Kinney County Filling State Holding Facilities

Department of Public Safety Warning Motorists

A fair amount of scattered news in the Kinney County area regarding the border crisis. No major incidents, perhaps, but one can chalk that up to the new normal. The fact is, there are things happening daily in Kinney County that would’ve been classified as major incidents just a year ago.

We are referring to the numbers of illegal aliens captured on the highways and at the Spofford Railyard of course.

As of this week, there are almost 900 illegal alien trespassers in custody at the Briscoe Unit in Dilley, Texas, and the Segovia Unit in Edinburg. Most are in Dilley, which only houses about 1000. The vast majority of aliens being arrested on state trespassing charges are coming from Kinney County— and it is only a tiny little drop in the bucket. Many more are passing through surrounding counties along the southwestern border, and it is a certainty that further South in the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo - Webb County, even more are evading capture.

It should be stressed, that this is an entirely separate crisis from the mass migration of fraudulent Haitian asylum seekers that are being processed after overwhelming the Port of Entry in Del Rio. Those were people looking to surrender themselves— people told all they had to do was show up, and they would have a place somewhere in the United States. Those being arrested on trespassing charges are those actively trying to avoid being caught: Drug smugglers, human traffickers and the like. “Basically, Border Patrol is out of the picture at this moment. They are busy processing, you call them and they’re not showing up, you can’t rely on them.” said County Attorney Brent Smith— testifying Monday in front of State lawmakers in Austin.

Critics within the Border Patrol and outside it both say this shortfall is the result of policy changes from the Biden White House.

County Sheriff Brad Coe also says Deputies have located more dead bodies— illegal aliens left for dead by their fellow travelers in the hinterlands of the county. 15 bodies have been found so far, compared to 2 in all of last year. It is almost certain that there are more out there in the county that will probably never be found. One could say they have been party to sky burials— their remains devoured by vultures and other scavengers common in the region.

All of this comes as the Texas Department of Public Safety issues a warning to motorists in South Texas— advising them to be extra cautious while stopping at State Rest Areas on the interstates and major highways. Apparently, four illegal aliens in Brooks County, near Falfurrias, tried to push their way into a vehicle occupied by a Texas man. He was able to get away and call authorities. It’s possible the aliens thought the man was a smuggler they were supposed to meet. It’s also possible they were simply tired of walking and thought they could force or convince the man to give them a ride.

Returning our focus to Austin for a moment, County Attorney Brent Smith was there providing testimony to lawmakers on the State Corrections Committee who are in a position of oversight for the usage of the Briscoe and Segovia units, and the processing of the illegal aliens facing state charges there. It is a major step toward a public discussion of the judicial crunch looming over the state, that we have been reporting on since the early days of the Cavalryman - Dispatch. Smith told lawmakers that DPS troopers are pulling roughly 50 illegal aliens a day off of County roads and the Spofford railyard. He also said that while there is one team of DPS Troopers working the countryside and the ranches, Kinney County could use about 15 more.

In a fashion, the judicial pressure along the border is similar to the pressure recently witnessed at the Port of Entry in Del Rio. It was impossible for authorities to get ahead of the crisis there, while people were coming across without stopping. Authorities had to lock down the nearby crossing points with DPS troopers and cruisers, and convince Mexico to crack down in Ciudad Acuna. Similarly, it seems as if it will be a seemingly impossible task to get ahead of the judicial crunch here without somehow slowing or stopping the flow of traffickers and smugglers in Kinney County.

“There is something a lot of people who don’t live on the border fail to realize. We are past a law-enforcement issue. This is becoming a national security problem,” said Smith.

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