According to a group of Oaxacan family and friends who had been camping on the beach for eight days awaiting a chance to cross over into the U.S., a young Border Patrol agent who harrassed them through the fence from the U.S. side Saturday morning warned them to stay away from nearby activists because "they have guns."

Lollie, Manuel, and Edgar were summoned to the fence by the officer, who stood looking through the rusted vertical posts with one hand firmly in place on gun holster, wagging an authoritarian index finger with the other, and calling them over in Spanish learned from his veracruzano ancestors. The U.S. officer asked the Mexican citizens what they were doing on the beach in Playas de Tijuana, told them they shouldn't be there, and then warned them that they'd better not try to cross over to the United States.

Then, referring to activists, the officer asked who the other campers were. When Lollie and Manuel explained the other campers were there to help, the officer told them, "No. They're bad, they're dangerous, and they have guns. Stay away from them."

Lollie argued with the officer, "No, they're good, they're here to help."

At this point, hand still firmly on holster, the officer saw me sitting up and watching from about sixty yards away. The authoritarian index finger came out again, wagging through the wall on the Mexican side.

I promptly set about ignoring it and rolling up my sleeping bag.

Manuel then walked over and informed me the officer wished to speak with someone from our group to see who we were. We agreed that if the officer wished to speak with us, he could come over and do so.

Afterward, as the shiny new SUV patrol vehicle drove off through the lush well-manicured U.S. park on the other side of the fence, I spoke with Lollie, Edgar, Manuel, and other family and friends with them. Lollie, a woman in her early twenties, and her boyfriend Edgar, wondered how the officer could harrass them like this. "I could see he was Mexican and asked him where his family was from," Lollie said, "and he told us they were from Veracruz. I asked him how could he treat us like this? He has Mexican blood too, like us...He didn't answer."

Edgar was angrier. "He called me over first because I'm short and look young and he figured I was a kid and would tell him whatever he wanted. But I didn't. I don't need to tell him anything."

And Manuel observed: "We're still in Mexico, we don't have to say anything to him. Who does he think he is? He can't tell us anything."



Located near Chiapas, Veracruz and Oaxaca are neighboring states in the south of Mexico.