FYI, not everyone on BlueSky lives in California, or the Unisted States. Which means that many readers have no fucking clue what you are talking about.

Thanks for your eloquence.

Industry info is available online. Imperial is known for agriculture. (The Central Valley isn't the only spot.) As you mentioned, there is nothing really to the south as far as infrastructure. They would have to base operations in, say, Indio, IMO, or camp out with scorpions.