CA. Rancher protects his border property
10News: Rancher protects his border property
By 10News
8:05 a.m., Feb. 17, 2012
Just four months ago, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testified before a U.S. Senate committee on border security.
Napolitano said, over the last two years, unprecedented resources have been dedicated to securing the U.S. border. She also said the efforts were achieving unprecedented results.
10News anchor Steve Atkinson traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego to see those resources in action and how successful border security has really been.
"You know, when I was here last time you didn't have the razor wire," Atkinson said to rancher Bob Maupin.
"It wasn't eight feet tall either," Maupin responded with a laugh.
Maupin's 250-acre ranch sits directly on the border, about 60 miles east of San Diego. The fact that he is wearing a bulletproof vest and carries a legal assault rifle while inspecting his fence along the border is a pretty good indication of what he thinks about border security.
Atkinson asked, "You wear this [flak jacket] every day?"
"Every day I come by the border I wear this," said Maupin.
"You check your fence every day?" Atkinson asked.
Maupin quickly replied, "I check my fence every day, and this is the outfit."
Atkinson first met Maupin five years ago. Back then, there was no vest, no assault rifle and the rickety chain link fence Maupin was building to keep illegal immigrants off his land was only six feet high.
Maupin's fence worked. Night-vision video from that year showed five illegal immigrants trying to cross Maupin's family ranch to get into the U.S., but they turned back when they couldn't get through his fence.
"I can't protect the whole border. I can only protect my own property," Maupin added proudly.
Maupin just kept building that fence. Today, it's almost two miles long, over 10 feet high and topped with razor wire. It's quite an impressive site, but a frustrated Maupin said, "There's another big hole. You can see the patch I put on it."
He told 10News the illegal crossings continue.
When Maupin and his friends patch up one hole, "There's another hole that I fixed and there's a bigger one that I fixed," he said, pointing out numerous holes in the bottom of his fence.
Maupin has even tried hidden cameras.
"The camera at that point was right underneath that bush," said Maupin, pointing to a brushy area where a camera was perfectly hidden from view.
Video from that hidden camera taken about a year ago showed a group of illegal immigrants cutting through the bottom of Maupin's fence in broad daylight and then continuing north through his ranch.
But the immigrants are not why he carries a rifle and a sidearm. His greatest concern is with the dangerous smugglers crossing through his land.
"This is mostly all drugs now," said Maupin, who is clearly concerned for what the future holds.
As a Border Patrol agent drives by and honks from his SUV, the rancher waves from behind his fence. Maupin said the Border Patrol tries to do a good job, but he said until administrators and the powers that be in Washington, D.C., get serious about what's happening in the border areas and other remote areas nearby, nothing will change.
"We are, as they say, a nation of immigrants," Maupin said standing confident. "But we all came through the front door. We didn't break a window and climb in like a burglar. That's what's going on, and with that comes the drugs. You can't bring drugs through the front door because somebody might be watching. So you break a window and throw them in. And that's what's going on."
Until things change, Maupin said he will continue to walk his ranch with a rifle and a sidearm.
"I've been told I'll probably go with my finger on the trigger," said Maupin. "But I'm only in my 70s so I've got a long way to go."
10News: Rancher protects his border property | UTSanDiego.com
