The first museum covered the area's archaeological history. Inside one room was life sized scenes depicting Ancestral people throughout time. Another room was devoted to artifacts, some dating back thousands of years.
We popped into the second museum on a lark, being next door. There we learned how 9/11 raised public interest in the department and led to more funding and a much bigger and more efficient border patrol force.
About a quarter of the museum involved history. A couple interesting points: The Border Patrol was launched in 1924 and was used to protect the first African American student to integrate a public school. The gift shop took up another quarter of the space, with everything from Border Patrol onesies to flasks. The last half of the museum featured vehicles-a helicopter, jeep and car used in earlier patrols and vehicles seized from would be immigrants.
This is obviously a delicate and complicated subject, with racism, or at least jingoism on one side-(to them I would say, if the US is the best country on Earth, why are you so upset people want to come here?) and some naivete or impracticalness on the other side (We can't sustain everyone in the world who wants to live here, some people who do come here are violent, others are diseased, and unless something changes there is the possibility of a long term and very large subterranean class to whom even minimum wage is beyond reach, who, after memories of Mexico fade, will be very dissatisfied).
Now I don't mean to stereotype, but I think the museum did. They bragged about their Nascar sponsorship and Amanda described their introductory video as "a bad Jean Claude Van Damn" movie. You can conclude for yourself who you think the museum believes is its audience.
My thought? Though it doesn't sound nice and isn't fair (but more fair and honest than the current..."como se dice cluster#@$% en Espanol?")...have people who want to work and send money back home screened and certified to do so, paid some sort of minimum rate and adequately housed in worker communities. Any employer who doesn't follow these rules (hiring certified workers, offering suitable wages and housing) are fined or shut down.
It's mutually exploitive-employers get a cheap workforce, workers get, because of the US economy, more money than they would otherwise.
I was surprised to learn that years ago the US did have a similar policy. Called the Bracero Program and lasting from 1942-64 the "US government contracted 5 million Mexican laborers." A large reason the program ended was because Texas refused to abide by the government imposed worker protection rules like minimum wage and housing requirements.
For those who want to become Americans and live here permanently, they too would be prescreened for skills, health and background and would attend free classes (paid for by a tax on farmers who employ non citizens. We, in turn, would have to pay a little more for our veggies) to learn English and American culture and history. Also, special incentives would be made to encourage the immigrant's offspring to get a full education.
Back in the town of Las Cruces-more museums. Their Nature and Science Museum was surprisingly impressive. We found displays on astronomy and all sorts of cool lizards, snakes and turtles who call the desert habitat home.
We exited to find the originally empty parking lot full, everyone in town jockeying to find a good parking spot. We arrived just in time to enjoy some hot chocolate sludge and see the town's Christmas tree being lit. Christmas, New Mexico style.
Archaeological History Museum in El Paso
Border Patrol Museum in El Paso
Yep that's a kid they captured. What you might not be able
to tell is he is holding bottles of booze in each tiny arm
Originally the D.A.R.E. robot
Museum in Las Cruces
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