By Glenn Kolp
Guest Columnist
There’s been a good deal of talk lately regarding the invasion at our Southern border. I can shed some light on the reality of the situation down there.
In early January 2021, my wife and I spent three weeks vacationing on South Padre Island at the Mexican border. The area is rich with history, and in our search for forts, battlefields and other points of interest, we often had reason to travel less-developed roads. Often this brought us within visual contact of the wall supposedly constructed to prevent the incursion of illegals.
As the miles rolled by, we noticed something curious. There were frequent regular large gaps in the wall every several miles. We were actually able to drive to some of these gaps and walk or drive through them. There were no guards nor obvious surveillance of any type.
We wondered how a broken barrier could serve as any sort of deterrent. So we started asking locals. They would sheepishly tell us that the openings were for gates. When pressed, however, they admitted that the gaps were actually there for a very important reason, and there would never be gates installed.
It turns out the economy of Texas, and arguably the nation, depends on the free flow of undocumented workers. They explained that this immense pool of honest, hard-working but low-paid labor is what powers America.
American workers refuse to work for the wages and lack of benefits that illegals will accept. These people come from such harsh circumstances that they’re willing to do back-breaking labor for minimum wage or less and live 20 or more in a small rented house with uncaring landlords. They arrive on time every day, often walking miles to get to work, never complain and cause no trouble for fear of being sent back. They almost never break our laws.
Contrary to popular belief, they aren’t smuggling drugs or guns in. (This all happens at legal points of entry as cargo in semi trucks.) Generally, they have only the clothes on their backs when they cross.
After doing a bit more digging, we came to discover that there is a thriving industry in this country printing out counterfeit green cards. I asked one building contractor how many of his workers he thought might be illegals. He laughed and said, “They all are.”
He said they can buy a fake green card for $300-500. They present the card to the employer, who copies it and puts it on file. There is no requirement to verify the information is accurate, and the employer is safe from prosecution.
Now you know the truth about the wall that has cost our nation so much.
The writer is a resident of Andrews.