Hundreds of distraught ranchers and other citizens living near the increasingly dangerous U.S.-Mexico border met with elected officials in the small town of Animas, New Mexico, on March 10 at a local high-school auditorium to share their horror stories of lawlessness and plead for proper border security. Despite bogus claims by politicians and the Obama administration about the southern border region allegedly being “secure,” those speaking at the summit blasted the “invasion” and said the security situation was spiraling out of control. It is time for serious action, local citizens said.

Smugglers and other criminals are pouring across the often-undefended border, residents explained, jeopardizing their livelihoods and even their lives — not to mention national security. Some of the speakers had even lost loved ones in the lawlessness. And despite years of pleading with federal and state officials for help, residents, activists, and ranchers sounded exasperated, saying their pleas had gone unanswered so far. More boots on the ground are needed, locals said. At least one retired lawman suggested that sheriffs deputize citizens. Some attendees even called for deploying troops to the border.  

Inspiring the meeting, according to attendees quoted in media reports, was the kidnapping of a local American ranch hand. The victim reportedly happened upon a caravan of drug runners from the other side of the border while working on a cattle ranch in New Mexico’s “Bootheel” region along the border with Mexico. Tricia Elbrock, co-owner of the company that employs the kidnapping victim, was quoted in the Albuquerque Journal on March 7 recounting what happened in December of last year.

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