After growing up in a border town in New Mexico and experiencing things personally, I could not imagine why people would be against “THE WALL.” Nobody is saying that you cannot come to the US. They say that you must do it legally.
As a child, my family and I went to Mexico regularly. We saw eye doctors, and dentists and ate at some of the restaurants. This was in the ’90s. During high school, many high schoolers would make a quick trip across the border to frequent the bars. It was a different place then. It was safe if you stayed in certain areas and the Cartel seemed like more of a myth back then, with the lack of social media.
As the years went on and I grew up, I ended up purchasing a home in a more rural area than what I grew up in, still the same town but about 7 miles south of town and 7 miles closer to the border. I had two acres of land and many outbuildings. I did not have many close neighbors and was a single parent with small children.
It did not take long for “visitors” to show up. I would have loud knocks and bangs on my front door in the middle of the night. It was very scary. I never went to the door for those but during the day I would have numerous people stopping by asking for food, water, and rides. Food and water were always given but I never gave rides.
I did have a couple of men visit me and ask if I would be willing to give numerous people a ride to Phoenix. I was young and dumb but knew what that was all about. I was able to get out of those conversations without causing ill feelings or so I thought.
As time went on, you could start to see a beaten path around my property line. I would hear my dogs barking like crazy in the middle of the night but never went out to check. The following day I would check and find trash. It was clear my property was being used as a place to rest or just pass through. I called the border patrol a few times, but they were never able to catch anyone.
Things started getting worse. My gate locks were getting cut, my buildings were getting broken into, and things were coming up missing and vandalized. I was seeing more trash around my place. Trash, random clothing items, and even human feces. So gross.
I had a few dogs at the time, and I remember looking out one morning and seeing my Roxie girl just laying out and not moving. She was a stray but was young and healthy. I went out to check on her and she had passed. I was horrified but did not put two and two together. A short while later, my mastiff, Jabez, became terribly ill. I took her to the vet, and I ended up having to put her down. The vet ran tests and she had been poisoned with antifreeze.
It became clear to me that my dogs were being poisoned to hush them up so the “visitors” could continue to stay in my buildings. I continued to call the border patrol, but it did no good. By the time they arrived, whoever was there had left.
My grandfather ranched for decades near this area in the past and always helped people when he could. He would feed them, give them rides to town and even give them work sometimes. He never had problems that I knew of but that was years before. I knew this was a thing, but this was getting downright scary, especially with small kids.
My decision to sell and the move was made after one of the men who had approached me in the past discussing rides came and parked in my driveway in the middle of the night. He called my house from a blocked number while he was in the driveway and was trying to scare me. I did call law enforcement but again, he left before they arrived. It was that night that I knew I had to leave.
Many people from my own hometown have heard what happened to me and said these were isolated instances and were nothing to be worried about. These were mostly people who lived in town and had never experienced things of this nature. Others who were rural knew that this was normal. I just happened to be a young, single parent who was scared to stand up for myself. Hearing people banging on your door at night and knowing that they are utilizing your property was terrifying. Knowing my dogs were poisoned was even more frightening.
Mind you, this was 20 years ago. I cannot imagine what it is like now. I know many feel that people are coming over with good intentions and are really running from bad government, etc. I can understand that thought process, but I also know that our weak law on crime, is a perfect gateway to come through with terrible things, and for bad reasons.
Thank you, Joe Biden, for making it clear the southern border is not a priority for you or your administration. You have made it quite clear that our border is wide open for human trafficking, drugs including fentanyl, and who knows what else. This administration is nothing short of a circus and I hope our country survives the madness!
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