In the July 4, 2011 article “Border Fence Failings,” The New American examined the total inability of the anti-immigration fence along the Texas-Mexico border to stop the flood of illegals into this country. TNA interviewed residents whose homes, businesses, and property were positioned in a no-man’s land between the fence and the actual border, and discussed the consequences of the U.S. government decision to build the largely useless structure.
Now, tragically, the consequences have worsened.
One resident — Robert Lucio, owner of the Fort Brown Memorial Golf Course in Brownsville, Texas — whose life and livelihood were repeatedly threatened by both the presence of the fence and the failure of the government to protect his property, has been forced to close his historic golf course and call it quits. Meanwhile, immigration problems that the fence was supposed to have solved are actually worsening, as U.S. immigration policy has all but bailed out on taxpayers.
{modulepos inner_text_ad}
The Brownsville [Texas] Herald reported last year that, while many factors led to the course closing after 50 years, the border fence was the final coffin nail. Its promised protection from illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, and security breaches never materialized. Instead — as with so many flawed government policies — the unintended consequences have only complicated the problems the policies were to have addressed.
Ever since the fence first sprouted at the golf course, wedging the course between the fence line and the Rio Grande River (the international boundary between Texas and Mexico), Robert Lucio’s troubles began. He was paying the taxes required of all responsible citizens, but when push came to shove (in a cartel shootout across the river in Matamoros), reality hit home. The Border Patrol took up a defensive position at the fence line, trapping the golf course — along with Lucio, the players, and the employees — between the fence and the conflict at the river. With the threat suggested by the presence of the fence, it was only a matter of time before the number of members and other players dwindled to an unsustainable level.. Revenue streams quickly diminished until Lucio’s credit and business were ruined, and the golf course was finally shuttered. The shameful treatment received by Lucio and other South Texas residents, outlined in the 2011 TNA article, should at least give citizens pause.
So, while current presidential politicking includes talk of a border wall, the realities for people such as Robert Lucio are deplorable. In addition to asking how it is possible that a situation such as his could even happen, some other pertinent points are in order.
Art Thompson, president of The John Birch Society (this publication’s parent organization), has stated that the building of a wall at the Texas-Mexico border, while seeming an obvious solution, isn’t at all:
Our government is involved in encouraging massive influxes of people. So much so that they fly whole planeloads of refugees into our country and plop them down hither and thither across the land on the government dole. And at the same time lie as to who they are and how many are being welcomed in this fashion — it has been going on for some time, not just the recent Syrian migration. The Republican establishment is equally guilty of this practice, as are Democrats, and the reason is that they do not want borders. No borders is part of the North American Union initiative that has been promoted by the Council on Foreign Relations and their minions for decades and includes many Republican neoconservatives.
Most think of a wall on our southern border without thinking that we also have a serious problem with the northern border as well. A wall along the Canadian border would be an economic disaster. Most think of stopping the flow of people but do not realize that the flow would stop if our government’s policies leading toward internationalism would stop.
As to the future? A wall can prevent people from leaving as well as coming in. We must think about that as to its relationship to liberty down the road. A people who cannot leave are not citizens; they are subjects.
Indeed. It seems that a false solution such as a border fence works at cross purposes to the agenda of those promoting the North American Union, trade pacts, immigration reform, etc. Thompson continued with a comment that, if followed, might have saved Robert Lucio’s golf course:
The real solution is to change the direction of the federal government to stop the enticements that lead to massive migration into our country, thereby altering the very society that makes up the American people. We would save money by stopping the dole and not having to build a wall. If we do not change the direction of our government, no wall will work. If we do, no wall is necessary.
Good advice. In this election season, that eternal vigilance required to guard liberty should be exercised to encourage candidates toward a proper and reasonable immigration policy. Too many Americans such as Robert Lucio have been sacrificed already.
Photo of border fence in Brownsville, Texas: AP Images
