This crisis at the border in Hidalgo County has two components that are very typical to the USA southern border; one is violent, but, the majority of people crossing the border are non-violent and seeking asylum.
The violent aspect of these crossings are the drug cartels and they are armed with military style weapons that may have come from "straw purchasers."
The problem is the cartels are escalating their activity and the county is being overwhelmed. The migrants may or may not be responsible for stealing vehicles. This escalation is probably due to increased enforcement efforts elsewhere. The increased border protections elsewhere is compressing the cartels crossings to less patrolled areas of the border.
Something has to be done for Hidalgo County, New Mexico with this escalation, but, is the long term solution a wall? They may need an improvement of some kind of a physical barrier, however, there is every reason to believe that is not going to stop either the cartels or the migrants. The best measure is the Border Patrol which takes down drug smugglers successfully.
Surveillance of electronic means can help identify border crossers to find them and bring them to justice, however, the drug smugglers aren't necessarily making a one way trip. The drug activity is the most dangerous and ultimately effects the country, but, the USA cannot turn away asylum seekers.
To be perfectly clear, this is Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Texas does not want a wall. Other solutions have to be found.
January 23, 2019
By Chris Ramirez
...New Mexico’s Boot Heel (click here) sits in Hidalgo County, wedged between Arizona and Mexico. The county shares 87 miles of its boundary with Mexico and there is no border wall in Hidalgo County....
...“It's not getting any better, it's getting worse and there is now an influx of people," said Billy Darnell. “We know something is going to happen every day we go out.”
KOB 4 asked if any of them had been victimized by people who they believe to be undocumented immigrants. All but one raised their hands to state yes.
“We've had vehicles stolen,” said Randy Massey.
“They've had bundles of weed, coke and carrying heavy artillery,” said Cammi Moore.
“The worst part of it, we had an employee kidnapped. And that was probably the worst night of my entire life until we got him back,’ said Elrock.
“It's getting to the point where these confrontations are getting more aggressive and more and more violent,” said Kris Massey....
...In the last few weeks, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has sent news releases out that illustrate the ranchers' concerns. On January 16th, U.S. CBP reported that a group of 247 migrants turned themselves in near the Antelope Wells Port of Entry in Hidalgo County. Two days later, U.S. CBP released night video showing a group of migrants jumping over the Normandy barriers. Many, if not all, of the migrants are asylum seekers....
