The proper way to control the border is to patrol the border.
It is the duty of the Federal government, not the State of Texas, to protect the border with other Nations. We Texans have 2/3 of the border with Mexico: 1200 miles. Our border is not dry land and straight lines on a map, as it is in most of Arizona, New Mexico and California. It is a river that winds back and forth.
Our Nation is a Constitutional government, built on inalienable rights that are endowed by God on individuals, not the government. Taking private land and destroying the rightful and productive use of private property for an ineffective fenestrated wall is not Constitutional.
Nevertheless, in order to make up for the failings of the Federal government, Texas has budgeted more than $150 million dollars of our State tax money for the next two years (and similar amounts at least since 2005) for border control, including the Governor’s Texas Ranger Recon team, the Sheriff’s Coalition, State guards and dedicated DPS personnel and helicopters. In addition, the Governor has spent money from his office budget to supplement enforcement. We also spend much more on local County and city law enforcement efforts to block entry and to prevent illegal aliens from moving through the State. We spend a total that’s greater than these funds on prisons and courts to jail the illegal aliens who break laws after the Federal government did not do its job.
The Federal government should be protecting us from illegal crossings at the river, not several miles in. The incursions by coyotes and their customers, the armed and armored drug cartels and “other than Mexicans” should be met with armed troops and border patrols who are empowered by Federal law to carry out a mission to enforce border control. Increase air surveillance and increase border patrol personnel, but don’t destroy our citizen’s liberty for a semblance of security.
How far will you go to infringe on the right to liberty and property of Texans, even if it kills farming and ranching on private property in South Texas? Where there is a wall in place, it’s perforated with open gates or gaps with no gates. It can be breached with a 14 foot ladder and/or a truck. It divides private property, cuts off homes from the rest of Texas, and cuts off cattle and farmers from rightfully accessing the Rio Grande. (That reminds me of Reagan’s “Tear down that wall.”)
Under Gov. Perry’s terms in office, illegal immigration in Texas has exploded, second only to California. As Gov. Brewer in Arizona has demonstrated, a Governor can effect positive change in dealing with the issue. This indicates (to me) that Perry is either ineffective with dealing with the problem or he doesn’t consider illegal immigration a problem at all.