Thread: Rick Perry: 'We Don't Have the Resources' to Secure Texas Border

by Bob Price 17 Jun 2014, 8:31 AM PDT
breitbart



HOUSTON, Texas—Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) appeared on Fox News’ Fox and Friends show and said Texas lacks the resources and manpower to secure the 1,200 mile Texas border with Mexico. The comment sent shock waves through a Texas grassroots discussion thread on Facebook this morning of activists who are seeking a special session call from the Governor to deal with the issue of border security.

In the video, Governor Perry tells the hosts of Fox and Friends, "We don't have the resources, nor the manpower to be able to do that (secure the border) for the 1,200 miles. If we did, we would." The comment came after about three minutes of his explaining the historical perspective of how we got to this point and pointing his finger of blame at the Obama Administration for not securing the southern border of the United States.

Other Texas elected officials, speaking on condition of anonymity have told Breitbart Texas that Texas does, in fact, have the resources to conduct not only a surge operation, but a prolonged border control operation that would secure the Texas border with Mexico. As for the surge operation, most, including Governor Perry, seem to be pointing the finger for the delay at Texas House Speaker Joe Straus.

Host Brian Kilmeade opened the segment asking Perry if he was shocked by the numbers of people crossing the border into Texas. “The numbers are shocking when you think about a thousand a day being apprehended along the border,” Perry said.

Perry explained these children are traveling across Mexico to get to the United States in “incredibly dangerous conditions.” “Your heart goes out to these kids, obviously,” Perry explained, “but the issue is, we should never be seeing this happening. Diplomatically, I think there is a huge breakdown between the United States and those countries (Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador) in being able to say, ‘wait a minute, what are you doing?’”

Perry discussed the ongoing efforts of Texans to secure its own border with Mexico. “We’ve been sounding that alarm and putting substantial Texas dollars into it,” Perry stated. “We have a request in for even more dollars going towards border security from the Texas standpoint. But it’s 1,200 miles and the idea that the State of Texas should be doing this, I get it, my citizens require me to keep them safe.” Perry goes on to explain the vast resources that Texas has expended along the border.

“This President,” Perry said in a pivot to the federal government, “… is totally and absolutely either inept or, [pausing] is making some decisions that are not in the best interest of American citizens, particularly from a public safety standpoint.”

Perry was asked why Obama has not done something to “stop this right now.” “I don’t know,” Perry responded. “We flagged this issue in 2012 and have yet to even have a response, as far as I know, not from the President, but not even from his administration. These unaccompanied alien children, and that is a huge issue, but also we have record high numbers of ‘other than Mexicans’ (OTM) being apprehended at the border.”

“These are people coming from states like Syria,” Perry explained, “that have substantial connections back to terrorist regimes and terrorist operations. We’re seeing record highs, historic high numbers of these individuals being apprehended.”

“I think, whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican,” he stated, “You need to be addressing this Mr. President. We know how to do this. We have surged into certain sectors of the border and shut down the illegal activities that are going on there.”

Many grassroots activists in Texas are calling on Perry to take a stronger lead on this issue and call a special session of the legislature to provide financial resources to Texas law enforcement to completely and immediately secure the border. An online petition drive was created over the weekend and now has over 3,000 signatures. The petition is titled “Request for Immediate Texas Border Control.”

One of the grassroots activists in the discussion thread, Holly Morse, a self described Tea Party Activist from Dallas, said, “He [Perry] seems to be just pointing the finger at Obama and just wanting to leave it up to him. We can't do that at this point. Surely Perry gets that. But what he doesn't get is that we are going to have to step up in Texas.”

Breitbart Texas contacted Governor Perry’s office for a comment about the petition and a potential special session. Press Secretary, Lucy Nashed responded, “I know you and I have discussed that the unaccompanied minor issue is one we've known about for years, the root cause of which is the unsecured border. That's why Texas has put hundreds of millions of dollars into personnel and resources to fill in where the federal government has failed.”

“Gov. Perry has also signed on to a letter with Lt. Gov. Dewhurst,” Nashed continued, “directing DPS to conduct a border surge operation in the coming months. This letter is awaiting approval from Speaker Straus.”

Responding to the call for a special session Nashed said, “As he does with calls for special session on any issue, the governor will take this into consideration.” Breitbart Texas contacted the Governor’s Office again asking for more clarification on the special session issue. A response has not yet been received for those questions.

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-T...e-Texas-Border

AZ. border fence.

Nogales, Mexico - A towering wall of rusted metal climbs the desert hillsides separating Nogales, Mexico from its American neighbour city of the same name.

CA. border fence.

/ AP

In this Nov. 17, 2008 file photo, a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle stands guard along the border fence with its concertino wire topping it, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File)


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2...order-fencing/

WHERE THE BORDER WALL ENDS: SOUTH EAST TEXAS/MEXICO BORDER WIDE OPEN (VIDEO)




by BRANDON DARBY 7 Aug 2013

Both Democrat and Republican leaders continue to espouse that the U.S. border with Mexico is secure, but I found the exact opposite to be true when I went to the border on assignment for Breitbart News.

These videos expose the ease at which illegal crossings occur in the southeast Texas area known as the Valley, one of the most heavy areas for illegal crossing into the United States.

The first video I took revealed a gaping hole in the border fence that resulted from a massive gate never having been installed. The opening was slightly more than 100 yards from the Rio Grande, the river that separates the U.S. from Mexico in Texas. I walked to the river, then walked through the open gate into a U.S. neighborhood. I did not see any security or border patrols for 30-35 minutes.

Approximately one mile from this gaping hole, I found the end of the border fence. The end of the border fence sits between another U.S. neighborhood and the river. A "wildlife management area" extends less than a mile between the fence and the river.

Here is the exclusive video:
A short trip down the road into the "wildlife management area" reveals the river to be unprotected. A small unopened gate with a maze of dirt roads led one mile to the Rio Grande.

The area was littered with clothes, Mexican beer bottles, heavy jackets, and items not common for the 100+ degree temperature of the area. The heavy clothing are often worn by illegal border-crossers to reduce the damage from thorns and brush as they flee from U.S. border patrols.

Here is the exclusive video of the entrance to the "wildlife management area" in between a U.S. neighborhood and Mexico. The only gate of any kind can be seen:

One mile past the open gate is the Rio Grande river. Across the river is the Gulf cartel-controlled region of Mexico. This exclusive video shows the river at this point:

After a long expanse of unsecured border, my journey brought me to the Los Ebanos Ferry Crossing. The crossing had a small U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement staff. Viewers will be shocked at how narrow the river is in the area and at the primitive nature of the crossing.

Local reports discuss watching young men swim from Mexico in the evenings, after the checkpoint closes. Here is the exclusive video:

Videos at link:

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...nsecured-Video

Other Texas elected officials, speaking on condition of anonymity have told Breitbart Texas that Texas does, in fact, have the resources to conduct not only a surge operation, but a prolonged border control operation that would secure the Texas border with Mexico. As for the surge operation, most, including Governor Perry, seem to be pointing the finger for the delay at Texas House Speaker Joe Straus.

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