As the crisis at the southern border continues, Texan ranchers are still greatly affected by the rise in illegal border crossing and drug smuggling.
According to new data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, there were 199,976 encounters and more than 20,000 pounds of fentanyl confiscated in the month of July alone.
With the crisis getting worse, some Texans have resorted to fleeing the state and seeking safety elsewhere.
The owner of Double M Ranch, Mike Hayes, was interviewed by Fox and Friends on Tuesday about the traumatic experience of illegal immigrants trying to break into his home.
“Last summer, I was in the hay fields and my wife and my daughter was in the house, and a guy tried to break in the door with them. And if it wasn’t for my son, 13 years old, running up there and getting on him, he would have probably made his way in there. And then there was an attack of an elderly lady up towards Eagle Pass. It didn’t take much for them to decide this wasn’t where we wanted to live anymore,” Hayes told Fox News.
While Hayes stayed behind to operate his hunting ranch, he moved his family to Louisiana in search of a safer environment.
Additionally, he says the illegal immigrants invading his property are not just from Mexico. “It’s not actually the neighboring country, it’s further south, and other nations coming across, and they’re more aggressive, and definitely a lot more property damage and trash.”
When asked if he has any hope for the future, Hayes said things will not get any better as long as Biden is in office.
“Truthfully, as long as this president is in here, I don’t think it’s going to get any better. He’s destabilized the border.”
Though much of the media attention has been focused on Texas busing illegal immigrants to New York City and Washington, D.C., Biden has not visited the border or asked other countries to manage the influx of migrants into the United States.
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (TX-23) recently told Fox News that he spoke with President Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala, who said he would help if President Biden would just ask.
“I specifically asked the president of Guatemala, ‘Hey, what would it take in order for you to take more of these repatriation flights?'” Gonzales told Fox News. Giammattei responded, “One simple thing, Tony. I just need the president of the United States to call me. He won’t even call me.’”
