Increased law enforcement presence at once-busy illegal crossing points along the Rio Grande border with Mexico is prompting illegal aliens determined to cross into Texas to try more desolate stretches of the river - sometimes with deadly results.
If you’ve seen the movie “No Country for Old Men,” you are already familiar with the unforgiving desert terrain of Terrell County, Texas, which is one of the areas seeing an increase in illegal aliens trying to navigate its hostile terrain.
Crossing into Texas from Mexico here literally means risking your life because once you leave the river, you soon find yourself in a rugged desert environment where shade and water are hard to come by.
This week, lawmen recovered the body of an illegal alien who perished in neighboring Brewster County, where the conditions are just as harsh as they are in Terrell County.
“Prior to the Biden Administration, we averaged perhaps one migrant death per year. Since then, that number has skyrocketed — with 43 deceased migrants recovered in our county alone, and many more never found. This (is) not only a border security issue; it is a humanitarian tragedy. -Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus C. Cleveland
Thaddeus C. Cleveland knows the area well. Before he became Terrell County’s Sheriff, he served 22 years as a US Border Patrol Agent.
“The terrain here is the most unforgiving among the 2,000-mile stretch of border with Mexico,” Sheriff Cleveland told the New York Post.
“It’s the most difficult to traverse — nothing but hills, canyons, mountains, even 2,000-foot cliffs. You look at this terrain and you think, ‘There’s no way people cross here,’ but yes, they do.”
Sheriff Cleveland’s posts on x.com tell the story. For weeks now, he has documented the arrests of groups of illegal aliens in Terrell County by his department and Border Patrol Agents stationed there. The photos below show the apprehension of six illegal aliens from Mexico & Peru:
Two weeks later, another group of seven illegal aliens (from Hidalgo, Querétaro, and Chiapas, Mexico) was apprehended after Border Patrol Agents and Sheriff’s Deputies jointly tracked them for five hours as they attempted to cross deeper into Texas through Terrell County:
Some, like the group pictured below, survive the austere conditions by sheltering in the meager shade of a rock ledge during the day and then moving only at night. Even with that advantage, they were spotted by law enforcement & apprehended:
The conditions are so harsh that illegal aliens who run out of food and water while attempting to cross Terrell County frequently dial 911 to be rescued (despite knowing that will also lead to their arrests), like the group pictured below:
Finally, consider the advice Sheriff Cleveland gave Congress when he offered testimony in March about the situation in his county and others along remote stretches of Texas extending into the “Big Bend:”
“What is needed to secure our border is the right combination of manpower, technology, and infrastructure. If you take my county for instance and almost 517 miles of border between Terrell to Hudspeth Counties, there isn’t a need for a border wall. In much of this area, we have a God made barrier, but what we do need is manpower, technology and infrastructure projects such as roads.” - Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus C. Cleveland
Should more be done to shut down illegal crossings in more remote sections of the US border with Mexico?
Share your opinion in the comments on this article!
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
