(GoRealNewsNow.com) – Terrell County, located in rural Texas, is facing a major crisis as illegal immigration continues to escalate.
The county, which has only 800 residents, saw 7,400 illegal migrants arrested last year, according to Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland. This is a significant increase from 2020, with the county now arresting nine border crossers for every one of its citizens.
The southern border is being overwhelmed by millions of people fleeing from failing states in Central and South America. The desperation drives smugglers to take the risky days-long journey through Terrell County.
Sheriff Cleveland is calling on Governor Greg Abbott for help as cartel operatives continue to operate and increase their smuggling routes through the county.
Currently, Sheriff Cleveland patrols the county with two deputies and 50 border patrol officers, who make most of the arrests of illegal migrants. Federal agents are sent to the county for two weeks at a time to help deal with the 91 miles of the most hostile terrain on the southern border, while 11 Texas Department of Public Safety state troopers are also assigned to the area.
Due to the inhospitable terrain in Terrell County, officers cannot use vehicles to reach remote areas where some migrants cross. They are forced to resort to ATVs or even go on foot. Border Patrol has brought in hi-tech radar towers with cameras, but by the time officers get to the areas where smugglers are leading lines of people, they have often already escaped.
Terrell County recorded 8,000 “gotaways” in 2022, meaning migrants who crossed into the US but either escaped or were not apprehended. However, Sheriff Cleveland warns that this is just a fraction of the total number of migrants getting through.
The sheriff, a former border patrol officer, says that if they arrest a group of 10 migrants in a remote area and one runs off, they usually cannot give chase, or they will lose all those they are trying to arrest.
Unlike other border hot spots like El Paso and Del Rio, the routes through Terrell County are almost exclusively organized by ruthless cartels. They smuggle mostly Mexican migrants who know they are breaking the law and want to remain undetected.
The journey through Texas’ Big Bend region was once considered too remote and dangerous for migrants to attempt. Still, with the escalation of the crisis, more and more migrants are making the four-day trek from the border to Interstate 10.
Sheriff Cleveland has made two appeals for help to the state, and Texas’ newly appointed border czar, Mike Banks, has responded, granting a request to send more state police and promising to visit the area.
The border crisis is taking its toll on the local community, with local rancher Cliff McMullan spending $10,000 in the last two years to fix the damage left behind by migrants on his 3,300-acre cattle ranch. He has started leaving his barn open and food out to stop the migrants from breaking in.
McMullan believes that the leadership has no clue about what is happening and that the general public is also unaware of the situation. He is calling on Kamala Harris and Joe Biden to visit the area and clean up the trash left by the migrants, blaming the current administration for opening the floodgates and making it difficult to close them.
What is your opinion about the job that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are doing when it comes to stopping illegal immigration? Please share your thoughts by emailing [email protected]. Thank you.
