The Coyote's Bicycle
Page 37
page 43: Back in 1980 . . . Interviews with Mike McCoy and Serge Dedina
page 43: But in 2002 . . . “An INS Project Threatens Southern California Lands,” Deborah Knight, Grist, January 31, 2003
page 43: The California Coastal Commision . . . “Border Field State Park and Its Monument,” Nancy Carol Carter, Eden: Journal of the California Gardens & Landscape History Society, Fall 2011
page 44: 1.7 million cubic yards . . . “U.S. Smooths Away an Illegal Border Crossing Wrinkle,” Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times, January 4, 2009
page 44: It was on the tops . . . La Gran Linea: Mapping the United States-Mexico Boundary, 1849–1857, Paula Rebert, 2001; “La Mojonera and the Marking of California’s U.S.–Mexico Boundary Line, 1849–1851,” Charles W. Hughes, Journal of San Diego History
page 45: Having missed the founding phase . . . Monument at Initial Point, Personal Narrative of Exploration and Incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora, and Chihuahua, John Russell Bartlett, 1854; “La Mojonera and the Marking of California’s U.S.–Mexico Boundary Line, 1849–1851,” Charles W. Hughes, Journal of San Diego History
page 46: But the men attached to the Boundary . . . Interview with Gabe Duran, International Boundary and Water Commision; The Great Reconnaissance, Edward S. Wallace, 1955
page 47: Arguello Adobe . . . San Diego’s Lost Landscape: La Punta, John Blocker
page 49: The problem started in the 1880s . . . “U.S. Smooths Away an Illegal Border Crossing Wrinkle,” Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times, January 4, 2009
page 49: Nearby is Russian Hill . . . Interview with Oscar Romo
page 51: Kumeyaay people’s clam harvest . . . Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, High School Curriculum
CHAPTER 6
page 63: I came across a photo . . . “A Vehicle for Quick Crossing,” Janine Zúñiga, San Diego Union-Tribune, January 30, 2009
page 64: She cowrote a lengthy series . . . “How boy from San Diego became accused cartel hitman,” Morgan Lee, Janine Zúñiga, San Diego Union-Tribune, July 13, 2011
page 65: interned during World War II . . . “Japanese in Tijuana River Valley,” Steve Schoenherr, South Bay Historical Society, 2015; Interview with Dick Tynan
page 68: After years of watching . . . Interview with Maria Teresa Fernandez
page 69: One artist had . . . The sky-blue section of the border fence at Playas de Tijuana was the work of Maria Teresa Fernandez’s daughter Ana Teresa Fernandez, an acclaimed artist who lives in San Francisco and travels widely. At the time of publication, Ana Teresa was painting a section of the fence in Nogales, Sonora, the same sky blue.
page 69: She’d found a hole . . . This anecdote came about in conversation with Dan Watman, who has worked closely with Maria Teresa Fernandez. Both are members of Friends of Friendship Park.
page 72: I found Greg Abbott on a clear . . . Interview with Greg Abbott
page 74: Abbott spotted . . . The original report of this rescue was provided to me by the California State Park lifeguards at Silver Strand State Beach.
page 74: the first sea fence . . . “Background to the Office of the Inspector General Investigation,” Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Justice Department, 1998
page 76: Drowning victims . . . Interview with Chuck Chase, former lifeguard supervisor
page 79: this was the example . . . Operation Gatekeeper: The Rise of the “Illegal Alien” and the Making of the U.S.–Mexico Boundary, Joseph Nevins, 2002
CHAPTER 8
page 93: images of the globe at night . . . In 2012, NASA released a composite animation of the globe at night that had been compiled from data gathered by the Suomi NPP satellite.
page 93: Cali and Medellin cartels . . . El Narco: Inside Mexico’s Criminal Insurgency, Ioan Grillo, 2011
page 94: as many as forty thousand lives . . . At the time of my reporting, this estimation of deaths caused by the drug wars that took place between 2006 and 2012 was widely reported. It has since been adjusted upward to sixty thousand by Human Rights Watch. Other estimates go much higher.
page 94: The war revealed . . . “Letter from Tijuana: In the Name of the Law,” William Finnegan, The New Yorker, October, 13, 2010
page 94: Calderòn was accusing . . . “Mexican Cartels Move Beyond Drugs, Seek Domination,” Associated Press, August 4, 2010
page 95: One of the first events . . . “Three North County Kite Surfers Robbed at Gunpoint in Baja,” Amy Isackson, KPBS News, September 10, 2007
page 96: Each border reporter . . . Interview with Amy Isackson
page 96: Bodies were hung . . . “Tijuana Drug War Violence: 2 Bodies Hung From Bridge, Man Beheaded,” Mariana Martinez, Associated Press, November 19, 2010
page 97: 843 murders citywide . . . “2008 winds down with 843 killings in Tijuana,” Associated Press, December 31, 2008
page 97: a visit by President Calderòn . . . “Tijuana Sees Beheadings, Bodies Hung From Bridges Days After Mexican President Touts City,” Mariana Martinez, Associated Press, October 13, 2010
page 97: “Obviously, they [narco gangs] don’t want . . . Ibid.
page 98: secondary border crossing . . . Juan Soldado: Rapist, Murderer, Martyr, Saint, Paul J. Vanderwood, 2004
page 98: fifty million crossings . . . San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce and Business Association, http://sanysidrochamber.org/about_us.php
page 98: strongest emitters . . . “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Due to Vehicle Delays at the San Diego-Tijuana Border Crossings,” Suzanne Louise Barzee, San Diego State University, 2010
page 99: unsanctioned tour of Puerta Blanca . . . This tour was led by Turista Libre, whose generous spirit and “atypical day treks” helped bridge the divide that widened between California and Baja during the drug wars of 2006–2012.
page 99: The drug warfare had pushed a large percentage . . . “US a Haven for Tijuana Elite,” Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times, June 7, 2008; “Tijuana kidnappings causing mass exodus to San Diego,” Amy Isackson, KPBS, July 17, 2006; “Exodus of the Rich,” San Diego Reader, Ernie Grimm, September 28, 2006
page 100: El Pozolero–the Stew Maker . . . “Families want answers from man who says he dissolved 300 people,” Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times, February 9, 2009
CHAPTER 10
page 124: Tijuana’s original migrant slum, Cartolandia (Cardboard Land) . . . Beginning in the 1930s, Mexican emigrants to the relatively new city of Tijuana took up residence along the banks of the Tijuana River. The community grew over the following decades, and was known as a home to artisans who sold their wares on Avenida Revolución. Although organized, the neighborhood was also known for severe poverty. In step with local Catholic charities, relatives on both sides of my family traveled to Cartolandia with donations of food and clothing. During a rainstorm in January of 1980, Tijuana officials opened gates in the Rodriguez Dam, less than ten miles upriver. The resulting torrent completely destroyed the community, washing much of it into the United States. The land once occupied by Cartolandia in now some of the most upscale in the city.
page 127: the silt from another such site . . . Interview with Oscar Romo
page 128: This was an ancient landscape . . . Ibid.
page 129: rain had been falling for four days . . . “Mother Crushed by Loss of Children,” Sandra Dibble, San Diego Union-Tribune, February 11, 2010
page 130: some of the more distinctive items . . . The act of setting plastic baby doll heads in strange locations is common throughout Baja California. One instance made the cover of the San Diego Reader (volume 43, number 47). When I ask residents of areas where these instillations occur why the act is so prevalent, most describe a sense of humor that veers toward the macabre.
page 130: Desert Angels volunteer Ricardo Esquivias Villegas and his dog Loba . . . “Child’s Body Discovered in Tijuana River Valley,” Leslie Berestein, San Diego Union-Tribune, January 28, 2010
page 131: led him to dream up a tour of sorts . . . “San Di
ego Drain Is Mexican Port of Entry for a Day,” Associated Press, June 4, 2011
page 132: If former Tijuana mayor Jorge Hank Rhon hadn’t been arrested . . . “Ex-Mayor of Tijuana Jorge Hank Rhon Arrested,” Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times, June 5, 2011. The military raid uncovered eighty-eight weapons, two of which were later linked to murders. Hank’s arrest and the ensuing charges and trial impacted national politics in Mexico.
CHAPTER 12
page 143: one story about a massacre . . . “For Tijuana Children, Drug War Gore Is Part of Their School Day,” Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times, October 25, 2008
page 143: a group threw a birthday party for a giant pothole . . . “Tijuanans Throw Birthday Party for Pothole,” Adrian Florido, Fronteras, February 26, 2013
page 145: in 2006, when the Department of Homeland Security . . . Interview with Dan Watman
page 145: Watman was most famously detained . . . Interview with Dan Watman; “Saving Friendship Park,” Jill Holslin, Wounded Border/Frontera Herida, 2011
page 146: “suffused with a feverish neon glow” . . . Corpus of Joe Bailey, Oakley Hall, 1953
page 147: “a throbbing dynamo of commerce and pleasure” . . . Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey, 1968
page 148: manipulated a loophole in Customs and Border Protection rules . . . “The Only Way to Walk Across the Border in 5 Minutes,” T. B. Beaudeau, San Diego Reader, November 23, 2011
CHAPTER 14
page 171: They say addicted gamblers get a bigger jolt . . . “The Almost-Winning Addiction,” The Economist, May 6, 2010
page 172: even to pass a seed across . . . Interview with Dan Watman
CHAPTER 16
page 186: experience, one repeated every two and a half minutes . . . National Bike Registry
page 186: in England’s Selby train station . . . “Bicycles Theft Hunt,” UK News, October 6, 2012
page 186: responding to suspicious online ads . . . “S.F. Bicycle Thefts Plummet after Arrest,” Vivian Ho, San Francisco Chronicle, July 18, 2012
page 187: North Vancouver man established Bike Rescue . . . “Vancouver City Police Put Brakes on ‘Bike Rescue,’” CTV British Columbia, January 4, 2008; “RCMP Shut Down Controversial Bike Rescue Business,” Tyler Maine, CTV News, November 28, 2009; “Bike Rescue Founder Pleads Guilty to Fencing Stolen Goods,” Claire Piech, Pique newsmagazine, January 15, 2010; “Bike ‘Rescuer’ Arrested Again,” James Weldon, North Shore News, October 21, 2012
page 187: Chrisman rode her Giant touring bike . . . “Davis Community Replaces Stolen Bike,” Jennifer K. Morita, Davis Patch, September 8, 2012
page 188: automobile assumed total dominance of American streets . . . Bicycle: The History, David V. Herlihy, 2004
page 192: Border Patrol calls a group . . . Interview with Border Patrol agent, name withheld
page 193: trucks over abandoned bicycles . . . Interview with Terry Tynan
page 193: storage capacity at the station . . . “A Vehicle for Quick Crossing,” Janine Zúñiga, San Diego Union-Tribune, January 30, 2009
page 194: the hustle of missing bikes proved formidable . . . “Who Pinched My Ride?” Patrick Symmes, Outside magazine, January 11, 2012
page 195: wanted his specific black-and-gray Fuji . . . “Chasing My Stolen Bicycle,” Justin Jouvenal, San Francisco Bay Guardian Online, February 13, 2007
page 196: survey of everyday cyclists . . . “These 8 Depressing Bike Theft Statistics Show Just How Bad the Problem Is,” Eric Jaffe, CityLab, April 6, 2014
page 196: FBI fact sheet listed . . . “Crime in the United States 2011,” FBI, www.fbi.gov
page 196: Financial upside for bike thieves . . . “What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?” Rohin Dhar, Priceonomics, August 28, 2012
page 197: Sheriff’s Department routed a trio . . . “Sheriff’s Department’s Major Crimes - Metro Detail Dismantles Bicycle Burglary Ring,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, May 9, 2012
CHAPTER 18
page 209: rusted metal sheets of the wall built during . . . Operation Gatekeeper: The Rise of the “Illegal Alien” and the Making of the U.S.–Mexico Boundary, Joseph Nevins, 2002
page 211: The agency prefers the word fence . . . Interview with Friends of Friendship Park members
page 211: Richard Nixon launched Operation Intercept . . . Operation Gatekeeper: The Rise of the “Illegal Alien” and the Making of the U.S.–Mexico Boundary, Joseph Nevins, 2002
page 211: Since Jimmy Carter . . . Ibid.
page 211: Ronald Reagan extended . . . Ibid.
page 211: Bush Senior intercepted . . . Ibid.
page 212: Bush Junior’s gift wasn’t so generous . . . President George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 on October 26, 2006, which ordered seven hundred miles of additional barriers along the border.
page 212: high-tech surveillance towers . . . “Watching the Border: the Virtual Fence,” Steve Kroft, Keith Sharman, 60 Minutes, 2010; “Homeland Security Cancels ‘Virtual Fence’ After $1 Billion Is Spent,” Julia Preston, New York Times, January 14, 2011
page 212: Obama’s legacy might be in the sky . . . The first cross-border drone use took place way back in 1916, when the US Army’s 1st Aero Squadron sought out Mexican revolutionary general Pancho Villa. By signing the Secure Fence Act of 2006, George W. Bush authorized the use of drones and other technologies in border enforcement. I attribute the Customs and Border Protection drone program to President Obama here, because the country’s four National Air Security Operation Centers, which operate CBP drones, weren’t in operation until 2011, well into the Obama administration. The overwhelming number of flight hours and program development also occurred under the Obama administration’s watch. “Customs and Border Protection Drones,” Center for the Study of the Drone, Arthur Holland Michel, January 7, 2015; “Unmanned Aerial Systems: Department of Homeland Security’s Review of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Use and Compliance With Privacy and Civil Liberty Laws and Standards,” Homeland Security and Justice, September 30, 2014
page 215: US soil extends three feet south of the wall . . . Interview with James Brown, Friends of Friendship Park
page 216: She once slipped and fell . . . Interviews with Ana Teresa Fernandez and Dan Watman
page 217: “I just ran along the wall” . . . Customs and Border Protection considers this a “self-deportation,” and sightings of such acts can be added to their tally of total deportations.
CHAPTER 20
page 227: agents sometimes dusted the bikes for fingerprints . . . Interview with Border Patrol agent, name withheld
page 234: Thirty thousand additional troops were being prepared for deployment . . . “How Obama Came to Plan for ‘Surge’ in Afghanistan,” Peter Baker, New York Times, December 5, 2009
CHAPTER 22
page 243: on account of a story traded . . . Interview with Brian Taylor
page 247: an impressive margin . . . The prices of the bikes at various stages come from my interviews with Terry Tynan and Kim Zirpolo, and my observation that Tynan charged $20 for bikes on the Kimzey property.
page 247: infamous $640 government-contracted . . . The Grace Commission, or the President’s Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, was ordered by Ronald Reagan in 1982 and presented its findings to Congress in 1984. The report mentioned a number of everyday items for which the federal government paid contractors exorbitant prices. The toilet assembly for P-3C Orion aircraft became infamous partly because of a joke made by Senator William Cohen during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The $640 toilet seat, he said, “gives new meaning to the word throne”; “Adjusting the Bottom Line,” Time, February 18, 1985
page 247: well known for refusing interviews . . . Caitlin Rother, “Modest Mogul,” San Diego Union-Tribune, October 8, 2006
page 247: It had been described as “spicy” . . .” Ibid.
page 247: Just about every production . . . In consultation with film industry professionals with experienc
e in Los Angeles and San Diego markets, as well as employees and contractors at Segall Productions
page 248: felt primarily by the workers . . . Interviews with Ron Nua, Eric Amavisca, Aaron Garrison, Kim Zirpolo, and Tarek Albaba
page 248: Born just after Christmas . . . Caitlin Rother, “Modest Mogul,” San Diego Union-Tribune, October 8, 2006
page 249: Segall got his start “as a porn actor working for Ted Paramore” . . . History of X: 100 Years of Sex on Film, Luke Ford, 1999
page 249: Segall told Senn . . . The Most Dangerous Cinema: People Hunting People on Film, Bryan Senn, 2014
page 249: that featured explicit sex . . . “History of Sex in Cinema,” Tim Dirks, Filmsite
page 249: when Deep Throat premiered . . . Hollywood V. Hardcore: How the Struggle Over Censorship Saved the Modern Film Industry, Jon Lewis, 2000
page 249: Godfrey Daniels . . . http://www.imdb.com
page 250: Spirit of Seventy Sex . . . According to IMDb, Stu Segall worked under multiple alias, in this case Ms. Ricki Krelmn.
page 250: Department of Justice released . . . “Organized Crime Involvement in Pornography,” United States Department of Justice, June 8, 1977
page 250: Organized crime had moved into the pornography business . . . History of X: 100 Years of Sex on Film, Luke Ford, 1999
page 250: Zaffarano was a big guy . . . Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, Joseph D. Pistone, 1989
page 251: But this would not be the fate . . . “55 Indicted by U.S. as Pornographers and in Film Piracy,” New York Times, February 14, 1980; Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, Joseph D. Pistone, 1989; History of X: 100 Years of Sex on Film, Luke Ford, 1999
page 251: Agents also raided an office located at 1600 Broadway . . . “55 Indicted by U.S. as Pornographers and in Film Piracy,” New York Times, February 14, 1980
Also see: Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography: Final Report (Meese Report), Part 4