The Border and Public Safety
Americans have been bombarded over the last decade with daily news reports of the crisis at the southern border, reports that depending on your politics may or may not be rooted in fact. Within the last week the war over the border has heated up significantly, as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is accused of illegally moving illegal immigrants to the haughty Martha’s Vineyard enclave. Partisan politics will continue to overshadow the realities of the current immigration issue, ensuring that no real action is taken to solve the problem. Politics aside, we should look at the true costs of our open southern border.
I, like many Texans, traveled over the recent Labor Day weekend and I noticed something that for most who were driving were glad to experience – a distinct lack of Texas State Troopers patrolling our highways. Over this holiday weekend I traveled nearly 900 miles across our state, mostly on interstate or state highways, and saw only one (1) trooper during the entire trip. I began to wonder how this could be, especially considering the horrific accidents that have occurred in our region in the last few months. What I discovered is shocking, and ultimately costing Texans their lives. I called a friend of mine who is a trooper and asked to speak to him off the record – just trying to gather information. What I was told pushed me to write this article/opinion piece. Our troopers are being overworked doing the job that is supposedly that of the federal government. Troopers are required to work rotating shifts along the border, away from their homes and families, risking their lives chasing drug runners and human traffi ckers daily. After a rotation on the border these troopers are expected to come home for a brief period where they can be expected to cover an area 2 or 3 times the size of their normal patrol area. My trooper friend also told me that they still had to attend the required firearms trainings, legal updates, and most recently more intensive active shooter trainings.
As he and I talked I wondered how much time troopers were actually getting to patrol the highways of the state. The answers I got shocked me. My trooper friend told me that he spends less that 10% of his time actually patrolling highways, looking for speeders or impaired drivers. He added that away from the border there appears to be a steady increase in crashes involving drivers that are unlicensed, have no insurance or that are operating under the influence. On many shifts, I was told, he literally runs from crash to crash across multiple counties rather than working traffic and preventing the crashes he is working. He told me that many times his reports are not being submitted in a timely fashion due to the sheer workload being placed upon our troopers. At one point he came out and said what was already on my mind, “Texans are dying because we are having to protect the border.”
Think about all of this… illegal immigrants are dying trying to come to this country because of failed policies and an administrations “open borders” policy. They believe that our current administration has their backs (falsely). Texans are being killed in preventable crashes hundreds of miles away as the direct result of this illegal immigration. Closer to the border, high-speed chases are a daily part of life. Chases that ultimately contributed to much of the complacency at Robb Elementary because of the volume of lockdown warnings. Families are being forced to literally barricade themselves in their homes because of the human traffic that is passing around their homes.
As we approach the midterm elections, I ask you to really consider what is happening on our border. Consider the lives being lost, both directly and indirectly, because of the failure of our federal government – not just the current administration – but congress as a whole. Consider the cost to Texas taxpayers, you and your neighbors, to try to combat the massive number of illegals crossing the border daily. What is the true cost to our country?
As I closed my conversation with my trooper friend, I found out what the real cost of this issue. He told me that he and his wife of nearly 15 years were divorcing. She couldn’t handle the weeks alone when he is away at the border or the stress of being a “single” parent. She admitted that she signed up to be a trooper’s wife, with the dangers that come with it, but she didn’t sign up to be the wife of a soldier that was constantly deployed.
So, as you go about your day and prepare to vote in the mid-terms, please think about those that you are willing to put into office. Think about the safety of our fellow Texans on the border, think about the innocent children that have drowned crossing the Rio Grande. Think about politicians who are lining their pockets as they refuse to do anything about the issues. Think about protecting our country and our way of life.
The column represents the thoughts and opinions of Chris Kehl. Opinion columns are NOT the opinion of the Navasota Examiner. Talk Around Grimes allows Grimes County community residents to submit opinion articles for review to The Examiner but doesn’t guarantee publication.