Not “Bad Hombres”

​During the first half of my cross country bicycle ride I witnessed first hand the war that is raging in south Texas against illegal immigration. I spoke with many of the combatants and what I learned was sad, frustrating, and paradoxical.

The amount of resources that the United States and the State of Texas are committing to fight illegal immigration is astonishing. Patrolling the Rio Grande valley in Texas is a full-time job for not only federal border patrol agents but also for a lot of local constables, local police officers, county sheriffs and deputies, and, most notably,  state police officers who are deployed there in hordes from all over the State of Texas. 

It can be hard for a hot and tired bicyclist to find a motel room along the border because so many rooms are occupied by state policemen from out of the area. I actually heard one south Texas rancher offer state police officers lodging on his ranch as part of an effusive expression of appreciation for their work!

Despite all of the efforts of law enforcement on the ground and in the air, illegal immigrants are crossing the Rio Grande in record numbers. In 2021 there were over 1.6 million expulsions and apprehensions of illegal immigrants. More than 1/4 of these “encounters” involved a person who had tried to cross over the border illegally in the past.

I spoke at some length with more than a dozen law enforcement officials on the local, state and federal levels who are intimately involved with fighting this battle. To a person they told me that the illegal immigrants were not “bad hombres”, as they have often been portrayed by Former President Donald Trump.

In fact, what these people are is economic refugees from impoverished countries seeking to find a better life for themselves and their families or, at least, earn money in the U.S. to send home to their families. Almost 2/3 of the illegal immigrants are currently coming from places other than Mexico. Many are from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Haití, all of which are economically challenged countries.

The law enforcement officials with whom I spoke had a great deal of sympathy for the plights of the illegal immigrants. That said, they were frustrated that these people did not attempt to emigrate legally. They thought there should be a political solution to the problem. And I tend to agree.

For its part, the Biden administration has not done much to remedy the problem. Biden put vice president Kamala Harris in charge of dealing with it and for months she did not so much as make a trip to the border. When asked by a reporter why she had not, Harris infamously replied that she had not been to Europe either! She did finally spend half a day near El Paso meeting with immigrant detainees and border patrol agents. That was months ago and today those meetings have produced nothing in the way of visible progress.

For what it is worth, I will throw out a few observations based on what I saw and heard down there. 

First, it currently takes between three and five years for these people to emigrate legally. These people do not have 3 to 5 years to wait. They are in dire circumstances. Let’s figure out a way to speed up the application process. Second, I repeatedly heard law enforcement officers express frustration with having to apprehend illegal immigrants, some of whom they know by name from previous encounters, multiple times because they see no deterrent to crossing. How about instituting a merit system for immigration that includes a disqualification for anyone caught crossing the border illegally more than once? Finally, extend the wall. The existing fencing and natural barriers are insufficient to stem the tide of illegal immigration and we are dedicating way too much money and law enforcement resources to fight that battle.

Like all wars, this one is sad and complex. One local law enforcement official told me that in his county alone in the first three quarters of 2021 at least 16 illegal immigrants died of dehydration or starvation in the desert. And then there are the stories of immigrants crammed into “pickup vehicles” that get into accidents, sometimes while being pursued by law enforcement vehicles.

I was told that Mexican drug cartels are very active along the border. My understanding is that they often “regulate” illegal crossings to facilitate their narcotic and human trafficking activities.

Fighting illegal immigration has become a huge political issue in Texas. Governor Greg Abbott has reportedly earmarked money in the state reserves to extend the wall along the entire Rio Grande Valley. He apparently, however, has run into an obstacle - not enough workers to construct the wall. The irony of it all!