Low Pressure Storm System Moves across Border—Without Papers
Seeking a better life, many meteorological phenomena enter US illegally
On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, a large undocumented air mass crossed the border into south-central Arizona, bringing dust storms and scattered rain to the Tucson area. This latest illegal border crossing comes amidst rancorous Washington debate about immigration reform.
Meteorology professor Dirk Birnbaum of the University of Arizona explained that such border crossings by Mexican weather are becoming more common.
“Every year, countless air masses, dust devils, and even cold fronts cross into California, Arizona, and the whole American southwest,” he said. “They are fleeing meteorological stagnation in Mexico.” What of recent efforts to secure American borders against these illegals? “Spending on border patrol operations has tripled in Arizona in the last ten years,” said Prof. Birnbaum, “yet the impact on the day to day border crossings by weather systems has been negligible. They are going to come whether we like it or not.”
State Sen. Raul Gonzales-Nimbus (D, Tucson) addressed a rally for immigrant rights in front of the State Capitol on Wednesday morning. Gonzales-Nimbus has been one of the leading advocates for reformed weather policy he calls “fair and respectful”--and that critics call amnesty.
“For years, hard working low-pressure systems have come into this country penniless, and without possessions,” said the senator before a crowd of nearly 5,000 supporters and a barometric pressure of 30.27” and falling. “These are decent meteorological phenomena who want nothing more than a chance to drop a little rain on the high country and possibly dissipate over New Mexico. Sí se puede.” He also decried the unfairness of current immigration law, which he said doesn’t even allow atmospheric events to apply for temporary residency, let alone green cards or citizenship.
But Joanie MacInerny of Yuma, a self-described “outpost commander” for her local chapter of the Arizona Minutemen, doesn’t buy the senator’s rhetoric. “These weather systems are lawbreakers, plain and simple,” she said, seated in the driver’s seat of her 1978 Jeep Comanche parked in the blazing desert sun, cradling a 12-guage shotgun. “We will report all undocumented border crossings to the border patrol, though we will not use deadly force, unless it is to defend our own property.” She displayed a 500-yard spool of barbed wire that she and her rancher husband Jim were planning to string out along the perimeter of their Yuma ranch, though she admitted that it would take a wall “50,000 feet tall to keep them off of my land.”
Forecasters expected Wednesday’s low-pressure system to bring falling temps to the Prescott area overnight, and then to get a job washing dishes at the Cheesecake Factory.
Seeking a better life, many meteorological phenomena enter US illegally
On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, a large undocumented air mass crossed the border into south-central Arizona, bringing dust storms and scattered rain to the Tucson area. This latest illegal border crossing comes amidst rancorous Washington debate about immigration reform.
Meteorology professor Dirk Birnbaum of the University of Arizona explained that such border crossings by Mexican weather are becoming more common.
“Every year, countless air masses, dust devils, and even cold fronts cross into California, Arizona, and the whole American southwest,” he said. “They are fleeing meteorological stagnation in Mexico.” What of recent efforts to secure American borders against these illegals? “Spending on border patrol operations has tripled in Arizona in the last ten years,” said Prof. Birnbaum, “yet the impact on the day to day border crossings by weather systems has been negligible. They are going to come whether we like it or not.”
State Sen. Raul Gonzales-Nimbus (D, Tucson) addressed a rally for immigrant rights in front of the State Capitol on Wednesday morning. Gonzales-Nimbus has been one of the leading advocates for reformed weather policy he calls “fair and respectful”--and that critics call amnesty.
“For years, hard working low-pressure systems have come into this country penniless, and without possessions,” said the senator before a crowd of nearly 5,000 supporters and a barometric pressure of 30.27” and falling. “These are decent meteorological phenomena who want nothing more than a chance to drop a little rain on the high country and possibly dissipate over New Mexico. Sí se puede.” He also decried the unfairness of current immigration law, which he said doesn’t even allow atmospheric events to apply for temporary residency, let alone green cards or citizenship.
But Joanie MacInerny of Yuma, a self-described “outpost commander” for her local chapter of the Arizona Minutemen, doesn’t buy the senator’s rhetoric. “These weather systems are lawbreakers, plain and simple,” she said, seated in the driver’s seat of her 1978 Jeep Comanche parked in the blazing desert sun, cradling a 12-guage shotgun. “We will report all undocumented border crossings to the border patrol, though we will not use deadly force, unless it is to defend our own property.” She displayed a 500-yard spool of barbed wire that she and her rancher husband Jim were planning to string out along the perimeter of their Yuma ranch, though she admitted that it would take a wall “50,000 feet tall to keep them off of my land.”
Forecasters expected Wednesday’s low-pressure system to bring falling temps to the Prescott area overnight, and then to get a job washing dishes at the Cheesecake Factory.
posted by famulus_veritatis at 5:01 PM
2 Comments:
Is this the same air mass of Un Dia sin los Mexicanos fame?
Unfortunately cut from the film, I understand, along with scene in which the Baja California grey whales don't show up for the boats of tourists who are whale-spotting off the coast of San Diego...
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