Joyride Destruction

And-- that Ol' Impeachment Grind

Good morning, friends,

Don’t expect to get too lyrical today. Today’s more journalistic than it is poetic.

A bizarre case is occupying Kinney County Sheriffs Office investigators and trackers, who spent much of Monday following a 26-mile cross-country trail of destruction.

Unfortunately for us, no photos have been cleared for release, but in our official capacity we have seen some of the photos that have been taken, including the damage done to one ranch’s decorative main gate.

Let’s back up a second— here’s the copy we’ve prepared for our now resuming weekly release to the local newspaper:

Investigators with the Kinney County Sheriffs Office are looking into an especially wanton crime spree.   Apparently, a smuggler with a truckload of illegal aliens decided to take out almost every fence and gate between him and the Real County line, as he followed a predetermined course for 26 miles cross-country.  Additional fencing and gates were damaged in Real County.

Investigators say at some point the driver even got a little turned around and hit the same fences twice, just yards away from each other.

In all, the driver damaged at least a dozen fences and gates that investigators have identified, but more discoveries could be made in the days ahead.

It's too soon for a full and accurate damage assessment, but Sheriff Brad Coe and his investigators agree, the number is going to be well into 6-figures and possibly multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In addition to fencing and standard ranch gates, the group also destroyed a decorative main gate on one ranch-- wrecking a relative fortune in stonework, mortar, and wrought iron.

"I assure you; they had the route planned out," says Deputy Clay Sinclair, who went on to cite several instances where the driver made very purposeful "cuts" or changes in direction that didn't necessarily follow any immediately obvious or sensible routes-- suggesting that they were following a series of virtual "push-pins" that are frequently used by smuggling route planners on smartphone map programs.

—Set for publication Thursday, in the Kinney County Post

Apparently, the spree continued for a handful of miles into Real County where the truck they were using finally just gave up.

The Sheriff and his investigators seemed rather confident that they’d be making an arrest in this one. They didn’t say why or how, but if one had to guess, we’d speculate that some of the aliens that were in the truck have been captured, and/or they have been able to identify the suspect and are already in the process of tracking him down.

Long story short, we don’t often see this sort of confidence in cases where a suspect has broken contact with law-enforcement, so there’s something different in play here.

Ironically, this comes as another in a series of landowner meetings prepares to get underway.

Several meetings have already been held in area counties, including Dimmit and Maverick County.

These are primarily being focused on getting the word out about a new state program that aims to provide reimbursement to landowners whose property is damaged by human smuggling.

A lot of features of the program have yet to be actually hammered out, and State Officials are counting on the feedback from these meetings to inform their decisions about the final shape of the program. Consequently, this represents a rare occasion for folks to influence the process.

It should be noted, Congressman Chip Roy may or may not be able to actually attend— he’s been busily campaigning in Iowa on behalf of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and depending on how that shapes up, he may elect to stay put.

Nationally, we’re seeing a lot of blown smoke and misdirection as things continue to slowly grind toward a possible impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Impeaching Mayorkas? Image Courtesy: Fox News/John Moore/Getty Images

Perhaps the biggest headline right now, is word from multiple sources to more than just Fox News, that Mayorkas admitted to Del Rio Sector Border Agents that right now DHS is letting more than 85-percent of people through into the United States.

It’s been assumed for a while than any kind of a screening process along the Rio Grande has been cursory at best, but today’s revelations suggest cursory isn’t nearly permissive enough of a word to describe what’s happening.

The conversation happened during the muster for agents in the busy border area. Fox is told Mayorkas was asked directly about comments he made on "Special Report" last week when he was asked by anchor Bret Baier about reporting that over 70% of migrants are released into the U.S. each day.

"It would not surprise me at all. I know the data," Mayorkas said. "And I will tell you that when individuals are released, they are released into immigration enforcement proceedings. They are on alternatives to detention. And we have returned or removed a record number of individuals. We are enforcing the laws that Congress has passed. "

Fox is told that on Monday agents pushed him on those remarks, saying that the number is even higher than 70%, and then Mayorkas acknowledged a release rate of "above 85%."

—FOX News Reporting by Adam Shaw, Bill Melugin, and Griff Jenkins

Let’s pause the ‘tape’ real quick here and recognize that the numbers may be even higher than the admitted 85-percent.

Look at just how Mayorkas is parsing everything: With Brett Baier it’s a mealy-mouthed “over 70%.”

With agents at Muster, less than a week later, the number is “above 85%.”

So, okay— if pressed during an impeachment hearing, are we going to hear that the number’s actually “more than 90%?”

The truth is, in ordinary times, one would be happy to assume that the number is 85% and change, on the basis of these statements.

But given the overall levels of deception and gas lighting that have characterized this crisis, who the hell knows? We don’t.

Mayorkas had also said last week on "Special Report" that "well more than a million" migrants are released into the U.S. annually, and argued repeatedly that it is up to Congress to provide more funding and immigration reform to fix what he has called a "broken" system. He said that the agency is limited in detention capacity by funding provided by Congress.

"When somebody enters the country, we place them in immigration enforcement proceedings pursuant to immigration law, and if their claim for relief, their claim to remain in the United States succeeds, then by law they are able to stay here," he said.

The remarks come just two days before the House Homeland Security Committee holds its first impeachment hearing, featuring multiple state attorneys general who will testify about the impact the crisis has had on their states.

The hearing on Wednesday marks the first impeachment hearing after a year of investigations and reports by the House Homeland Security Committee which looked at the handling of the nearly three-year migrant crisis.

Republicans have blamed the historic migrant crisis, which saw 302,000 migrant encounters last month alone on Biden-era policies, including the releases of migrants into the interior -- dubbed "catch-and-release." They have pointed to the broad use of parole, as well as narrowed ICE enforcement and the stopping of wall construction.
—FOX News Reporting by Adam Shaw, Bill Melugin, and Griff Jenkins

We mentioned blown smoke— there was a headline somewhere on twitter over the weekend, suggesting that Mayorkas “is one of the good guys,” fighting behind the scenes against a crooked White House.

We forgot to bookmark it, but that’s probably because we were too busy laughing.

Almost done— just one more note to pass along. Something that caught our eye on Facebook over the weekend.

Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland is the Sheriff in nearby Terrell County, West of Del Rio and Val Verde County.

It’s not unusual for a lawman to endorse a political candidate. But many in the area have been caught off guard by the endorsement, as Cleveland was until recently going forward with an exploratory committee, looking into running against the incumbent Tony Gonzales.

One can only imagine that the committee’s explorations came back with a hugely negative result leading to this decision and endorsement.

Gonzales eats a lot of criticism in the area for some of his early responses to the border crisis, and perceptions that he has unusually close ties with at least one NGO that is presumably making a lot of money off the crisis.

It is fair to note these difficulties. They’re real. Sometimes it seems Gonzalez can’t make a move online or otherwise West of San Antonio without folks raising hell.

But, it is also fair to note that he’s seemed to be making an effort in recent months to be seen to be doing something constructive— whether it’s shepherding fellow lawmakers down here for repeated visits or taking part in a high profile visit by Elon Musk.

In a world that routinely falls so short of perfection, it’s tempting to extend the benefit of the doubt in all kinds of directions. Indeed, many of Gonzales’ primary opponents could use the benefit of the doubt for their own unique reasons that we won’t get into here. Suffice to say, all are human and flaws can be found, if looked for.

But are their flaws less serious than the incumbent’s? We don’t know. Many would like to think so, given their frustrations. But is that the right question to be asking? There’s an argument to be made that sometimes certain flaws are excusable when and if a candidate is willing to go hard enough in the right directions. That’s something a lot of religious conservatives say when they talk about Donald Trump. Does Tony Gonzales go hard enough in the right directions? Well, if Donald Trump is the yard stick, the answer is obviously not. But should that be the yardstick we use?

In any event, Gonzales’ position is also dogged by the memory of its previous office holder, Will Hurd, whose name still conjures up all manner of rude expectorations all over Southwest Texas, along with mutters comparing him to a certain be-horned African non-ruminant hoofed mammal. Consequently, many are ready to jump right to his Red Wedding.

In the end, none of this may even matter, Gonzales is sitting atop a hefty pile of money, the benefits of incumbency, and the fact that a good portion of Bexar County is in his district and Bexar County Republicans just don’t seem to be all that hardcore these days. Put these facts together, and it’s not hard to see why an exploratory committee might’ve changed Sheriff Cleveland’s mind about running.

Barring a major local controversy in his backyard, one imagines Sheriff Cleveland will survive any ill will stemming from the endorsement— particularly if the rumors are true, and the endorsement leads to any kind of porcine considerations for Terrell County in Washington.

That’s just smart politics folks!

Or something like that.

As for who the Dispatch is willing to endorse… well… we’d advise any border sheriff to keep their lips closed on the subject. Right now, any given candidate for any given office needs you, more than you need them. Do not trade away your integrity so easily, or so quickly, without commensurate reward.

That too, would seem like smart politics.

So what’s the near future going to look like? Well, we left our crystal ball in our other pants, sadly. We’d like to think that Congressional Republicans will hold strong on taking Ukraine funding hostage and progress toward impeaching Mayorkas, but well… seems like we’ve all been let down so many times already, it’d be foolish to expect anything truly cutthroat at this point.

We’ll just have to hope they have a pleasant surprise for us. Indeed, it won’t be for lack of encouragement. We’re told Sheriff Roy Boyd, of Goliad, and others made it clear during the recent Republican Congressional visit to Eagle Pass, that these communities are resilient and ready to support them in case of a government shutdown, especially since the alternative has been such a disaster.

In any event, that’s all for today— no attempts at any kind of truly deep thoughts. Sometimes the kabuki and kayfabe are all there is.

Have a great morning and we’ll see you again soon.

As always, no one should mistake this humble newsletter for any kind of official communication by Kinney County Government, despite our employment there. It remains an independent piece of work, produced without any kind of oversight. Any errors, misdeeds, or other issues are entirely our own.