The border is “safer than ever”. So says DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. Again and again.
Barack Obama has mocked those who say the border is unsafe: “Maybe they’ll need a moat. Maybe they’ll want alligators in the moat. They’ll never be satisfied.”
But for Texans, the Rio Grande is wide open – thanks to Federal failure to secure it - and is a growing threat to the safety of citizens and law enforcement, on land and water.
In January we chronicled how ranchers in the Rio Grande Valley were stocking up on AK-47s to defend their property and lives from border violence, after months of being outgunned by Mexican cartel gunmen.
Now, to deal with the Federal failure to secure the river and the drug and human smugglers who use it, Texas Department of Public Safety has deployed gunboats on the river, armed with major firepower. DPS now has 4 shallow-water vessels (soon to increase to 6), each armed with six M-240, 30-caliber automatic machine guns that fire 900 rounds per minute.
Each of the boats, equipped with armor-plating, night vision equipment and a small arsenal of weaponry, costs about $580,000.
Troopers patrolling the border say the expense is justified, considering the ruthless nature of their adversaries in the Mexican drug cartels. What they fear, more than anything else, is the prospect of an ambush.
“They’ve got radios, they’ve got their telephones, there’s somebody right here in this abandoned house right here,” Lt. Charley Goble says, gesturing to people hanging around on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. “There’s somebody there now. They’re watching what we’re doing.”
Several times last year and again this past March, Texas DPS and Rangers have come under fire from the Mexican side, or from cartel boats right on the river. The cartels have grown increasingly bold and are more heavily armed every few months, as the battle continues to intensify.
In the Rio Grande Valley, in addition to the ranchers arming with AK’s, several Afghan nationals were also detained this past February, as border crossing traffic from potential terrorists, as well as human smugglers shifts to Texas in the wake of Arizona’s crackdown. Texas has become a “hot zone” for escalating border dangers.
Meanwhile, in D.C., Obama and Big Sis say “What Me Worry?” as Texas deals with the abject failure that is this administration border insecurity.
We need new leadership in Washington that will get the job done. But until then, Texas’ finest are on the job, and we salute them.
Full video coverage below…
If YOU stand against illegal immigration and want to see the border secured, the rule of law upheld and amnesty for illegals stopped, then put your name where your heart is, and join the 150,000 who have signed our petition…
