Texas border ranchers face same unsolved problems as Arizona’s border ranchers
by Hugh Holub on Dec. 27, 2010, under border issues, drug smuggling, mexican drug cartels, politicsArizona’s border ranchers are not the ony folks along the border being overun by the illegal immigration and drug smuggling problem.
Here is a very interesting article describing the problems Texas ranchers face. Change the geographic locations and it is the same stuff that is going on along our border.
From The Cattleman published by the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association
Ranching No Man’s Land by David Crosby
…A Hidalgo County rancher had this to say about coyotes, “Coyotes have GPS [global positioning systems] and cell phones, so they know where they are all the time. A coyote will walk his illegals into the ground. If they can’t keep up, he will just leave them. He doesn’t care. You will find them sometimes wandering the ranch and desperate for help to get back to a road so they can return home.”
As a consequence, illegal immigrants sometimes die on ranch property — some due to the elements, some to coyote violence, some to rape and robbery. The body count near the Rio Grande River is small — a Hidalgo County rancher will usually find only 1 or 2 bodies a year. Near Falfurrias, ranchers routinely find bodies on their property.
According to Vickers, who owns a ranch in the Falfurrias area, “In 2009, 71 bodies were found on ranches in the Falfurrias area. Since 2005, between 400 and 500 bodies were found.”
The great frustration for all residents of the borderlands…Arizona…Texas…is that for all the federal claims the border is “more secure than ever” the reality on the ground is it is NOT !
More articles and commentaries about the border
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December 27th, 2010 on 5:17 pm
Its a mixed bag. Good guys and bad. As a long time resident, my information is that some of the larger drug importers/dealers/transporters have always been ranchers and ropers. Often their image keeps them above suspicion. Owning land on the border asks a serious question … In or Out … of the drug business. All this attention given to illegal laborers brings unwanted attention to the real money business of drug importation and sale.
December 27th, 2010 on 5:47 pm
If you have hard facts regarding drug smuggling ranchers/ropers you should report them.
December 28th, 2010 on 10:49 am
“We have a national problem, and it’s called impunity,” says Estrada, a soft-spoken man with glasses and a gray beard. “People who break the law aren’t punished. That’s why many believe that honesty doesn’t pay. We Mexicans are in hell, that’s for sure. I just don’t know which pit of hell it is at the moment.”
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,735865,00.html
December 28th, 2010 on 10:54 am
“People who break the law aren’t punished. That’s why many believe that honesty doesn’t pay.”
Seems that has been a Mexican export for quite some time…