Hunting Humans: The Americans Taking Immigration Into Their Own Hands

Newsweek ^ | Wednesday, July 23, 2014 | Karla Zabludovsky

[kristinn]

Michael Vickers’s ranch 113 kilometres north of the US–Mexico border in Brooks County, Texas, is near a Border Patrol checkpoint. Undocumented migrants trek through the harsh brushland onto his property to avoid capture. An electric fence encloses the nearly 1,000 acres: at 220 volts, says Vickers, a local veterinarian and avid hunter, “it won’t kill them but it will make them wet their pants”.

In 2006, Vickers and his wife Linda founded the Texas Border Volunteers, which now has some 300 recruits, who dress in fatigues and patrol private ranches in South Texas, using night-vision goggles and thermal imaging to track people in the dark. When they spot migrants they alert the Border Patrol. Former volunteers say the Vickerses did not allow them to provide first aid to migrants in distress or get closer than 10m. If a migrant was severely dehydrated, they were allowed to throw a bottle of water from that distance.

In her home, Linda dispenses a glass of strawberry, cucumber and mint-infused water, moving swiftly around the kitchen in her workout shorts, beige vest and calf-high cowboy boots. In a nearby hallway, a plaque hangs on the wall: “2012 Super Star Award Presented to the B.E.S.T. Team – 119 Reported Illegal Aliens, 101 Border Patrol Apprehensions”. The plaque honours Linda’s dogs, Blitz, Elsa, Schatten and Tinkerbell, three of them German Shepherds, who have been trained to sniff out migrants and to whom she speaks lovingly in basic German. “You can’t hide from that nose,” says Linda.

Linda, chief of staff for the Texas Border Volunteers, says she frequently sees undocumented migrants near the house. But she is not afraid. She is always armed with a .45 Long Colt – the kind of gun used to shoot ducks, her husband says...

[Milton Miteybad]

Those are your true “pistol-grip” shotguns. ;-)

[tanknetter]

I’m guessing that the writer got punked.

Same with the talking to the dogs in German. Yes, it might be a good idea to teach them commands in a different language so a potential threat can’t try to countermand them, but I’m still thinking she did it to mess with the reporter.

[VRW Conspirator]

“Be vewy vewy quiet. Snipes are shy birds.”

Which snipes are you talking about, the eastern European snipes or the Indonesian flat bill snipes? Because, there IS a difference, especially compared to the Appalachian variety.

[IMR 4350]

If that’s all they do you can consider yourself lucky.

There are some thoroughly dangerous people coming across that border, they will kill you for a watch.

Back in the early 1980’s I went to do a rig job that was located on a ranch at the west end of Falcon Lake.

A guy had left the rig one night and when he came to a cross fence someone had closed the gate.

When he got out to open the gate illegals chopped him to pieces with a machete.

The rig was about a 45 min drive from the paved road since you couldn’t drive over 25mph because of cows, deer, and other wild game in the road.

Leaving that rig in the middle of the night and making that 45 min drive to the paved road was one hell of a long drive.

The land owner had given me permission to arm up and the Sheriff and DA had told my manager I was to shoot and ask questions later.

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

Actually, most police depts train their K9s in German. Nothing better on the stand during the civil trial than having the plaintiff swear under oath he heard the cop yell, “Attack, attack!” Then they find out the dog only responds to “angrief” or “zuruckhalt”...