Replies

We were down in Baja this past weekend, coming back via San Ysidro early Monday morning during commute rush hour. I noticed the new wall as we drove by on Friday afternoon - very impressive. And in true NorCal style (GD, you might like this), the structure has a natural "pre-rust" look that is so popular for guardrails and exposed steal beams and girders along scenic freeways in the Bay area. (I know what others might be thinking: East coast rust belt. No, the non painted, soft rust looks blends in with the color of the natural hills, scrub, etc in California. Very popular and part of the NorCal superiority complex.)

I've been going down to Baja since the 80s, throughout every conceivable economic/crime cycle, up and down. Right now, Baja is as economically healthy as I've ever seen it. I don't know what Trump promised/threatened the MX government, but the border situation along this section is totally under control - at least for now.

In addition, and I'd guess a lot of people don't know this, there are a TON of MX nationals who commute into San Diego. So, while it always seems like there are coyotes and migrant armies trying to crash the border, there are also many other MX citizens who *want* to return to their homes each night. So, they go through the normal border ID process which allows them expedited travel like US citizens with global entry.

From an overall perspective, it just seems sort of weird to not have a sense of the normal MX drama as everyone appears to have settled down and are focused on making money. (Lots and lots of real estate development projects stretching down the coast.) Which is why I say the Trump economy is not only going gangbusters in the USA, but is also affecting our border nation south. My gut tells me the MX gov't came close to blowing it by allowing through access from central America. Trump forced them to concede, and like D & JP before them, the "losing" countries get on the gravy train with everyone making $.

I'm sure the US is paying for the migrant holding areas, so that's a lot of cash to pay for additional security/police jobs, etc. I saw lots and lots of new, shiny (US built) SUVs, Hummers, etc with nice new uniforms for the connected people who got the new police/security/military jobs deployed pretty much everywhere.