An Eye-Opening Trip to the Border

Pat Powers



An Eye-Opening Trip to the Border
Majority Leader Sen. Casey Crabtree (R-Madison)
Majority Leader Rep. Will Mortenson (R-Pierre)
Representative Tony Venhuizen (R-Sioux Falls)

Anyone who has watched any cable news understands that the southern border is a hot topic. Talking heads blame and rage over America’s border policy (or lack thereof). Given the hot-button politics, we thought it was important to gather facts, whether they supported our position or not, and to get a first-hand look at the situation on our southern border.

Along with business and community leaders from across the state, we traveled to McAllen, Texas to tour the border. We heard from a landowner whose land abuts the Rio Grande River. He showed us the trails used by migrants leading to the river. He told us terrifying accounts of run-ins with the cartels and the daily traffic across his property.

We visited a section of the recently-constructed border wall. There was a 60-yard gap in it. When the Biden Administration began, they halted all construction, full stop. Now, there is an inexplicable and embarrassing patch where the wall simply does not exist. It is apparent leaving this gap had a lot more to do with politics than anything approaching effectiveness or common sense.

Next, we talked with a Border Patrol chief, who oversaw one of the 9 border sections until last year, when he retired after more than 25 years patrolling the border. He broke out the 30,000 Border Patrol encounters from last week, from got-aways (seen, not arrested), to deported (20%) to released into the community (40%). 109 pounds of fentanyl was seized last week from these folks, enough to kill every South Dakotan twenty-seven times. He detailed the dramatic increase – of more than fifty times – in encounters from fall 2020 to spring 2022 in his section. The border had been stabilized and is now anything but.

The most important thing he relayed to us is the importance of a secure border between ports of entry. The got-aways and undetected migrants are the drug runners and human traffickers. Ordinary folks seeking asylum will just use the port of entry, or cross and seek a Border Patrol agent to begin their asylum claim process. Leaving the border between ports of entry unsecured means the Border Patrol is distracted from its mission to protect us from ‘bad hombres’ and instead has to focus on immigrants, which is supposed to be the job of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). In short – there is no humanitarian argument for an unsecure border. We need to finish the wall, and add monitoring infrastructure to get control of our border.

Our final stop was at Catholic Charities, who host a humanitarian respite center. Families traveling with children can stay there for 24-48 hours, to get their bus tickets, plane tickets, or other logistics in order to meet their American sponsor. At the center, we saw hundreds of children with their parents. Having young kids of our own, the experience was an emotional one.

We learned that these folks, who were finger-printed and logged before their release, could not apply for a work permit for four months and that the application takes two or three months to process. So, we are leaving these folks in America with a sponsor and no ability to legally make any money for at least six months. Our goal should be to get these folks working and self-sufficient as quickly as possible. If they aren’t self-sufficient, they’ll either break the law or be dependent on the cartels or the government. Those are all the worst outcomes. This is another area that is completely inexplicable and should be fixed.

Living and governing in South Dakota, we’re a long way from the border. But, we are short-sighted and naïve if we think the mass influx of immigrants across our southern border does not affect us. What happens in Texas today will affect South Dakota tomorrow. The added perspective has solidified our belief that the border needs to be secured immediately and that all processes should lead to work and self-sufficiency for anyone we let in. Our eyes are open to the challenges, and opportunities for solutions, at the border.

18 thoughts on “An Eye-Opening Trip to the Border”

  1. Grateful we do not live on the border Mexican border in Texas and especially New Mexico. Our border patrol and law enforcement are doing what they can under difficult circumstances. They need our support not throwing them under the bus like over at DFP = DeFund The Police blog.

  2. Illegal border crossings are down 70% since Title 42 was allowed to expire in May. Glad to see Biden policies are working.

    1. What are you talking about?

      That expiration brought the troves of people in the C&P network.

      It was the dog whistle.

      The starting gun.

      So of course they’re down.

      They’re already here!

  3. Remember the migrant caravans that nothing ever came of? The border, much like many other topics, is just another way for Republicans to use fear mongering to scare people into submission. Everything they do is based on the fear they can instill in voters. Pick a topic, any topic and its all the same. CRT, Immigration, LGBTQ, Guns, Crime…..fear, fear, fear.

      1. Ooohh….anecdotal evidence. Good thing Americans don’t kill each other.

  4. 1. border crossings are way down
    2. the fentanyl “crisis” is manufactured by the police unions
    3. have you not see the videos of people going over the wall very easily, it is a waste of money
    4. If immigrants are so scary, place policies at the state level to combat the “problem”.
    a. no state assistance for illegal immigrants
    b. enforce the laws for businesses that hire illegal immigrants and pay them off the books (laws should apply to everyone, even if they are “job creators”)
    c. if healthcare isn’t a right, then don’t force hospitals to treat patients who can’t pay for the service.

    This list could go on and on but we try to tailor “solutions” to special interest “donors” while appealing to the ignorant for votes. We could reduce government, and tax burdens, but that isn’t what is desired, and it is showcased by this most likely government or donor paid research trip to the southern border.

  5. A majority of illegals in this country enter via legal methods. They come in on Visa’s and overstay their welcome. Trump screamed about needing a wall and then he imported 100s of immigrants on H1B visas because it was cheap labor for his resorts. We all invest in that cheap labor through our 401k’s. I don’t see why any political party has a reason to fix this because they both profit from it. It is just a wedge issue and they will continue to kick the can down the road. We are the idiots for thinking that they have any intention of fixing it and falling for the finger pointing.

      1. Your reading comprehension is horrible. I am just pointing out Trump is just another one in a long line of failures who pay lip service to voters while doing what benefits himself financially. Why can’t he pay livable wages and employ Americans?

  6. Three young public servants that are investigating an issue and it’s impact(s) to their State and constituents.

    And Senator Hoffman wants to knee-cap each of them from ever serving in the Legislature again before they are eligible for social security.

    Appreciate these gentlemen making the trip. We’ll written analysis here.

  9. “Some Catholics are really fine people.”….Some?? Seems to me, Mr. Dale is damning with faint praise. This Protestant bias is a hold over from the “Know Nothing” base of the Republican Party. It should not be tolerated by the Party.

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