When I heard that the All-American Beef Battalion was going to feed the Texas National Guard in Eagle Pass, I said I would be there.
First off, it has been far too long since I was part of feeding the troops and it was very rewarding once again to be a part of this tremendous endeavor. We fed 325 people on a November day in Eagle Pass—all members of the Texas National Guard who are there to assist the Border Patrol. What I witnessed was that the community of Eagle Pass truly benefits from the presence of the National Guard.
The internal conflict of this border debacle is all created in Washington, D.C., not Texas. The National Guard is on the scene to provide assistance to the severely handicapped Border Patrol. The patrol is handicapped because the rate of people crossing the border every day is beyond what the patrol can handle. The patrol is understaffed and overwhelmed, not to mention demoralized. There is a constant stream of nearly 1,000 people every day coming in just to become legal immigrants.
I learned that we hit the high-water mark on “legal immigration” in 2021 and yet it is estimated that in 2022 the number of “illegal immigrants” crossing the border daily is four times higher than the high-water mark in 2021. It seems to be common knowledge now that over 50,000 “illegals” cross the border each month that got away upon entering without proper documentation.
I had a great “off the record” conversation with one member of the National Guard who said, in his opinion, that the pattern we see crossing the border indicates that these are not people who just decided they are going come to America for a better life, but rather they are organized by some entity to get them here on purpose.
After standing on the Texas side of the Rio Grande River looking over my shoulder at the young men keeping an eye on me from the Piedras Negras, Mexico, side, it is very clear what the root cause of the onslaught of immigration is all about infestation of illegal drugs into the country. Clearly these people have figured out that the best way to continue the chaos, confusion and ultimately control of our country is through drug addiction.
The other thing that I learned from the Texas National Guard that was greatly concerning was their observation that in the past six months there has been a significant increase in “illegal” traffic from Russia, China, and Iran. It is clear to me after my visit that the two things we should be very concerned about in this barrage at the border are the illegal drugs coming to render us mindless and the terrorists who are coming in to inflict direct harm.
At the end of the day the sentiment from me is exactly the same as always. The folks closest to the scene, the Texas National Guard, are doing what they can to protect the citizens of Texas and beyond, but it is not enough. If we truly want to protect our national security, we will request that the handcuffs be removed from both the Border Patrol and the National Guard, which will allow them to do what they signed up for—protect the citizens of this nation.
Editor’s note: The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not represent the views of High Plains Journal. Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.LoosTales.com, or email Trent at [email protected].