{"id":565762,"date":"2018-04-21T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2018-04-21T14:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=565762"},"modified":"2018-04-23T08:25:25","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T14:25:25","slug":"border-residents-see-little-impact-from-trumps-national-guard-deployment-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/04\/border-residents-see-little-impact-from-trumps-national-guard-deployment-so-far\/","title":{"rendered":"Border residents see little impact from Trump&#8217;s National Guard deployment so far"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_565775\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-565775\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Border_National_Guard_1_DY_TT-771x517.jpg\" alt=\"Ron and Janella Frankl Reicks\" width=\"771\" height=\"517\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Border_National_Guard_1_DY_TT-771x517.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Border_National_Guard_1_DY_TT-336x225.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Border_National_Guard_1_DY_TT-768x515.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Border_National_Guard_1_DY_TT-1170x784.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Border_National_Guard_1_DY_TT.jpg 1250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Douglas Young \/ for The Texas Tribune<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ron and Janella Frankl Reicks in their home in Hidalgo Texas, discuss the newest National Guard deployment to the Rio Grande.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>HIDALGO, Texas \u2013 Ron and Janella Frankl Reicks had just finished an early steak dinner\u00a0when they stepped outside of their\u00a0home\u00a0here\u00a0and chuckled about snow falling\u00a0back\u00a0in their native Iowa while they enjoyed 80-degree weather in Texas&#8217; Rio Grande Valley.<\/p>\n<p>Hours earlier in nearby Abram, Elia Villarreal was dispensing advice outside her shuttered convenience store on Military Highway on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, a practice she credits with letting her reach the age of\u00a080 despite having only one kidney.<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>And\u00a0around the same time,\u00a0Max Mu\u00f1oz was sorting through papers and attending to his duties at Mission\u2019s renowned National Butterfly Center as he\u00a0answered the same\u00a0questions about border security\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0heard\u00a0for the past\u00a0four years.<\/p>\n<p>It was, in other words, an ordinary weekday for these Hidalgo County residents who\u00a0have grown accustomed to periodic bursts in law enforcement presence and haven&#8217;t noticed President Donald Trump&#8217;s latest deployment interrupting\u00a0their day-to-day lives.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article originally appeared in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/04\/20\/second-verse-same-first-border-texans-after-national-guard-deployment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Texas Tribune<\/a>,\u00a0a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans and engages with them about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>At least not yet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have never seen them, other than the helicopter,\u201d Ron Frankl Reicks said. \u201cThat\u2019s the only thing we\u2019ve seen in terms of\u00a0presence.\u201d The Frankl Reicks have lived in the Rio Grande Valley for more than two decades and have called the Lake Texano RV and MH Resort, which sits just blocks from the Rio Grande, home for the past four years. That was when the Guard was deployed to the area by former Gov. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/directory\/rick-perry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rick Perry<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gov.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/directory\/greg-abbott\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Greg Abbott<\/a>\u00a0kept some of the units in place after taking office and earlier this month quickly responded to Trump\u2019s request to beef up that number. As of April 12, the count was at 762\u00a0and is set to gradually increase to at least 1,400,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lbb.state.tx.us\/Documents\/Publications\/Presentation\/5208_Border_Security_Update_HAC_Apr_2018.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0state&#8217;s Legislative Budget Board.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn behalf of the men and women of the Rio Grande Valley Sector, we look forward to coordinating efforts, the green and the guard, to ensure the safety of our communities and the United States of America,\u201d Chief Patrol Agent Manuel Padilla, Jr. said Thursday after welcoming some of the troops to the Rio Grande Valley.<\/p>\n<p>Trump said the mobilization is necessary due to a \u201ccrisis\u201d at the border after a spike in unauthorized crossings last month. Despite that double-digit increase however, overall crossings are trending downward, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/04\/05\/donald-trump-border-troops-crossings-low\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according<\/a> to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics. That \u2013 and the relative safety of the borderlands in general \u2013 has led some to criticize the recent deployment as\u00a0something that will unnecessarily\u00a0stain the area\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not going to be any different,\u201d Mu\u00f1oz said. \u201cThe only thing that\u2019s going to affect us is the news itself. [Potential visitors] are going to be worried about war, there\u2019s not any war.\u201d<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Mu\u00f1oz said he\u2019s already fielded calls from people in Chicago and Canada who, based on the news,\u00a0are\u00a0expecting\u00a0if they visit\u00a0to see armed soldiers pointing their weapons at anything that moves as they stand post on the banks of the river.<\/p>\n<p>The reality on the river, he said, is\u00a0that\u00a0butterfly and bird watchers come to the Rio Grande Valley from all across the continent and avoid experiences like that.<\/p>\n<p>Mu\u00f1oz isn\u2019t what proponents of more border security might criticize as\u00a0an \u201copen borders\u201d advocate. He said that Border Patrol is always nearby and credits that to helping keep the area calm and attractive for visitors. But\u00a0the larger public will only believe\u00a0that,\u00a0he said, if more\u00a0people come to the area and see for themselves, and he worries the latest\u00a0National Guard deployment will put a dent in those efforts.<\/p>\n<p>The Frankl Reicks also tip their hats to the efforts the government is making to secure the borders. But they say some of the policies, like the\u00a0latest National Guard deployment, are misguided.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe money that they\u2019re spending on that could be much better spent, either on increasing Border Patrol personnel or increasing electronic surveillance,\u201d Ron Frankl Reicks said. \u201cI think the [deployment] is for the press, and for the consumption of people up North.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Janella Frankl Reicks\u00a0also questioned whether Trump&#8217;s move is counterproductive.\u00a0\u201cThe people across [the border] are really smart, and they\u2019re really watching and they know what\u2019s going on,\u201d\u00a0she said.<\/p>\n<p>Others like Villarreal, who\u2019s lived in Hidalgo County all her life, welcome the Guard and don&#8217;t concern themselves too much with the politics of it all.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt won\u2019t affect our lives. I feel like they\u2019re protecting the border, and I am not against it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s been very peaceful, we really haven\u2019t had any problems. But the Border Patrol help us. I didn\u2019t see the National Guard [during the last deployment] but we feel comfortable with them, if there are some people [from Mexico] coming here to do harm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Upriver in Roma, a Starr County city that Border Patrol has for years considered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2016\/04\/21\/roma-texas-smugglers-paradise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a smugglers&#8217; paradise<\/a> because it lacks a fence and federal agents there are understaffed, Ruperto Escobar takes the issue personally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI lost one of my children to the damn drug problem that we have here,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a big bone to pick with all these people that are getting rich selling the drugs, you know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Escobar lives in tiny Escobares, named after his family who he says has had a presence in the area since the 1760s. During the last deployment,\u00a0he said, the Texas Rangers\u00a0asked him to sign a document allowing the National Guard to operate on his land, which includes 75 acres of river front property.<\/p>\n<p>He hasn\u2019t been approached this time, but he said he\u2019s ready and willing to allow that\u00a0same<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>access once more.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d he said. \u201cWe hear at night what\u2019s going. We\u2019re not afraid to come out of our houses, don\u2019t get me wrong. But we\u2019d rather stay inside. The more [security], the better for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said people north of the border don\u2019t appreciate what people living on the border must tolerate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey don\u2019t get to see what\u2019s happening here and yet they\u2019re very vocal\u00a0about this,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know why they feel that way but I appreciate this help, yes sir.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though they might not agree on the effectiveness or wisdom of the latest\u00a0deployment, Escobar and the\u00a0Frankl Reicks agree that circumstances in Mexico and other countries will continue to drive migration, more than the number of Guard troops at the border. And they are sympathetic to the plight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur families up in Iowa, we tell them that they are coming through here and they say &#8216;Oh God, aren\u2019t you scared?&#8217; \u201d Ron\u00a0Frankl Reicks said. \u201cI say, \u2018Hey, they\u2019re not coming to see us. They\u2019re coming to go to Iowa to get a job. They are coming to see you.&#8217; \u201d<\/p>\n<p>Escobar said the situation is heartbreaking but that he has to take care of his own first.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hurt for them, you know? But they\u2019re illegals and our country needs to secure its borders, man,\u201d he said. \u201cThe poor illegals that are trying to find a job, I hurt for them, my heart bleeds for them. But the rest of the people are coming, the ones that are smuggling the drugs. I don\u2019t have feelings for them.\u201d<script src=\"https:\/\/cdn.texastribune.org\/pixel\/dot.min.29c708b3d0da5d17a725.js\" integrity=\"sha384-8Xwf\/TlQnmHiajg1t3dn8w4qlF1rmV33o5NAQVXYu0T2q3rHV5579zrSmRjh+XnM\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\" data-tt-canonical=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/04\/20\/second-verse-same-first-border-texans-after-national-guard-deployment\/\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While President Trump&#8217;s order sending National Guard to address a &#8220;crisis&#8221; to the border has garnered national attention, those living in the Rio Grande Valley see a gap between perception and reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":565775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[140,2260,116],"class_list":["post-565762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-texas","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}