On Sunday afternoon, Border Patrolman Javier Vega was enjoying some time off by fishing for gar in Santa Monica, Texas, along with his wife, three children, and his father, Javier, Sr. Two Mexican nationals approached Javier after he tied up his boat and demanded money. The conversation became heated and one of the nationals pulled a gun. Javier was shot once in the chest, fatally wounding him. His father, who was armed, returned fire, disabling the criminals’ vehicle. They were later arrested and charged with seven counts including capital murder, attempted capital murder, aggravated robbery, and tampering with evidence.
The two arrested were Gustavo Tijeria, age 30, and Ismael Hernandez, age 40, both from the city of Matamoros, Mexico, just across the Rio Grande River from Brownsville, Texas. During the interrogation it was learned that each had been deported and had returned to the United States a total of six times between them.
Sheriff Larry Spence told Fox News that they not only confessed to the attempted robbery that led to the murder but to several other robberies in the area. Spence said, “That’s typical of some of these crimes that have been happening in the area. There are several instances where people have been robbed while fishing. They pull up and try to rob them, take their money, jewelry and usually [their] vehicle.”
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The National Border Control Council published its eulogy for agent Vega on Monday:
It is with extreme sadness that the National Border Control Council announces the murder of Border Patrol Agent Javier Vega last night in Santa Monica, Texas. Border Patrol Agent Vega was spending time off with his family when two criminals attempt to rob him. Agent Vera was armed and fought back to protect his family. During the course of the ensuing firefight Agent Vega’s father was hit in the leg and Agent Vega was mortally wounded. After Vega fell, his family members continued to fight back….
We want to commend the Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement officers involved in the manhunt for Agent Vega’s killers. It is through their professionalism and tenacity that the wretched criminals who committed this crime will face the full measure of Texas justice.
On her Facebook page, Vega’s sister-in-law Natalie Gardere Vega wrote, “I will never understand why we have such heartless people in this world! An amazing man was taken from his family way too soon!”
This disregard of U.S. laws and the well-being of Americans is the reality that has escaped Vice President Joe Biden, who has a Pollyannaish view of the illegal immigration problem. When addressing some people in the legal services community last week about the needs unaccompanied illegals have for legal representation, he said, “These are not somebody else’s kids. These are our kids.” His disconnect from reality was made even more abundantly clear by Warren Mass, who noted in The New American that of the more than 11,000 apprehensions of unaccompanied Mexican minors between October and May, only 2,700 of them were first-time offenders. Three-quarters of them had prior deportation records, just like Tijeria and Hernandez. He added that not just Mexicans are flooding the southern border, but illegals from Syria, Albania, China, Pakistan, Egypt, Yemen, and Somalia, as well as from Central American countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
More in tune with reality was Texas Governor Rick Perry, who said he is “substantially more concerned about” criminals crossing the border than those “children” belonging to Biden. He added, “That’s the real issue here, and one that all too often gets deflected by the conversation about unaccompanied minor children.”
Unless and until the border is somehow secured, “wretched” criminals, thugs, “heartless” people, and killers such as Tijeria and Hernandez will continue to flood over the border to wreak havoc and mayhem and commit murder on innocents such as Vega. But securing the border won’t happen until American politicians finally admit that a large number of the border crosses are not innocents, but invaders, infiltrators, and murderers — people with complete apathy for the anguish Vega’s three children are now suffering over the loss of their father.
The politicians might also take heed of the fact that securing our border would discourage those who are true unaccompanied minors from even attempting the hazardous trip through Mexico and its many human predators to the United States — and realize that preventing the endangerment of the children in the first place would be what a responsible adult would strive to accomplish.
A graduate of Cornell University and a former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at www.LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at [email protected].
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