(PNS reporting from EL PASO) The smell of grilled cebollas greeted visitors to a carne asada party in the back yard of the Lopez home in El Paso’s lower valley Saturday evening, as the family celebrated the graduation of the Lopez family’s prodigal son as a “Pinche Migra.”
José “Johnny” Marrufo completed the 58-day course at the United States Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol Academy located in Artesia, NM in July.
He graduated as a Border Patrol Agent and is now ready to detain his Mexican brethren.
“I feel happy that I will protect our border from terrorists and criminal aliens, some of whom are my relatives” the former Riverside High School third baseman told PNS.
After leaving Sul Ross State University, which he attended on a baseball scholarship, Marrufo said he was steered toward the Border Patrol and “encouraged to apply” and “get a good salary” by his former teammate, Ramón “Ray” Gallegos, who was already with the Migra.
“The classes were hard, like the ones on law, but learning how to fire a gun was cool!” said Marrufo. The academy’s website states it teaches “the trainee how to determine whether a person being questioned has papers or is a mojado.”
About 80% of Riverside High’s baseball players from 2009-12 are now employed in different law enforcement agencies, with the Migra being a favorite; 100% percent of them are Mexican-American.
Maruffo will be assigned to Yuma, AZ next week.
Despite the sparkle in Maruffo’s eyes, the others at the fiesta were uneasy.
Marrufo’s mother, María de la Luz Maruffo Ramirez, hoped her son would become a doctor or lawyer. However, she noted, “Now he is a pinche Migra.”
The Marrufo-Ramirez family, who began emigrating to the United States via the Rio Grande as mojados from Villa Nueva, Zacatecas, is not happy with Johnny’s career choice.
After a couple of Bud Lites, Jesus Ramirez, the celebrant’s mojado father , said, “I came to this country to so my kids would have better opportunities. The Border Patrol is one such opportunity which they would not have had in Mexico.”
After helping his parents and siblings clean up the leftover weenies and grilled cebollas, Johnny reflected on his accomplishment:
My younger brother Bobbie and even my sister Crystal want to be in the Border Patrol. Too bad, because I think they are illegals.
Photo by Gerald L. Nino, CBP, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security
