A Texas Resident’s Crash Course to the Border Fiasco
By Erin Spellman
Here in the Lone Star State, we’re blessed with the most mouthwatering BBQ that money can buy, the swankiest Lucchese Boots you can sport, and a strong spirit of rugged individualism that every Texan exudes. But unfortunately, while other states are geographically isolated from the problem, we directly face the consequences of the migrant crisis ravaging our southern border.
One month ago, I had the opportunity to spend the night at what is dubbed the “family crossing area” along the border in Roma, Texas. As I stood on the bank of the Rio Grande at two in the morning, I witnessed cartel members load 80 migrants onto tiny inflatable rafts to cross into the United States. Each migrant wore a cartel-issued wristband identifying which cartel they paid off and the stash houses they were placed in during the journey. The price for passage depends on the country of origin, but cartels can typically earn around $14 million dollars per day from migrant passages.
As the cartel members dragged the rafts across a narrow bend in the river, they were assisted by the National Guard’s bright flashlights. After each migrant safely reached American soil, they were rounded up, questioned about where they travelled from, and finally were sent on an unmarked bus to an undisclosed location. The 80 people I witnessed illegally enter the United States in one night is completely dwarfed by the staggering 1,113,771 recorded border encounters this year. Although Texans deal with the daily repercussions of a wide-open border, many Americans are unaware of the dire situation. Here is what’s going on:
Under former President Trump’s administration, the surge at the border was immediately addressed. As a result, migrant apprehensions and expulsions reached a 20 year low in the summer of 2019. At the start of the pandemic, Trump invoked Title 42 which allowed U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to prohibit the entry of most migrants into the United States in the interest of public health. Between April 2020 and the final day of the Trump administration, more than 80 percent of migrant encounters at the border resulted in deportation rather than apprehension.
On President Biden’s first day in office, he completely reversed the Trump-era policies that kept the situation along the border at bay. Most egregiously, he suspended construction of the border wall, reaffirming protections to recipients of DACA, reversed the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which forced migrants to wait in Mexico until their immigration cases were processed. While those seeking asylum are allowed a legal avenue of admission into the United States, the Biden administration has not clarified which countries’ citizens qualify for asylum. The poor communication has resulted in migrants from 178 countries showing up at the border seeking asylum this year.
Additionally, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents are told to step aside and stand down amid the spiraling fiasco. Frustrated officers have nicknamed themselves the “U.S. Welcome Patrol” to parody the overwhelming, unmanageable situation they’ve been handed by an administration that chooses to bury its head in the sand. With the Border Patrol effectively powerless, the National Guard has intervened to aid “asylum seekers” as they cross the border. Furthermore, as the National Guard focuses on their “humanitarian efforts” to help families and asylum seekers cross, more dangerous individuals fall through the cracks of America’s porous perimeter.
As a result of the executive branch’s open border policy, there has been a dramatic increase in crime in U.S. towns straddling the border. Once extremely prosperous and safe cities are now subject to violence perpetrated by cartel factions. The city of Reynosa, Mexico directly across the border from Hidalgo, Texas has been issued a “do not travel” advisory, designating it the same level as Iraq and Gaza. Indeed, one of the murder capitals of the world is just on the other side of our border!
In a 4000% increase from 2018, Border Patrol agents have seized 41 pounds of fentanyl this year, an amount that is enough to kill millions of Americans. Just last week, 60 pounds of cocaine were seized and 17 fugitives who trafficked the illegal narcotics were arrested in El Paso. The mainstream media and many elected officials ignore the plight of Texans who reside in the border towns, whose communities have deteriorated as a result of Biden’s disastrous border policies. Many of these Texans have confronted armed cartel and migrant trespassers and have incurred significant property damage. The residents who speak out against the cartels can be subject to far worse.
The number of migrant encounters continues to rise; the Rio Grande Valley Sector just recorded 4,000 encounters in one day, the highest number in recorded history. Additionally, as the delta variant sweeps through the state, local officials in McAllen released data that the positivity rate among migrants in their sector is over 16 percent. In some areas, migrants are not even being tested for COVID prior to being relocated to cities like Austin and Houston. A Border Patrol agent in El Paso’s Lower Valley was recently shot by Mexican gunmen across the international boundary, which constitutes an act of war. Our elected officials must demand the Biden administration secure our southern border immediately and stop aiding and abetting the violent cartels in order to ensure the protection of American citizens.
Photo via Texas Humor
