Rancher Stands Up to Border Patrol
October 6, 2008 – 8:14 am
The Department of Homeland Security demanded that Bill Addington tear down this rickety footbridge, which links his farm to a Mexican village.
Some of the smartest words about immigration that I have heard in a long time, come from a Texas rancher Bill Addington and were reported in today’s WSJ article:
“We should be building bridges, not walls,” Mr. Addington says. “I’m not taking it down.”
The article describes the rancher’s fight with the US Border Patrol over a small footbridge that has been in the rancher’s family for some time and he uses to collect livestock that illegally sneaks into Mexico.
The rancher clearly understands the importance of having an open border and the benefits that come from a certain level of flexibility. At a time of global interdependence, black and white policies on border security lead to stifling of free exchanges of resources, ideas and culture.
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