Estimated 90,000 Moving to U.S. - Mexico Border
Kinney County Scheduling Emergency Meeting for Public Safety
A lot is happening very quickly along this stretch of the border, and it will probably not slow down. According to some estimates, anywhere from 60-to-90 thousand illegal aliens are crossing through Mexico on their way to the United States.
It’s not clear where they’re headed, but it should take about 2 weeks for them to get there, according to some estimates, if the Mexican government doesn’t slow them down.
A group that large could break into several pieces and still overwhelm multiple crossing points with tens of thousands of people, manufacturing a humanitarian crisis anywhere along the border.
Odds are high, however, that many will stay together in one large blob of humanity, protecting each other from any attempts to stop them. And, it’s very possible they will come to the Del Rio area once more, because the Cartels do not charge people money to cross there.
In Kinney County, authorities have called for a special emergency meeting to discuss public safety. It’s set for Monday at 9:00 AM.
The news of this special meeting follows a mostly orderly, but briefly contentious town hall with State Attorney General Ken Paxton, some of his staffers, and FOX News Anchor Maria Bartiromo last Monday night. Most of the questions were pre-submitted, but after Ms. Bartiromo and Mr. Paxton departed, some of the Attorney General’s staff remained to take more questions from the audience, and that is when things started to fray as the lawyers talked about the need for citizens to lobby in support of Senate Bill 1, the voter integrity measure that sent Democrats running away to Washington D.C. earlier this year to prevent a quorum.
Area ranchers seemed fed up with talk of legislative and legal solutions and started to press the lawyers for some kind of immediate aid in the form of manpower and border-enforcement, saying there’s no time to sit around waiting.
"The Cartel is running the border," said Mike Miller-- a Uvalde County rancher turned citizen journalist, who has been lobbying almost nightly on Facebook and other places, trying to raise awareness about what his family and many others are going through. Miller may have come close to shouting at the attorneys, "My family has been threatened three times," Miller continued before being gently cut off by organizers. Mr. Miller’s style could be called very high energy. You can find his material online at www.warriorsforranchers.com.
The thread was soon picked up by another rancher, from Maverick County who we were unable to identify-- though he was referred to by others as "Rooster." "We don't have time for lawsuits," said Rooster, "We need help now," he said, expressing pure frustration at being essentially told that things are just going to keep happening and there's not much to be done until the next election.
County Judge Tully Shahan had to ride to the rescue of the Austin lawyers, taking the microphone, and promising citizens that he, the Sheriff, and others in the County were well aware of the looming possible crisis, and would be taking steps to address it. You can watch almost the entire thing here. Skip to about 1 hour, 11 minutes in for the fireworks. If you enjoy legislative and legal policy wonkery, feel free to give the whole thing a watch.
Shahan then turned things back over to organizers, for an orderly end to the event.
It should be noted that the Attorney General’s office really isn’t in a position to offer much manpower or border-closing assistance on their own— as the County Judge pointed out, they’re constrained by law.
“Suspicious” Website Goes Live, Laying out County’s Case
Meanwhile, Monday, a new webpage, www.defendourborders.org was brought to our attention, with some concerns over whether or not it was legitimate. It lays out months and months of efforts by Kinney County leadership to try and get more help from the Federal and State Governments, to little or no avail, beyond a large number of State Troopers, and promises of funds that won’t be available until December— all while local ranchers continue describing a life under siege. The website also has a component soliciting donations for help in securing the county’s section of the border.
After communicating with the County Attorney Brent Smith, we have confirmed the site is legitimate, and has his and the County Judge and Sheriff’s seal of approval, though they say they are still tweaking it. Presumably that will include making it apparent that the site is legitimate, so that private citizens may send money with confidence.
For those who aren’t up to speed yet, the website has a pretty good breakdown of certain events that have led up to this moment, though it stops at some point in September. If you’re completely new to the issue, and just now becoming aware of the crisis and the basic issues for folks in Kinney County and other rural border counties, the State Attorney General’s Office has produced an excellent series of miniature documentaries about it. Borderlands, Episode 1 is the first in the series.
And, we would be remiss, not to remind folks to also consider taking a spin through the archives here at the Cavalry - Dispatch, though some seem already determined to read every word. Flattered. Really.
Private Contractor Purchases RV Park in Val Verde County
Shifting our focus to other news that broke early this week— word from several of our associates in Del Rio, that a Government Contractor has purchased the Broke Mill RV park, on the West side of the City, and the more than 40 acres it sits on, to build some kind of a new barracks post for the Texas National Guard.
That stands to reason— right now, there isn’t a hotel room to be had in the area. All are occupied by state troopers and others. If the State does decide to send troops to the border they’ll be camping in the desert without some kind of facilities.
Buying an RV park for quick conversion makes sense— it’s already wired for water, sewer, and electricity.
That’s all for now, have a great Wednesday morning, and please, spread the word. Until next time, stay safe, stay calm, and carry on.
Addition: The Rancher nicknamed "Rooster" has been identified for us as a man named Neal Watkins, a longtime area resident. Please, continue to send any other corrections to us-- especially ones of grammar.