Freedom Toll
Wednesday , November 26, 2008 Posted: 10:58 PM

A look into how Texas Border Volunteers help keep our borders safe

BROOKS COUNTY - The area between the checkpoint in Brooks County and the Rio Grande River spans about 60 miles. For illegal immigrants, it is the final miles of their journey. The last 60 miles they have to cross; the end of law enforcement's intense focus as they pass through the door into the United States.

Aside from crossing the river, the deadliest risk they face is on a dense private ranchland. That's where illegals may encounter the border defenders.

The Texas Border Volunteers work major operations near Falfurrias. These volunteers stay on private property. They report trespassers to the border patrol during regular watches.

NEWSCHANNEL 5 got information about 100 illegals that bailed out about 20 miles south of the Texas Border Volunteers Headquarters, so we rolled out on ATVs and pick-ups. Members spotted a group of illegals marching through the Vickors Ranch. With infrared, night vision and thermo-imaging equipment, we went on the hunt with the volunteers to capture these moments.

Juan Antonio Dias Hernandez says he came from Honduras. The desperate father of two says he was planning to find some kind of carpentry work in Houston. Hernandez was hoping to earn enough money to send to his family back home. He was traveling only with a quarter gallon of water and the clothes on his back.

The volunteers on guard spotted two more Hondurans and two men from Guatemala who bailed out from a bigger group.

The volunteers say that many of these illegals risk their lives in the darkness. They face the danger of barbed wire, sharp thorns and more. To avoid the law and the heat, they sometimes choose to move at night.

A few days later we tracked a group of illegal border crossers hiding in tall tress near the Falfurrias checkpoint. The border patrol chopper closed in on them before we could reach them, but we found two teenagers stranded.

One of the teens was Marco Antonio who came from Zacatecas, Mexico. He was told by his smuggler that Houston was just beyond the checkpoint. We learned that illegals are often told that Houston is right after the checkpoint because smugglers get their money and they can quickly get out of the picture before running a risk of getting caught by border patrol.

Marco Antonio says that he and his friend Jorge were abandoned by their smuggler. The teens were traveling with a group of 15, but got lost from the group.

Marco Antonio and Jorge were deported, but they will likely attempt to cross the Rio Grande in a couple of days.

A man we'll call "Carlos" lives in Falfurrias. He's well-known by law enforcement. The 45-year-old says he knows the business of dealing drugs and smuggling illegals inside and out. He says he used to smuggle illegals because he believed he was actually helping the government by bringing in the kind of people it needed - the ranch hands, nannies and day laborers.

"I don't care about the money. It's the people; people from Mexico come here to the U.S. to work," said "Carlos".

But the border volunteers see a much different picture. They see an alarming rise in the level of criminal activity here. They say it's fueled by the drug wars in Mexico and by cartel leaders looking for new streams of revenue. While more people are trying to get into the United States, more are failing, too.

Officials say the death count in Brooks County in the last three or four years will testify to that - these are the deaths of the unknowns in Brooks County. The county says these unknown people have names, genders and families, but they are buried in unknown graves. All of this creates a financial burden that falls onto the tax payers because money is spent on crime scenes, autopsies, a burial and more.

The numbers of those who pass through the streets here in Falfurrias is mounting, too. The burden of the illegals sucks up resources from local law enforcement.

"Most of these vehicles, 80% of them, are illegals that were caught inside the vehicle or took off running the coyote runs into the fence line on the side of the highway," said Brooks County Sheriff, Balde Lozano

Deputies and police officers once assigned to protecting homes now find themselves combating human trafficking on the highways.

These Texas border volunteers come from across the country. They say we are fighting a new war in our own backyard. They see themselves as protectors of our country; as the last line of defense from the unknown while you sleep. And illegal immigrants see them as yet another hurdle to overcome in their journey north.

http://www.newschannel5.tv/2008/11/26/1 ... eedom-Toll