Frank Maguire
From the Arizona trenches
By Frank Maguire
It's my routine to leave the house early in the a.m., often around 5:00, and head for the foothills here in the desert around Arizona City. It is quiet and beautiful, and I watch the sun rise over the mountains to the east. I read, think, and write.
Because the area is part of what the Border Patrol calls the "pipeline," where human-cargo "coyotes" and drug-smugglers head north from the border, about 80 miles to the south, it can be a dangerous location. I have observed incidences of dangerous activity over the past three years.
My writing place is 12 miles south of Casa Grande, adjacent to the huge Tohono O'odham (formerly called "Papago") Nation reservation, close to the junction of U.S. Routes 8 and 10. The thousands of square miles of desert and the surrounding mountains make it very difficult for the Border Patrol. There is a large BP office in Casa Grande, and another, smaller, just north of Route 10, in Eloy, less than a mile from where Routes 8 and 10 connect.
Every morning, I chat with BP agents who gas-up at the large Love's Truck Stop on Sunland Gin Rd., in Eloy. I have gotten to know a number of them, and I've written some articles on the dangerous conditions here in the "pipeline." Per the advice of my agent acquaintances, I am always armed. I carry a Colt Commander MK-80, Series IV .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, with Hydro-Shok ammunition in the magazines. Sometimes, if there have been recent goings-on, I include a Marlin .44, lever-action carbine, or a Mossberg .12 gauge riot shot gun. I don't go looking for trouble, but I would prefer to survive it if it presents itself.
Yesterday morning, Saturday May 2nd, I was out at my regular hour. At about 7:00, on the dirt road just east of the mountains, about 500 yards from where I sat, two Pinal County Sheriff's vehicles accompanied by two Deputy Sheriffs on ATV's and an unmarked SUV drove up to some trails that run westward into the mountains. I watched until I could no longer see them, and then I drove into the desert where I would be able to regain sight of them.
The patrol cars had stopped at one trail-head, and the ATV's were climbing the trail. We were quite close and I chose to leave since I didn't want to be a distraction to them.
Later in the day, I saw the news that Border Patrol Agents, Casa Grande and Eloy Police, and Pinal County Sheriff had raided a number of local houses that were being used by human-cargo and drug smugglers and had arrested a large number of illegals. Also, one Pinal Sheriff's Deputy had been shot by an Ak-47-wielding drug-runner. A few of the smugglers had managed to get away, and the police agencies were searching for them. The location they described is exactly where I was situated that morning.
You are watching the war against Arizona being waged by lying politicians and complicit business people who have their own reasons for not obeying the federal and state laws in regard to illegal entrance into the United States. As you watch, remember this: you are being lied to, and you and your families are being placed in serious jeopardy by the very people who are saturating the news networks with accusations that Arizona is a haven for hateful bigots. The reality is, contrary to the deceitful hypocrites who are far from the border wars that we in Arizona deal with every day, Arizonans are persons who take the U.S. Constitution seriously, and who do not rationalize or sentimentalize the laws of our nation away.
Consider, fellow citizens, that we in Arizona are acting as your first line of defense. If you join in the efforts against Arizona, you are guaranteeing that the war against illegal entry across America's sovereign borders will get even worse. And even you in the so-called "sanctuary cities" will be forced to contend with a virtual alien army as your "neighbors."
In closing: the area in which I live with my Hispanic wife, Helen Isabel Estevez Maguire, is at least fifty-percent Hispanic in population. I choose to live here. Other than the continuous invasion by illegals, who are hidden in stash houses in Arizona City, Eloy, and Casa Grande, the citizens here get along very well. Contrary to the accusations of ethnic hatred, there is a neighborly atmosphere. As we, here, watch the hypocrites attacking Arizonans while they live in their protected, lily-white communities, we just shake our heads in disgust. Our advice? If such as these want to see what hypocrisy and hatred look like, all they need to do is to check out their faces in a mirror.
© Frank Maguire
May 5, 2010
It's my routine to leave the house early in the a.m., often around 5:00, and head for the foothills here in the desert around Arizona City. It is quiet and beautiful, and I watch the sun rise over the mountains to the east. I read, think, and write.
Because the area is part of what the Border Patrol calls the "pipeline," where human-cargo "coyotes" and drug-smugglers head north from the border, about 80 miles to the south, it can be a dangerous location. I have observed incidences of dangerous activity over the past three years.
My writing place is 12 miles south of Casa Grande, adjacent to the huge Tohono O'odham (formerly called "Papago") Nation reservation, close to the junction of U.S. Routes 8 and 10. The thousands of square miles of desert and the surrounding mountains make it very difficult for the Border Patrol. There is a large BP office in Casa Grande, and another, smaller, just north of Route 10, in Eloy, less than a mile from where Routes 8 and 10 connect.
Every morning, I chat with BP agents who gas-up at the large Love's Truck Stop on Sunland Gin Rd., in Eloy. I have gotten to know a number of them, and I've written some articles on the dangerous conditions here in the "pipeline." Per the advice of my agent acquaintances, I am always armed. I carry a Colt Commander MK-80, Series IV .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, with Hydro-Shok ammunition in the magazines. Sometimes, if there have been recent goings-on, I include a Marlin .44, lever-action carbine, or a Mossberg .12 gauge riot shot gun. I don't go looking for trouble, but I would prefer to survive it if it presents itself.
Yesterday morning, Saturday May 2nd, I was out at my regular hour. At about 7:00, on the dirt road just east of the mountains, about 500 yards from where I sat, two Pinal County Sheriff's vehicles accompanied by two Deputy Sheriffs on ATV's and an unmarked SUV drove up to some trails that run westward into the mountains. I watched until I could no longer see them, and then I drove into the desert where I would be able to regain sight of them.
The patrol cars had stopped at one trail-head, and the ATV's were climbing the trail. We were quite close and I chose to leave since I didn't want to be a distraction to them.
Later in the day, I saw the news that Border Patrol Agents, Casa Grande and Eloy Police, and Pinal County Sheriff had raided a number of local houses that were being used by human-cargo and drug smugglers and had arrested a large number of illegals. Also, one Pinal Sheriff's Deputy had been shot by an Ak-47-wielding drug-runner. A few of the smugglers had managed to get away, and the police agencies were searching for them. The location they described is exactly where I was situated that morning.
You are watching the war against Arizona being waged by lying politicians and complicit business people who have their own reasons for not obeying the federal and state laws in regard to illegal entrance into the United States. As you watch, remember this: you are being lied to, and you and your families are being placed in serious jeopardy by the very people who are saturating the news networks with accusations that Arizona is a haven for hateful bigots. The reality is, contrary to the deceitful hypocrites who are far from the border wars that we in Arizona deal with every day, Arizonans are persons who take the U.S. Constitution seriously, and who do not rationalize or sentimentalize the laws of our nation away.
Consider, fellow citizens, that we in Arizona are acting as your first line of defense. If you join in the efforts against Arizona, you are guaranteeing that the war against illegal entry across America's sovereign borders will get even worse. And even you in the so-called "sanctuary cities" will be forced to contend with a virtual alien army as your "neighbors."
In closing: the area in which I live with my Hispanic wife, Helen Isabel Estevez Maguire, is at least fifty-percent Hispanic in population. I choose to live here. Other than the continuous invasion by illegals, who are hidden in stash houses in Arizona City, Eloy, and Casa Grande, the citizens here get along very well. Contrary to the accusations of ethnic hatred, there is a neighborly atmosphere. As we, here, watch the hypocrites attacking Arizonans while they live in their protected, lily-white communities, we just shake our heads in disgust. Our advice? If such as these want to see what hypocrisy and hatred look like, all they need to do is to check out their faces in a mirror.
© Frank Maguire
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