I was in a border patrol office (which I called an INS office) on the border in south Texas. With me was an Hispanic fellow (probably in his early 20s) whom I had befriended, even though I hadn't known him long. As we walked through the rooms and past desks and machines, I was thinking maybe we could get a temporary job here "restraining" someone, of physically restraining anyone who was illegal and out of control. I doubted we could be hired, but we walked around looking for someone to ask anyway. Finally I saw a woman at a desk and I asked her. She immediately picked up a telephone (like a microphone) and began talking to someone.

***

The fellow and I were sitting at a desk. Lying on the desk in front of us were multi-page employment forms. This was exactly what I had wanted to avoid -- I didn't want to fill out any forms. Even though I had doubted it would be possible, I had hoped to get a quick job without filling out a form. I specifically didn't want to fill out the form because I figured there would be a questions about prior arrests and I knew I had been arrested before, five times to be exact. I thought about the time I had been arrested for possession of marijuana. Although the arrest had been over 30 years ago, and the case had been dismissed, I figured it would ruin my chances of working there. Probably no record even remained of the arrest. I could lie, and not mention the arrest, but to lie on a form like this was probably a crime.

The other minor arrests had also been more than 30 years ago, except for my arrest in Iran, which had been more that 20 years ago. The arrest in Iran could likewise cause me problems. Again, I had never been convicted of anything, but I had been arrested for smuggling cars into Iran. Since smuggling was specifically a crime of interest to the border patrol, that arrest could also prove problematic.

I folded up my paper and told my companion I wasn't going to fill it out. I saw no point. If I told the truth I wouldn't be hired and if I lied I would be committing a crime. My companion seemed to understand, but he wanted to know why I wouldn't fill out the form. I turned to him and said, "Bueno" as if I were getting ready to tell him the whole story. I thought I would first begin with the tale in Iran, how I had been arrested there and the reasons. 

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