Alien Migrants Rescued in Kinney County
Possibly 50 to 100 Escape into Countryside, 86-90 Apprehended
Good morning, friends,
We didn’t plan to return so soon, but current events bear acknowledging. Kinney County had some uproar Friday afternoon and evening, after the discovery of possibly 200+ illegal alien migrants camped out on and inside the Union Pacific train which transits regularly up from Eagle Pass, through Spofford, and on to Uvalde, Hondo, San Antonio and beyond.
We’re told migrants— illegal aliens— were scattering and running into the brush over the length of a mile and a half of freight train.
Here’s the official release which we posted last night on the Sheriff’s Facebook page, in a bid to efficiently reach the dozen or so journalists and organizations clamoring for updates that night. More on that in a moment.
Quick action outside the Spofford Railyard by Kinney County Sheriff's Deputies is believed to have saved the lives of roughly 100 to 150 foreign nationals in the country illegally.
Deputies were responding to a call from Union Pacific Dispatchers, after a conductor notified railroad dispatch that he had unauthorized passengers on board the train.
On arrival, through binoculars, Deputies saw 12 to 15 people lying flat on the roof of the first "gondola" or "grain-hopper" train car behind the second engine as it moved slowly toward the railyard.
Deputies began to apprehend the group, when one of the travelers told them that more people were aboard the train-- down inside some of the gondolas.
These are specialized units which open from the top and bottom, facilitating the mass transport of grain and other freight.
"They told us there were well over 100 people on board the train, scattered throughout the gondolas, if they'd gone all the way to Uvalde in those gondolas, they'd be dead by now," said Chief Deputy Armando M. Garcia, highlighting not only the high temperatures but also the threat to life and limb with so many moving parts involved in these kinds of situations.
As the Chief Deputy and Galveston Sheriff's Deputies Sgt. Hall and Cpl. Creech began to inspect the interior of these gondolas; suspected migrants began jumping out and scattering into the brush.
Backup was called for, including Emergency Medical Services as a precaution because of the extreme temperatures and the likelihood of casualties inside the train cars.
In the end, only minor injuries were reported. One migrant fainted while exiting the train but was caught by law enforcement officers before she hit the ground.
It is unknown exactly how many managed to escape. "At least a hundred," said Chief Deputy Garcia. Estimates by other law enforcement officers earlier in the day had the number pegged at around 50.
At this time, Border Patrol is still attempting to locate as many as they can in the brush, precluding an accurate count of arrests at this time, but roughly 86 to 90 others were taken into custody at the railyard.
Those taken into custody at the scene were turned over to Border Patrol for identification.
The Sheriff's Office will be filing Criminal Trespassing on Railroad property charges on all those taken into custody.
—Official release posted 05/05 on KCSO Facebook page.
There may be some criticism about the accuracy of the count. 100+. 200. 150ish. People were scattered and running over a mile and a half length of train. Three deputies. You try getting a stone-cold accurate count.
As bad as the situation was—it could’ve been much worse. EMS assets from all over the region between here and San Antonio were alerted to the possibility of a Mass Casualty event. Posts were put out on Facebook in other jurisdictions. Calls were coming into the County from all over the dang Country. Justifiably so.
In 100-degree temperatures, you’d make money more than you’d lose, betting on mass casualties in an occupied freight train situation like we’re describing here.
Some reporters and organizations seemed a little put out, that Newsnation’s Ali Bradley seemed to have a leg up with information and photos from someone in the Sheriff’s Office— photos we ourselves did not have and could not release yet.
Chief Deputy Armando M. Garcia made the right decision to be deliberate in releasing chapter and verse only when he was certain of accuracy.
No one likes to hear that’s just the way the cookie crumbles— grumbling about Bradley being thin and attractive and having unfair advantages. But, Bradley is actually reaping the rewards that come of spending the last 2 1/2 years of coming to communities all over the border between Brownsville and Ajo, AZ, and yes, Kinney County and covering events at her own expense as a freelancer at a time when many organizations were blowing things off.
Her present employers at Newsnation surely took that into account when making the decision to hire her some months ago.
Also worth noting— reporters and camera crews from Univision and Telemundo in San Antonio, who took a leap of faith and hustled all the way out to Kinney County Friday afternoon while things seemed a little up in the air.
True enough that there were no mass casualties after all, but 100+, possibly 200 people jumping off the train in a near ghost town like Spofford is a pretty good story no matter what— so kudos to them for rolling the dice while things seemed uncertain and making the most of it once arriving here.
It’s uncertain, but it seems likely this was part of a wave of early arrivers, looking to slip into the country before the May 11th expiration of Title 42.
Border Patrol sources tell us the Del Rio sector is already about 113% above capacity, the RGV is overrun, and downtown El Paso might as well be a bombsite, with migrants forced to camp on the street— unwashed with no prospect of showers or baths anytime soon and forced to urinate and defecate in alleys and gutters. Even if area shops and businesses open their doors, there’s still way too many people for conditions to be completely sanitary.
We’re told the stench almost intrudes on the sense of touch. We say that, not to denigrate the migrants— the illegal aliens— who’ve come. It is simply a fact of life— a fact of the circumstances they must inhabit in their attempt to enter the country.
This is a disaster already and one could argue that we’re still only in the pregame stages of it.
How much worse will things get?
Thank goodness the border is secure. One would hate to see what it might look like if it were a wide-open gangbang of a free-for-all.
Complain about Operation Lone Star. Complain about “cruelty.”
If some mean tweets and the use of some words like “illegal aliens” were enough to prevent all of this, one would be moral and justified in tweeting the meanest stuff and bringing back the days of “Mean Green” from the Border Patrol in the 1970s and 80s.
But sadly, thanks to cowardly leadership, corrupt decisions, and meaningless virtue signaling it may be too late for “Mean Green” to do enough even if you could resurrect those policies and mindsets.
Keep this in mind. “Meaner and Greener,” whatever that might look like, may be the only thing that prevents horrific tragedies that one doesn’t have to be Nostradamus to predict at this point.
Sometimes we feel like we must be one of the softest-headed and jelly-hearted fools on the border with some of the damp-eyed feelings that come over us when pondering the probable future that awaits so many of these people who are coming here expecting things to be better.
No one seems willing to acknowledge that many are winding up homeless on the streets of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, New York, Chicago and many other locations.
They arrive here with no real connections, even if they tell authorities they have family awaiting them, they are frequently lying— and who wouldn’t, when the goal is to get into the country. No connections, few prospects— destined to be homeless and exploited. Deceived— by one’s own expectations, yes, but also the naive notions of others.
And people clap and cheer and call for more migrants— more illegal aliens— in their arrogance and ignorance as to what is bound to happen as local governments and communities creak and groan with the strain of trying to absorb literally millions of people suddenly falling into their laps.
Think about this: The federal government doesn’t seem capable of organizing an orderly retreat from Afghanistan. The federal government doesn’t seem capable of holding a real news conference with President Biden. We hope they can organize a backyard barbecue, but they’re barely pulling off Easter egg hunts.
How in pluperfect hell can anyone have any confidence at all that the feds are going to be able to comfortably sort out what’s happening? They can’t. They won’t. They aren’t. Is it mere incompetence? One hopes.
Almost forgot. Kinney County Deputies overnight located a dead illegal alien. Identification may still be pending but we are supremely confident that the individual is indeed an illegal alien. Found 15 miles from the Spofford railyard in brush country. Pretty clear case of death by exposure/dehydration/heat exhaustion, etc. Probably not one of those that jumped off the train. 15 miles is doable on foot, but still— unlikely, we’re told.
As we said a couple days ago, even in the midst of an international humanitarian crisis, life goes on.
Folks in Kinney County are continuing Cinco de Mayo celebrations today, May 6th.
Cinco de Mayo is actually a bigger deal in the US than it is in Mexico. Some cynics say it’s a creation of Madison Avenue, looking for another way to separate us all from our hard-earned currency.
But, like so many things, even if that was true— the day has taken on a life of its own— commemorating the Battle of Puebla.
The Battle of Puebla in 1862 is when most everyone agrees that Mexico showed its determination to shake off the French Empire and remain its own sovereign state. Many in America confuse it with the Dia de la Independencia, which is September 16th.
Soldiers sent by Benito Juarez defeated those sent by Napoleon III. The French commander, General Charles Latrille Laurencez, ordered his forces into a frontal assault against the Mexican army led by General Ignacio Zaragoza and Brig. Gen. Porfirio Diaz. Diaz later became President of Mexico.
The frontal assault failed— the Mexicans were fortified behind a ditch and a brick wall, with the steep Cerro de Guadalupe before them, and lost about 1,000 men. Diaz is credited with defeating a flanking attempt around the fortification.
The French returned later that year and succeeded in capturing the city— holding it until 1867, but eventually lost the war.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend. We’ll be back again, probably sooner than later, the way things seem to be going.
As always, this newsletter is an independent work product that we keep as separate as possible from our day job handling public information requests for Kinney County. Some days its easier than others.
Its genesis predates said employment, and we maintain the newsletter for the benefit of our continued subscribers, our own enjoyment, and for the fact that it makes it easier for us to keep track of what’s going on out there.
To put it another way, if you’re trying to be expert, be expert.
Easier said than done, like anything else.
No one should mistake this humble thing for any sort of an official communication on behalf of Kinney County government. Any errors, mistakes, or overwrought and dramatic language is entirely our own.
God bless these illegal aliens— these people— no matter the deceptions worked upon them. God bless the communities and workers faced with the impossible task of managing what is being worked upon us all.