Illegal Immigration is Big Business – Who’s Tracking the Crisis

The U.S. Government Facilitates Human Trafficking – Illegal Immigration is Big Business – Who’s Tracking the Crisis – First COVID, Now Migrant Disaster Proclamations

Migrant debris littering private property along the Rio Grande This week, I had the opportunity to visit the U.S. southern border at Eagle Pass, Texas. I was invited to join a small group of Illinois legislators, a Texas state representative, Congresswoman Mary Miller, and a couple of others. Jaco Booyens led the tour. Jaco is well-known for his work to prevent human trafficking. His organization is Jaco Booyens Ministries, and his team works on public policies related to detecting and preventing human trafficking. Our one-day tour included a visit to the Eagle Pass Border Patrol Station, where we were not invited in to ask questions, Mission Border Hope migrant processing facility, Bridge 2 in Eagle Pass, and a farm that has been run over by illegals and is now a border crossing controlled by the federal government. In addition, I was also fortunate to have dinner with Don McLaughlin, the former Mayor of Uvalde the night before our border tour. We spoke about both the border crisis and the school shooting. He will be on my Sunday radio show tonight, so tune in to hear more. Seeing the border operation firsthand and hearing from people directly affected by the open border brought the situation into focus. More than one person who has been living by the border for years said the U.S. government is the biggest human trafficker in the world right now. That’s a very strong statement, but not inaccurate. Our government is doing nothing to stop the migrants from coming in. Instead, they are enticing, facilitating, and funding the massive movement of illegals in direct violation of our laws. Here are pictures of the staging area for migrants at Bridge 2 in El Paso, Texas. The top photo was taken around mid-December 2023. The bottom picture is from January 4, 2024. Same place, just a different angle.

The reason the staging area is empty in January is because on January 3rd a Republican Congressional delegation was there getting briefings and taking a tour. The government ensured migrants were not around – at least not en masse. They cleared them out to processing centers, held them back on the Mexican side, and some likely crossed further away from the Eagle Pass area. A border patrol officer we spoke with said they expect 10,000 to show up next week. They also cleaned up lots of trash. Sounds like a San Francisco-style clean-up ahead of the dog and pony show. Here’s what is revealed – if they can stop the flow of migrants for a few days, then they can stop the flow of migrants completely. That’s not what’s happening, though.Instead, our border patrol agents and other public safety officers are actively aiding the movement of illegals into our country.

Some of us walked past the staging area towards the line of containers to get a closer look at what was happening. While we were there, a couple of migrants actually scaled the container, crossed over the concertina wire, and then were helped down by law enforcement with the ladder, you see in the picture above. This is a screenshot from a video State Rep. Chris Miller took explaining what just happened. If you use Facebook, here is a link: (20+) Facebook If you can cross the shallow river, lay down blankets and clothes to climb across the wire, get on top of the container, and then cross another set of wire – good job! We’ll let you climb down to freedom and lots of government assistance. That’s what’s happening! The migrants were shown to prepositioned buses ready to take them to a processing center. Side note – we heard it costs Texas $5,000 per passenger to send the migrants to Chicago or elsewhere. Someone is making LOTS of money off the crisis. Another side note – Hotel costs at the border are outrageous. Holiday Inn Express is nearly $250/night. With other states sending public safety officers on temporary assignment to the border, this is another enormous cost to taxpayers. We spent hours at Heavenly Farms, a pecan farm owned by Hugo and Magali Urbina. Their 400-acre farm has been a crossing point for migrants. They are used to seeing a couple of hundred migrants walk through their property daily. They have encountered people defecating, puking, and walking naked on their land. In one week, they found 57 dead bodies on their property. They have seen 2 and 3-year-olds wandering around alone and encountered families in their barn. They began to work with border patrol and the Texas Department of Public Safety to control the situation. Fencing was put up and the border on their property is monitored by the New Jersey National Guard, Texas National Guard, Texas DPS, U.S. Marines, and border patrol. Their strip of property is also where the infamous red buoys are located. That whole setup is a joke. The buoys stretch for 200 yards only, and just past the ends, migrants find a way to cross instead. They said they have seen migrants standing atop the buoys, mocking them.

I really couldn’t believe it when I saw it. You don’t even have to turn your head to see from one end of the buoys to the other. They are not as large as I thought they look on TV (of course, doesn’t everything look bigger on TV?). The buoys weren’t even floating but mostly perched on a sand bar. Unbelievably, Texas spent a million dollars on the buoys that don’t work, and the federal government is suing Texas to have them removed. If you saw it, you wouldn’t believe it.

The photo below is a screenshot from a video I took of State Reps. Dan Caulkins and Chris Miller shows the red buoys located on the border at Heavenly Farms in Eagle Pass, Texas. Notice how the buoys just end – randomly.

The biggest joke of all, though, was where the fencing ends. Just one look at the setup makes you know they are not serious about securing the border. In fact, the Republicans should make every single Democrat go to this one point and then dare them not to impeach Mayorkas over his lies that the border is secure.The picture below is the end of the fence line. Both sides of the fence are still on the private property of Heavenly Farms.

On the left side of the photo is the bank that has been excavated and built up by the government, with fencing at the top and concertina wire at the river’s edge. The vehicles are inside the fence. In front of the fence, from where I took this picture, is open to the river on a gentler slope where migrants cross and discard clothes and personal items. In the upper right corner of the photo, the fencing is open and border patrol picks up the migrants and puts them on buses to then transport them to a processing station. Now, do you understand what a joke this is? All they are doing is funneling migrants to one spot only to pick them then up and send them on their way. And this is happening on private property. Our government is facilitating the entire illegal movement of people into the country. Another cause for concern is the massive amount of money given to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to process migrants. We weren’t allowed to take a look inside an NGO affiliated with the United Methodist Church. However, they did let us into their parking area, which was otherwise hidden behind metal walls. State Rep. Brad Halbrook is in front of an outside area where approximately 150 migrants stood lightly dressed in 45-degree weather. Children were there as well.

I find it strange that NGOs have so much authority in processing illegals, given its importance to national security and since it is a fundamental function of government to watch over people who have committed a crime. There’s lots of money involved. Catholic Charities is a massive player in the migrant crisis. This Crisis magazine article from October 2023 is something everyone should read in its entirety. The author, John Cassara, gives the facts and numbers surrounding illegal immigration. He mentions that it has cost $151 billion for US taxpayers. The cartels charge tens of thousands of dollars to cross the border. One radio show host said the going rate is $6,000 for someone from South America and $25,000-50,000 for someone from the Mideast or China. Many of these poor people end up as indentured servants. Illegals come here to get jobs and get supported by taxpayers. They then take their cash and send it back to their home country. This is big money for these small countries. For example, the author notes, “Approximately 25 percent of El Salvador’s GDP is due to remittances.”  On Catholic Charities, though, Cassara indicts them for facilitating illegality:

The cartels are expanding their physical presence and reach into the United States. They are increasingly involved in other lucrative crimes such as organized theft rings and stolen cars. The open border and illegal immigration also facilitate the entry of tens of thousands of military-age males from adversaries such as China and Venezuela into the United States. So far in 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol has stopped 146 individuals currently on the terrorist watch list. Those numbers do not count the ones we did not catch.  Big business, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other “elites” also benefit from illegal immigration. They enjoy cheap labor and more consumers. Meanwhile, the American worker—particularly minorities—suffer from depressed wages, loss of buying power, and the dilution of government services caused by illegal immigrant competition. The Democratic Party benefits from its promotion of open border policies and illegal immigration. It is part of former President Obama’s “fundamental transformation” of the United States. Without a national “conversation,” the Democratic Party is actively working to change the population dynamics.  Illegal immigrants are given (bribed with) taxpayer-funded welfare, food stamps, healthcare, education for their children, and other government handouts. Illegal immigrants voting by the millions, facilitated by questionable practices such as lack of genuine identification, ballot harvesting, and drop boxes, change the electorate at the federal, state, and local levels. Coming from Latin American socialist collectivism, the schemes must seem normal to the recent arrivals.  The Biden Administration has endorsed and incentivized the entry of more illegal immigrants than the populations of 32 states (counting the District of Columbia). Democrats know that if, for example, Texas turns blue, they will cement their hold on power. And power means the ability to control the money flow to their activists and special interests.   With the above as context, let’s examine the role of the American Catholic Church in facilitating the immigration crisis.   The corporal acts of mercy necessitate that we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked. Our compassion dictates that we assist strangers to our homeland. But when it comes to illegal immigration, is our empathy misplaced? Is the Church enabling the above criminality and facilitating the oppression of the immigrants we are hoping to help? Are leftists and naïve do-gooders in the Church participating in the transformation of the United States that by far the overwhelming majority of all Americans, particularly Catholics, do not want?    Decades ago, the State Department began to resettle genuine refugees in the United States. They approached the Catholic Church for help. Today, that legitimate assistance has turned into an “illegal immigration complex” worth billions of dollars.

Church members and leaders need to have a broader discussion about exactly what type of behavior they are encouraging, considering who is benefiting from illegal immigration that they are supporting. The solutions are not that hard. Build the wall, and don’t let people in. Expel people who overstay VISAs. Return people who are here illegally. We have comprehensive refugee and asylum programs. Talk to anyone involved in those legitimate programs, and one will quickly understand that the millions that have come over do not qualify for refugee or asylum status. Refugee vetting usually takes two years at a refugee camp before official status is granted. Migrants from Venezuela pass through seven other countries before reaching our border. At least a few of them are “safe” to seek asylum in and the rule is you seek asylum in the first country you get to. Venezuelans could also head to other South American countries to seek a new beginning. At least Argentina may get on the right track with their new conservative, capitalist leader in charge now. Tax Remittances. https://www.vance.senate.gov/press-releases/senator-vance-rep-hern-introduce-bill-to-tax-international-money-transfers-by-cartels-and-illegal-immigrants/ End sanctuary status. Our laws are meaningless if we won’t enforce them. In the meantime, the Illinois Freedom Caucus is calling on Governor Pritzker, who just announced his 18th Disaster Declaration on the migrant crisis, to give specific regular reports on spending, housing, and public safety concerns related to the crisis.Where are the daily pressers and data tracking like Pritzker had during COVID?