Posted on 07/05/2011 7:39:45 PM PDT by smokingfrog
Note: This is the first of a two-part series.
The federal government claims the southwest border is more secure than it's ever been. There are more agents and barriers, more choppers, drones, sensors and hi-tech cameras than ever before.
Yet, state officials in Texas maintain the illegal flow of people and drugs is worse than ever — proof, they say, the border is out of control. To back up his rhetoric, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has declared his own war on the traffickers.
Border Threat: Real Or Rhetorical?
President Obama came to El Paso, Texas, in May to praise his homeland security directors for the good job they're doing on the southwest border. "Under their leadership, we have strengthened border security beyond what many believed was possible. They wanted more agents at the border. Well, we now have more boots on the ground on the southwest border than at any time in our history," he said.
But not everyone thinks that's true, including Gov. Perry. "This president either does not know or does not care what is going on on the border of Texas," he said on Fox News for a special report about the Texas border. The on-screen graphic read "Under Attack."
"I don't want the people of the state of Texas to have to be the catalyst that finally gets the administration to understand that there is great terror on our southern border," Perry said.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
I believe the Rangers have planes with infrared and other bells and whistles to locate illegals,cartel etc and relay info to LE on the ground. Perry says we need more.
We are at WAR on the Border and anyone that doesn’t say so is lying to you.
http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2011/04/not_a_mile_of_b.php
Not ‘A Mile’ of Border Secure, Texas Sheriff Says
More news stories on Crime
Penny Starr, CNS News (Cybercast News Service), April 11, 2011
Texas Sheriff Tomas Herrera said he does not agree with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s assessment of security at the U.S.-Mexico border as being “better than it has ever been.”
Herrera, in a telephone interview with CNSNews.com, said that not “a mile” of the 85-mile stretch of border in Maverick County, Texas, which is separated from Mexico by the Rio Grande River, is secure and that the violence of Mexican drug cartels is spilling over into the United States as cartels come into Texas and kidnap teenagers for their smuggling operations.
“They come in and kidnap some of our citizens in this county and take them into Mexico,” Herrera told CNSNews.com. “We’re talking about young kids.”
“These are high school kiddos and junior high kids that are used by the cartels to smuggle drugs into the United States,” said Herrera, who has been in law enforcement for 37 years and sheriff of Maverick County for five.
{snip}
But the local paper in Eagle Pass, Texas, The News Gram, published a story on March 31 about a press conference held by the Eagle Pass Police Department and an official from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s regional office.
“It is perhaps one of the dirtiest secrets in Eagle Pass,” the article stated. “Young men and women kidnapped in our area and taken across the border, held for ransom or simply made to disappear.
“The whispers echo in high school gymnasiums, restaurants and churches and they all tell a sobering story—it happens and it happens often,” the article stated.
The law enforcement officials warned parents to tell their children about the dangers of associating with drug cartel members. In one case, still under investigation, a 17-year-old boy was picked up “and held captive in Mexico while his family collected enough money to pay a ransom,” the article stated.
“Chief of Police Tony Castaneda has made it publicly known that area teenagers are being targeted for initiation by Mexican drug cartels in what is quickly becoming a losing battle in the US /Mexico Drug War,” stated the article. {snip}
Herrera said that kidnappings aren’t the only violence that is spilling over from Mexico. He said ranchers and other residents feel constantly threatened by drug cartel activity in the county.
“The ranchers up here are afraid to be out there by themselves,” Herrera said. “They are all armed.”
{snip}
Herrera said houses have been burglarized and even cattle stolen and transported across the river to Mexico.
Herrera said more manpower—“boots on the ground”—is needed to stem Mexican drug cartel violence, and if Napolitano comes to visit Maverick County he would show her what his department faces on a daily basis.
{snip}
I’m confused. I was just told that Perry was all over this issue by NPR. How long has he been Governor? Anyone who buys this **** should just join the dims.
Texas governor sends Rangers to Mexico border
Perry accuses federal government of failing to ‘adequately secure’ zone
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32793136/ns/us_news-security/
You can always tell when Perry is running for office. It’s when he comes out swinging and talking big. Unfortunately, it’s all for show. He’s had 25 years to do something about the border, yet he’s done jack.
So Perry is going to “pay” out of Texas’ pocket to enforce federal law like he’s been so criticized for not doing?
You have a choice: believe your lyin’ eyes, or NPR.
It is good practice to always arm yourself in Texas, anywhere in Texas. The illegal alien criminal element is everywhere. Not to mention our home grown criminals.
The border patrol halts all I-10 traffic 100 miles east of El Paso, to scan trucks and vehicles. That is 100 miles into US territory. They do not even pretend to enforce the border. They are playing zone defense while ATF smuggles guns to the Mexican narcotrafficantes. It is truly dangerous and out of control in this state.
Perry does the best he can within very strict state limitations: the federal government is supposed to protect the borders. In reality, it is Texas rangers, sheriffs and cops against Mexican narcos and resident illegals. They have shootouts with drug trafficers on the border all the time now. The feds do just about zero - - cause problems and get in the way.
huh?
Texas taxpayers are having to pay for something the Feds. won’t do, but we don’t have the money and resources to do it all ourselves.
How many years has it taken him to get started????
What 25 years?
For two months the media has covered this story like a blanket and neglected very important stories that could be life and death matters for the nation and it's citizens.
It has taken four score and more years to come to this, but I really despise today's media.
Perry mostly talks about the Drug Lords and drug trafficking... but seldom does he say anything serious about REAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION... Perry is an opportunist and a BIG SOFTY on illegal aliens... Perry gave a positive talk to La Raza - the most RACIST group in the USA...
People think this is about votes for dims and cheap labor for pubs. It’s nothing of the sort. Those are just tactics to get them in the country. The stategy is to wipe out whites in all Western countries. If that wasn’t the case the majority would assimilate and put pressure on the others to assimilate. That isn’t happening so the strategy is clear.
I see you’ve already drawn some of the absoluters.
He’s been in Texas government since the late 80’s. Geez, you think he just came out of nowhere to become governor?
Perry is certainly telling the truth. Obama is not only lying, but doesn’t care what happens in TX anymore than he cares about Arizona. Life on the southern border with Mexico is getting more and more dangerous with more deaths each week. Obama is totally ignorant of what is going on. The Gun Runner project is a prime example.
Just checked to make sure and it wasn’t late 80s but mid-80’s so he’s had 27 years to step up to the plate.
“In 1984, Perry was elected to the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat from a district (64) that included his home county of Haskell” according to his bio at wiki -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_House_of_Representatives
With the power to close the border?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.