Minutemen fill void left by law enforcement
http://www.mysanantonio.com
Comment: Minutemen fill void left by law enforcement
Web Posted: 03/12/2006 12:00 AM CST
Mike L. Vickers
Special to the Express-News
As a citizen and rancher who has experienced the horrors of illegal immigration firsthand, I would like to respond to the Feb. 27 editorial "Aid from the state blitzes Minutemen."
There is no question in my mind that this editorial, denouncing the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, or MCDC, is a display of the total ignorance of the reality of the illegal immigration crisis on our nation's southern border.
I live in Brooks County, 70 miles from the border and not four miles from a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint that is intended to catch illegal aliens. My ranch and those of my neighbors are negatively impacted on a daily basis by literally hundreds of suspected illegal aliens.
These are not people who are out jogging and have become lost. They are not hunters after game, and they are not children walking to school. They are the citizens of other countries who have paid thousands of dollars to a human "coyote" to take them to the United States in violation of our laws.
They are simply evading the Border Patrol by trespassing on my land. They cut my fences and destroy thousands of dollars of my property every month.
And the human cost is staggering. Last year, our dogs were found playing with a human skull. Last year, Brooks County's limited resources were exhausted by the investigation of and the care for the bodies of 60 suspected illegal immigrants.
My point is that the Border Patrol can do nothing to stop this, and neither can the sheriff's department. Brooks County, since it is not a "border county," received nothing of the initial $10 million or subsequent funding from Operation Linebacker, the Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition's attempt to secure our border with Mexico.
The incursions by what many believe to have been Mexican military escorting drugs into our country twice in recent weeks near Sierra Blanca points up the fact that Operation Linebacker is a failure. Anyone who visits my property for one night would also leave with the same idea.
The editorial writer acclaims the governor's allocated $10 million for Operation Linebacker, but this amount would not pay for one year of incarceration for the thousands of illegal aliens already in Texas prisons for convictions of rape, robbery, drug smuggling and the murder of our fellow citizens, not the least of which are our law enforcement officers.
Last October, Chris Simcox, founder of the MCDC, and his citizen volunteers were invited to observe, and report to authorities, the illegal activities on my ranch and other ranches in Brooks County. As a result of Simcox and his fine volunteers, the flow of illegal aliens was quickly reduced to a trickle.
I support and applaud the efforts of the U.S. Border Patrol and other law enforcement agencies, but I know they are underfunded and overwhelmed by this massive unarmed invasion of our state. Fellow ranchers and I are basically on our own when it comes to protecting our families and our property. I know I can speak for my neighbors when I write that we welcome the efforts of Simcox and his growing numbers of MCDC citizen volunteers.
Due to the continued similar editorials from the Express-News, it is becoming evident that the Editorial Board is sympathetic to illegal immigration and, more alarmingly, unsympathetic to the laws of the United States and the citizens who expect our laws to be enforced.
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Mike L. Vickers is a veterinarian and rancher in Brooks County.
We need more voices like yours
I just read an article about the Pro Illegal immigration rally in Chicago and got sick to my stomach.
We need more voices like yours Mr. Vickers. More voices from the people whose lives have been directly affected by all the illegals.
I wish Congress would go live on the border for a week and see what goes on there.
