Letter to the Editor: South Texans decry inaction at border

FALFURRIAS, TX — While testifying in front of the House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth on June 17 in Weslaco, South Texans’ Property Rights Association executive director Susan Kibbe expressed extreme concern for the safety and security of South Texas residents because of the overwhelming number of criminal aliens crossing the southern border.

In a follow up interview after her testimony, Ms. Kibbe said, “Washington has turned its back on the property owners and citizens of South Texas. I wish I could say that the administration considers us as second class citizens, but to them, we don’t even exist!”

Whether Ms. Kibbe is prescient or just managed to get a few minutes ahead of the curve, a Border Patrol directive issued on Friday has once again tied the hands of the very agents tasked with securing the border with a directive that will effectively make the river, the riverbank and all border walls and barriers “safe zones” for illegals.

“It seems agents must wait until they are scattering into the brush or disappearing into neighborhoods before they can attempt an arrest,” quipped W.W. “Whit” Jones, III, STPRA board chairman and South Texas rancher, when called for comment. Jones added, “The administration has acknowledged that a significant portion of illegal border crossers are known felons, so how exactly, does waiting to apprehend these guys make our communities safer?”

US Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas testified April 28, that they know of some 389,000 illegals that evaded arrest in 2021.

With current year estimates at 300,000 “got-a-ways” and counting, that indicates that in the past two years, up to 20,000 criminal aliens have taken to our streets (based on DHS estimates of 1-3% criminal element among illegal border crossers).

Less than 24 hours after the new “Do Not Apprehend” memo, almost as if on cue, a suspected smuggling vehicle lead officers on an 80 mile high speed chase from the border town of Rio Grande City to Brooks County where the suspect was killed in a shootout with law enforcement on the streets of Falfurrias.

Gunfights on the streets of Mexico border towns have become commonplace, so is Washington inviting them to the streets of South Texas?

South Texans’ Property Rights Association is a 501c3 organization based out of Falfurrias, Texas that represents the interests of property owners and land managers across 30-40 million acres of South Texas.

STPRA membership is a diverse mix of small, medium, and large landowners, men and women of all political stripes with a common interest in the rights of property owners “to use, enjoy, and profit from their lands as guaranteed by the Constitutions of the State of Texas and the United States of America.”

While they choose to focus on issues with specific interest to South Texas, their work benefits property owners across the whole state.

Charles Maley, Texas