by conservative activists. We need to change that approach.
Congressman Juan Vargas represents the federal border district and Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez represents the state border district. Vargas and Gonzalez have deeper ties to Mexico and greater engagement with Mexican officials than Hunter and Issa, Vargas is headed in the right direction but conservative media need to reward him for this effort. Gonzalez should follow Vargas’ lead and local media should reward her for that effort.
This isn’t a Second Amendment issue. This isn’t an immigration issue. This is a border problem and the Democrats offer us the best chance to bring our Marine home. At the end of the day, that’s the goal. I don’t care which politician earns the credit for it.