Things That Make Me Shake My Head 2014.06.26

I used to live and work in deep South Texas, just a stone's throw (literally) from the Rio Grande. I also have hunted in the border region for years. I've gotten to know a few of the ranchers down there. Back in the day it wasn't uncommon to find evidence of illegal aliens traversing a ranch, but it was usually no big deal. In fact, there were times when the 'accidental tourists' would do a few odd jobs around the place in exchange for some food and water before moving on.

Things have changed.

Ranchers in South Texas say they are seeing a greater criminal element among illegal immigrants trespassing through their property.

(Ronnie Osburn, a rancher who lives just south of a Border Patrol checkpoint in Brooks County, Texas) says he has had to take extra precautions... “When I go to sleep at night, I lay down and I put my pistol there, I measure it where if somebody comes in the house I can pick it up and go,” Osburn says. When mowing the lawn, Osburn says, ranchers in South Texas always need a pistol ready.

“Down here there’s no question, ‘Oh, was it loaded?’” Osburn says. “Well, hell yeah, it’s loaded. Why have a gun if it’s not loaded? And it’s off safety too. That’s the way we live.”

Other ranchers tell me that the amount of OTM — other than Mexican — traffic is increasing in South Texas, and that the disposition of the travelers has grown more hostile. Ranchers say the immigrants who reach Brooks County are ready to fight.

Mike Vickers, a doctor who lives on a ranch a few miles north on the opposite side of the Border Patrol checkpoint, says he has had his home broken into too. He says that one week, he had to pull his gun three times. Two of those times, he says, he wasn’t sure whether or not he’d have to pull the trigger.

“We’re fighting a war here and we’ve been fighting it a long time,” Mike Vickers says. “These people we’re encountering here are combative.”

Of course, it's not simply a walk in the park for the invaders immigrants. South Texas is a harsh, unforgiving country. It takes its own toll on people passing through.

Nearly 250 bodies have been recovered in Brooks County since 2012, says Benny Martinez, chief deputy of the Brooks County Sheriff’s Department. He says once you’ve reached Brooks County, there’s no turning back.

“The terrain doesn’t discriminate,” Martinez says. “Whether you’re 16 or whether you’re 60, if you’re not equipped to do the walk, if you’re not equipped to have everything in place to assist you to get through, you’re not going to get through. It just ain’t going to happen.”

He says the vegetation is thick during the summer, but will thin out during the fall months, which will allow more bodies to be found.

“Birds have a tendency, the caracaras, to get after their eyes sometimes even when they’re comatose and not dead yet,” he says about a man who bled out through his eyes over his chest. “We see a lot of that.”

In an ironic twist, the caracara that is feasting on the (almost) dead bodies of illegal immigrants is Mexico's national bird.

Caracara - literally "face-face" (don't ask me why). The bird is a cross between an eagle and a vulture.

The discouraging thing about the situation is that this has become a way of life for those who live along the border, yet those who live farther north are virtually unaware of it. That may be changing, however, with the massive and unexpected influx of "unaccompanied alien children" (UAC).

Or was it really that unexpected?

On January 29th of this year, the federal government posted an advertisement seeking bids for a vendor contract to handle “Unaccompanied Alien Children“.

Not just any contract mind you, but a very specific contract – for a very specific number of unaccompanied minors: 65,000.

•  Why would DHS and ICE be claiming “surprise” by the current influx of unaccompanied minors on the border in June, when they were taking bids for an exact contract to handle the exact situation in January?

• Secondly, how could they possibly know anticipate 65,000 unaccompanied minors would be showing up at the border, when the most ever encountered in a previous year was 5,000 total ?

Here’s the bid specifics:

... The Contractor shall provide unarmed escort staff, including management, supervision, manpower, training, certifications, licenses, drug testing, equipment, and supplies necessary to provide on-demand escort services for non-criminal/non-delinquent unaccompanied alien children ages infant to 17 years of age, seven (7) days a week, 365 days a year. Transport will be required for either category of UAC or individual juveniles, to include both male and female juveniles. There will be approximately 65,000 UAC in total: 25% local ground transport, 25% via ICE charter and 50% via commercial air.

... In addition, the Contractor shall have personnel who are able to communicate with juveniles in their own designated language(s).

Here's a link to the original DHS solicitation. There's also a downloaded copy of it available at this source just in case the feds have an 'unexpected' hard drive crash and lose the backup.

We now have what are basically armed invaders threatening lives and property along our southern national border. At the same time we have an invasion of "unaccompanied alien children" that includes criminals and gang members, and that is overwhelming our ability to prevent, detain, process, and deport them. Border communities are forming groups (posses, militia, vigilantes...) to protect themselves. The state of Texas is diverting law enforcement and humanitarian resources needed elsewhere to help. And what is the federal government doing?

* crickets *

Oops - I forgot. The feds are hiring escorts for the UAC.