It started with the gangs and what is called corrective rape in Central America. It would morph into government police and corrective rape at a police station in a suburb of El Salvador. Javier and Rafael had had enough. When the gangs and the cops represent the combined presence of organized crime, no one comes out unscathed, unsettled, or simply alive.

Javier and Rafael are from Opopa, El Salvador.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has continuously received information about acts of violence against LGBTQ persons perpetrated by law enforcement agents.

Goon squads. It’s us against the good squads. It has always been us against the good squads.

Acts of torture, degrading or inhumane treatment, excessive use of force, illegal and arbitrary detentions, and other forms of abuse are common in Apopa. Illegal and arbitrary detention is another significant concern in the context of police abuse against LGBTQ persons. IACHR reports rape and other acts of sexual violence that LGBTQ persons are subjected to.

They rape you and then inform you, they will kill you if you tell.

Just close my mouth and throw away the key.

IACHR has received information concerning the related stigma faced by gay men who are victims of sexual violence, and the obstacles in reporting this violence. The Commission has also learned of instances of “corrective rape,” mostly targeting lesbian, bisexual, and trans women, or those perceived as such, including women who are perceived to be “masculine” or who defy traditional gender norms. Sexual violence, incorrectly called “corrective” is used to punish persons who defy traditional gender norms because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. The IACHR found that the essence of this crime is the punishment for non-normative sexuality or non-conforming gender.

Government police in El Salvador have a long history of killing transgendered women.

US Border Patrol agents are right behind them. More goon squads.

America is not all that much different. Rape is rape. What is war. If you do not fathom what a war is, you have never seen one. War smells like burning tires and piss. Rape is similar.

The US Border Patrol was not obligated to see two gay teenagers as a family. They were told there was no such thing as gay marriage for faggots at the Border Patrol. Then, the two boys were clubbed to the ground.

They were separated. The rapes began again.

I have friends. Usually, mid-management friends. Assistants are a little higher than I like to go.

The unsung courage of the small town journalist, especially in the West, is almost always overlooked as are their papers and websites. They get hundreds of hits. Not tens of thousands. The quality of their reporting can reflect the fact that they know where all the bodies are buried. They stay and work in the American West because — actually, I have no fucking idea why any anyone would do this.

In 2017, 115 Border Patrol Employees in the Laredo sector were fired for misconduct.

Happy Hour begins at noon. Some sports bars can have very little to do with sports.

You kinda have to know where the Border Patrol drinks. You kinda have to be aware of the bars the Border Patrol agents drink in when a shift ends. You will find the bartenders and owners are avid fans of the mission of the US Border Patrol. They see the agents as the good guys, and the bad guys are people who do not drink alcohol in their establishments. Undocumented immigrants.

The best thing about a sports bar filled with government employees is that you can sit there drinking at the bar while you watch the big screen while listening to the conversations in the background. I’m a spy. I’m good at it.

If you want to know how Border Patrol agents feel about things like gay marriage (I know exactly how stupid that sounds), if you want to know how Border Patrol agents behave towards gay migrants, or who they think are gay migrants, the POV here is limited to a few stereotypes, this would be the sports bar where you would want to pay a visit. It helps to be a straight woman. Who just happens to be blonde. It might be possible to hear things. Personally, I’m just a dull, ordinary-looking guy sitting at the bar totally absorbed in watching women’s soccer.

The detained children in the Clint, Texas Border Patrol Detention Center can come from as far away as Laredo. In Laredo, a Border Patrol agent had been charged with murdering four latino women. The agents who knew this guy were stunned. It was a gloomy group the night I was there.

No one talks about the use of rape as a weapon of war. The cops will rape you. The gangs will rape you. The Border Patrol will rape you.

You will simply want to die. Piss and burning tires.

The detention center in Clint even looks like a concentration camp. Texas dust and an ordinary humdrum prevails in greying drab.

I am here to tell you there really is a Dollar Tree next to the Clint Concentration Camp. And between the Dollar Tree and the Exxon station, there is a dumpster.

It was not that hard getting directions to Javier. Not everyone at the Border Patrol is a monster. There are even people who think it has all gone too far.

Javier was in the dumpster waiting for us.

He will never see Rafael again. Raphael was deported back to El Salvador. I am a criminal.

Clint is a part of El Paso as Opopa is to San Salvador.

Stolen cars R Us. We ditched the white Border Patrol truck in Las Cruces. It is not so easy to spot someone who might be undocumented hiding in the false bottom of the bed of an RV. No one bothered to look. Charleen and I appear to be quite the retired couple taking a grand tour of the American West. Which is what we kinda were. Kinda.

The Fort Wilcox RV Park outside of Cochise has washers and dryers. We were washing our clothes and burned Javier’s. There is a Walmart just off US10 near Tucson. Javier had been to a Walmart in del Ejercito in San Salvador. Some things are ubiquitous. We got him some duds to wear at Walmart that did not stink. We bought him a toothbrush, too. Stay right on 10 to Phoenix. North on 17 to Flag. Kingman to Vegas.

The cops in Vegas are criminals.

The Vegas Days Inn and Casino and Wild, Wild West Gambling Hall (yes, there really is one) will give you free gas if you have enough points. I never have enough points and, in fact, have no idea where to find them. I do know a maid who works there. A junkie from Needles who once worked for the Border Patrol until she got caught smoking weed on camera. Now, she’s a maid who steals drugs from tourists who check in and think if they leave their drugs in the motel room, the drugs will be safe and sound.

The vacation trip of magical thinking.

Rafael was shot in the head two days after being deported back to Apopa.

My dogs love the Days Inn because they get to jump up and down on the beds and bark.

In the end, all of us are animals.

Tim Barrus

Tim Barrus Blog

Posts tagged with family-separation

GAY BOYS RAPED AND DETAINED