Please go read thecriticalmind story on MTG and space lasers she wants to place on the southern border. As I live less than 30 miles from the southern border I thought I would put my insights on the border and how Customs and Border Protection and the Border Patrol work in this area.
First off, I can see this blimp that stays aloft on most days from my house. It is cable operated and they can bring that sucker down fast if they need to. The only time it is not airborne is when it needs maintenance or in case of severe weather.
For those who reside under the dry Arizona heat in the small border town of Sierra Vista between Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, the white surveillance blimp never gives us any respite from the sun. Instead, it serves as a constant reminder: You are being watched.
Fort Huachuca, the Army base famous for Buffalo Soldiers, operates the blimp and is pretty secretive about what it can actually do. Rumors are that it has surveillance capabilities that allows the blimps to read license plate numbers from any car it sees. They do admit that they work for several agencies including the Border Patrol.
I live in Tombstone, AZ and about three or four times a month we have “load cars” that the authorities in town try and stop. Load cars are vehicles that drive to the border and load migrants into the car and attempt to drive them north. (I have inserted a link on load cars, just so you know what they are, I do not endorse most of the actions of our sheriff.)
I believe what is happening is these load cars are being seen by the blimp and the description of the vehicle, and the direction the vehicle is traveling is transmitted to the Border Patrol and other various law enforcement agencies. The agencies then attempt to stop the vehicles in an unpopulated area. Unfortunately a lot of the drivers try to flee at high speeds. This usually forces our law enforcement to use spike strips or other means to stop the vehicle near our town. Then everyone bails out and runs in various directions. We end up with the county helicopter hovering around looking for them. Usually all are found, or give up in the hot desert sun. It has also turned into some deadly accidents. If you read the link you will notice the driver was 16 years old. Rumor has it that the cartels in Mexico are paying large amounts to drivers to run the migrants north. They supposedly recommend juveniles to do the driving as they cannot be charged as adults.
I have a friend that loves to go snake hunting near the border. And I mean really close to the border wall, like within 100 feet of it. He usually does this in the middle of nowhere, dozens of miles from civilization and not in site of the blimp. He has been stopped numerous times and asked what he is doing. Once he explains, they let him go. He asked once why they keep stopping him. They told him there are motion sensors and cameras all along the border and they are mandated to check out any movement in the area.
The Border Patrol has closed a number of checkpoints in the area. This has emboldened the load cars to try and run the gauntlet. Before the checkpoints were closed, we did not have nearly as many load cars running from police. They knew there was a checkpoint where they would have to stop and dogs were sniffing for drugs and hidden persons. Anybody acting nervous was told to go to a secondary area and the car was searched. I truly believe if the Border Patrol would open the checkpoints back up, the load cars would slow way down.
Anyway, the point of this diary is that the border is under constant surveillance. I am not sure what MTG would do with space lasers. Perhaps she wants to zap and kill everyone that is crossing the border looking for a better life.