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| - by user TXWise Originally Posted March, 5, 2007 at Faultline USA I recently returned from a trip to southwest Texas where I had the opportunity to stay for several dry camping days on a vast ranch not too far from the Texas/Mexico border. Imagine standing on top of a high plateau and looking in 360degrees (as far as the horizon on every side) and still not being able to see beyond the borders of this ranch! Imagine a ranch this size without any kind of electricity or running water! If you need water, drive for an hour or more to one of the many Windmills that dot the ranch. The average ranch in this part of the Texas desert is around 20,000+ acres. It takes days of traveling in a tough high-clearance 4-wheel drive vehicle just to see part of the ranch. Ranch roads are little more than washed out rocky creek beds. It’s almost impossible to drive more than 5-10 miles an hour. Although it rarely rains here, when it does it rain it usually becomes a torrential flash flood washing out deep rocky ruts in existing roads. Every road becomes another new detour across rocky, hilly, scrubby virgin territory. Everything that grows in this part of Texas is designed by nature to reach out and grab you: poisonous Mesquite thorn bushes and cactus of every variety! Days in late February can get as hot as the upper 90’s and night temperatures can fall into the mid 30’s. It’s hard to imagine anyone being able to traverse on foot across this unforgiving land – especially at night! Predators include the illusive Bob Cat and Mountain Lion, and Rattle Snakes hide in just about every pile of rocks. I listened to stories about how ranchers in this part of Texas survive. Basically the attitude of most ranchers is that they need workers from Mexico because “It’s been this way for centuries. Mexicans have always crossed the border to work on Texas ranches. Who else is there that is willing to do the work?” It would seem that on the one hand, Texas ranchers are more than hospitable to illegal aliens, while on the other hand, they are actually being held hostage by a system that threatens their livelihood. I heard stories of how Ranchers never lock their homes and how remote off-season deer camp cabins are always left unlocked and stocked with food for the wandering illegal who might happen by. Sounds cozy, doesn’t it? But if you listen carefully, you discover that this act of kindness is actually an act of self-preservation. Ranchers don’t want their property vandalized and stolen. They warn, “Lock at your own risk!” Here’s just one Rancher’s story from Ranch Rescue :
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* This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email stiknstein-at-gmail-dot-com and let us know at what level you would like to participate. __NOEDITSECTION__ [[Category: • border security Opinions]] From The Opinion Wiki, a Wikia wiki. From The Opinion Wiki, a Wikia wiki.
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