Anarchy?

I thought "anarchy" meant the absence of government. Are the members of the Journal's editorial board really claiming that there is no government along the U.S.-Mexico border?

If so, then they need to pay a visit to the borderlands. They will discover that not only is there no anarchy, the entire borderlands have long been an immigration police state, which is about as far from anarchy as one can get.

According to Wikipedia, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is charged with enforcing the federal government's system of immigration controls, is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It has a workforce of over 58,000 employees.

If the Journal's editorial board makes the trip to the border, I recommend visiting my hometown of Laredo, Texas. When I was growing up, they had only one international bridge spanning the Rio Grande, which is the border between Texas and Mexico. Today they have four bridges.

Why do they need so many bridges. Because the government stops and checks a certain percentage of vehicles that are entering the United States from Mexico. That process produced such enormous traffic jams that they needed a second bridge and then a third and then a fourth. The drivers of those vehicles will attest that there is no absence of government at those bridges. They make everyone stop and be subjected to questioning and possibly a search as well.

The Border Patrol is everywhere along the border. If you don't see them at Dunkin' or Denny's, they are out on the highways stopping people and searching their vehicles. These are called roving Border Patrol searches.