State Sen. tours southern border

Iowa State Sen. Tom Shipley was told there are more people in one day crossing the Rio Grande River at one spot along the Texas-Mexico border than there are people in his home county of Adams.

“People don’t know how bad it is,” he said after returning from an invitation from the Federation for American Immigration Reform that toured the border Sept. 28-30 near McAllen, Texas. “And it’s got worse the last three years; quite a bit worse.”

Having been involved in judiciary committees in state legislation, Shipley said he was invited on the trip by Wayne County Sheriff Keith Davis. Davis has been involved in the Federation for American for Immigration Reform. Shipley’s Senate district includes a portion of Union County, including Creston.

Shipley said he was one of several legislators and county sheriffs both from across the United States on the tour.

“We were there just to get an idea of what is going on at the border and to hear from people in law enforcement, other organizations watching the situation and to try inform people at home of what is happening.”

The tour group was based in McAllen, in extreme south Texas, a town that only has the Rio Grande river between it and Mexico. Another emphasized area was Eagle Pass, about a 285-mile drive north of McAllen, also a river town.

“It was just the sheer numbers,” Shipley said about the number of people crossing from Mexico.

He was informed thousands of people crossed in one day at Eagle Pass.

“It overwhelms the resources with the city, especially with health care and law enforcement and there is no place for them to stay or no one to feed them,” he said. Trains transporting goods across the border are also ways people get into the states.

“These trains have to be stopped, just for the people hanging on to them,” he said.

Mostly Mexican residents, Shipley said other immigrants are from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Columbia and Venezuela. Shipley said he was told three from Afghanistan were found.

“One was a civil engineer so there are educated people,” he said. “The three were very angry we abandoned them in Afghanistan.” He was referring to American troops leaving the country in August 2021.

Sometimes seeing the immigrants isn’t obvious. Border patrol has X-ray equipment at a check point farther north of the border. The equipment detected 30 people in a cargo truck.

“Each paid $40,000 to get there. Who is paying that? Who do they pay? The cartels. Nothing happens at the border on the Mexican side the cartel does not control,” Shipley said. He said he was told it’s common Mexican residents pay $400 for ways to get into the states with the hope of not being discovered.

Shipley speculates some of the people crossing the border are drug traffickers.

“They are well organized and funded,” he said about the drug cartels. “They don’t count their money, they weigh it on pallets.”

What happens farther away from the border is a concern to Shipley.

The area of south Texas is common for cattle ranches.

“They deal with a lot of people that are walking through ranches. Or a group is picked up in a stolen pickups that are stolen from Texas cities. They just load people and start heading north,” he said.

Attempts are made to avoid the check-points and drive through the ranches including through fences and gates.

“They will go through anything just to get around the check-points,” he said. High-speed pursuits of the vehicles are also common.

“One person from Iowa on the tour said he thought about me,” Shipley said. “You’re in a county smaller than Adams County’s population so imagine five high speed pursuits everyday in Adams County.” Shipley said the county he was referring to was Kinney County, north of Eagle Pass.

Gangs in Texas cities like San Antonio, Houston and Austin are common and made up of people who crossed the border.

“That’s where you find them,” Shipley said.

The state of Texas has funding for fence repairs.

But a damaged fence is the easy part.

“The tragic part is many people are on foot through the ranches. The day we were there, the heat index was 113. Border Patrol agents are to search and recover on ranches. By the time he finds them they are dead,” Shipley said.

Shipley said during each of the past three years, it’s common to have found more than 200 bodies in a year.

“Texas will attempt to find the families of the deceased using DNA. Some families have been found so work is on getting the body back to the family.”

Children are also part of the immigration. A Texas State Patrol officer once found a girl, 4, and a boy, 3, walking down a highway.

“Somebody had abandoned them,” Shipley said. “Texas deals with thousands of these kids and has some of them in their care. They try to find their families, but when they can’t, they find someone who will care for them.”

Shipley said it is common for children to be returned to the border and fed before being sent to Texas human services.

“Kids are used as collateral to get people across the border. One kid was used 17 times,” he said.

Shipley said the immigration and border crossing rules changed in 2021.

”The first six months of 2021 things unravveled,” Shipley said. “It’s less regulation, not a lack of people working. It’s a matter of rules changes allowing people in. The word is out all over the world. If you want to come, it’s a lot easier now.”