Living in No Control

Quemado, a small town located on the Texas border is where I spent most of my time this past spring break. An old family friend, Dob Cunningham, owns an 800-plus acre ranch that he has been living on since his family made the big move when he was sixteen years old. Seventy years later, at the age eighty-six, Dob still lives on the ranch with his wife, Kay, tending livestock and checking up on things. Throughout his life he has worked with Border Patrol and then was a Head Director of the U.S. port located in Eagle Pass. He is now retired but still works actively with the border control. Luckily, during this spring break, I had an experience of being in two countries at the same time due to where his land is located.

Every morning and dusk, Dob makes his rounds around the 800-lot acreage. Looking for new footprints on fresh tire track roads, he finds new trash with Spanish language labels, clearly giving away they are from the country only twenty yards away. He looks for ripped clothing and any sign of people recently here.

During his time on the ranch, most of his close neighbors on all sides of him have slowly disappeared. At first, they were kicked off their property on specific days or for a week at a time just to prepare for incoming and outgoing shipments. Since then, the drug cartels have forcefully removed people out of their homes for low prices to better their interest in transferring their drugs into U.S. territory at smaller risk. Dob even discusses how he has illegally crossed the border to talk and have meals with his Mexican neighbors. But that has changed all too soon.

I gained a new perspective on the real Texas border issues, especially now with so much tension drawn between the two clashing nations. He discussed at distinct points in time throughout the property’s history that he has found bags, boxes, crates, odd containers and even people crossing over to sell drugs for the cartel. More than ninty-eight percent are found through Border Patrol and private property cameras. Some were also found by Dob himself. But it does put into question how much is secretly slipping through, how much is going unnoticed.

Being here has broadened my views of how severe and widespread it is for people to come over. Dob complains about how they are continuously flooded with border crossers on a day-to-day basis. Both Cunninghams say they can catch almost all trespassing crossers and will even feed them in their own home until authorities have arrived. Sadly, most people coming over are poor and are willing to do anything to have the potential to create a better future.

You only rarely ever hear of these things because they are never shown any light. But finally, being at the source of the issue has indeed shown how common and almost natural and ordinary it is. Even with the expansion of border patrol and more regulations brought up, it is still a significant issue that hasn’t affected people across the border. Even now there is a disgracing complexity on how with the increase of young border patrol men, they do not understand the local area and the people's way.

There are now newer regulations being put in place to protect Texas and this country further. In 2003, US Customs and Border Patrol placed more laws. To compile one is the context of roving border patrols within one hundred miles or "adequate" distance of the borderline. Although most ranchers and landowners have had no issues with this new law being in place, they have the understanding that the growing concern of our increasing population is coming from Mexico and most even assist in any way they can. Although, there has been in recent notice that there are extensive and long lasting effects to all damages on the property, crops, livestock, and water supplies. With so many vehicles always searching people's properties, it has become an act of carelessness and more importantly an act of disrespect that has cost these working class people thousands of dollars. "They just hired too many riffraff, crooks, thugs," Dob said. Dob and Kay have now begun to notice how much these damages and vandalisms have brought to their property alone. But the primary problem is there is nothing that they can do about it. These damages are not replaced or given a refund for their disturbance, even with countless acts of proof, there is no action or recognition.

After these two struggling situations, this would only be leaving Dob and Kay living in fear of threat and invasion from the cartel and living on a continuous damaged property due to the the Border Patrol. Living with no control, the Cunninghams have still found a way to ride with the culture of the Borderland.

Posted March 22, 2018

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