Talk about skin in the game…
Via KGBT:
As the government continues to negotiate funding for border security, one landowner said he’s willing to give up some of his property, if it means keeping smugglers from crossing over.
Ruperto Escobar, 75, lives in the small town of Escobares, just outside of Rio Grande City and remembers taking the cattle to the river growing up.
Escobar recalled hearing gunshots from the other side.
“When the cartels started going and fighting against each other,” said Escobar. “You can hear gunshots from the other side, you could hear their battles.”
He’s seen it all from illegal crossings to drug smuggling on land that has been passed down for generations. But as the years passed, Escobar said things have only gotten worse.
“I’m not afraid of the immigrants, I’m afraid of the drug carriers,” said Escobar. “They are really armed to their teeth.”
The landowner said it’s quite peaceful at the river during the day. But even if it’s his own land, he tries to avoid going to the area at night.
“That’s one of my biggest fears is having to come in the middle of the night at 10 o’clock to shut that engine down,” said Escobar. “I do it as quickly as I can and get out of here as quickly as I can because you never know.”
He recalled one night where his farmers were on their way to shut off the engine at the water pump and were threatened by armed men.