Border Check Between Nogales and Tucson

    We have borders. Our skin is our closest border, a barrier that keeps bacteria and viruses out, gives us our particular shape and size, allows us to be flexible and move with agility. Our minds have borders that allow us to go as far as we think we can. Countries also have borders that keep them independent and sovereign. This border check, on Arizona Highway 19, is between Nogales and Tucson. Cars going north, further into Arizona and the United States, come to a standstill as border agents stop us and ask – ” Are you American citizens? German shepherd dogs, on leashes, walk around our vehicle with their specially trained noses looking for drugs and contraband. A uniformed Border Patrol agent peers through the car window at us as we go through his check and answer his questions till he gives us a quick visual once over and waves us through. Open borders is a compassionate political theory, but, at night, do we leave our front doors open and hang a Welcome sign on our refrigerator? Why does migration seem to be always going in the same direction, from less economically viable countries to places with more opportunity? For better and worse, at some point, people always vote against borders with their feet.