Illegals a U.S., not Hazleton, issue to solve (Another Wilkes-Barre Times Leader column)
By Richard L. Connor
Times Leader Editor and Publisher
KING RANCH is a beautifully dangerous place.
Majestic and treacherous all at once, it is in the vast area known collectively as South Texas.
KING RANCH is a beautifully dangerous place.
Majestic and treacherous all at once, it is in the vast area known collectively as South Texas.
It is larger than the entire state of Rhode Island, so big the nearest city is called Kingsville. Founded by a river boat captain, Captain Richard King, it is a place of dreams, myth, legend, mystery, as well as hard, cold life-threatening facts.
Those facts would include heat almost tropical as well as cold winds and rains that will almost freeze your face on impact. Both can strike in the same day. It is as unpredictable a place as it is vast.
To raise cattle on this ranch, the King family had to develop its own breed, Santa Gertrudis, cows hardy enough to withstand the vagaries of nature, which often include limited potable water and no grass.
Among the great attributes of this ranch, is the quail hunting. Some folks, such as the renowned bird dog trainer, Delmar Smith, say it is the finest in the world. I’ve had the great pleasure of quail hunting there many times.
I have photos of friends holding up rattlesnakes so big and long, the tail is held above the person’s head and the head is draped out -- measured by feet not inches -- across the ground. Usually, the photo means the person shot the snake just before he or she stepped on it and became a victim instead of victor.
The grass is so thick and tall, much of it the famed and gnarly sachuista, you often cannot see over the top of it. And so, when hunting you continually shout your whereabouts so you will not be shot when a covey of quail rises fast and unexpectedly. It was on an adjacent ranch, Armstrong, where King family relatives live, that Vice President Dick Cheney, while hunting, shot a friend he could not see.
So hard to traverse is this land on the ranch and throughout this part of South Texas, the durable and versatile quarter horse owes much of its heritage to breeding programs there.
And so it is here on this land that often can threaten the life of man and beast that I have seen the illegals hiding in the grass or more plainly when their tongues are swollen and their feet blistered so badly that they need a drop of water, something, anything wet, preferable cold, and they can no longer afford to hide.
You offer them water and a candy bar or anything stuffed into your hunting vest. Tired, fatigued as they are they drink, eat, grab a bottled water and quickly move on, vanishing as if part of a magic act into the tall grass and hopefully to freedom.
Sometimes they do not make it and are found dead in the fields. Often they are caught by the border patrol, a group with an almost impossible task of catching these people.
The contrast of lifestyles and income is not lost on those who have experienced it. Especially being one of those with the luxury-to-bird-hunt juxtaposed against the poor, starving people risking their lives for a chance to live in this country.
Helplessness and pity are among the emotions you feel.
Tens of thousands. Yes. Tens of thousands illegals cross the border and into this country in this part of Texas every night. Every night. Imagine the breadth and depth of the land. Imagine how impenetrable it is. And then imagine how hard it is to stop this flow of human desperation.
This sounds like an enormous problem to solve, stopping this immigration, because it is. But, it represents only a small part of the problem because, huge as this land mass is, it is only a fraction of the size of the border crossed by illegals.
Renting or not renting homes to illegals in Hazleton is not the problem. Securing our borders is. That needs to be the focus.
The only surprise about U.S. District Judge James Munley’s decision to strike down the Hazleton ordinance would have been if his decision upheld its legality. Leaders in Hazleton have gained their fame and notoriety for the illegal immigration ordinances and now should save taxpayers and the court time from the costs of appeal. It’s over.
If they have done a service for the public it is to highlight the tensions among people in this country over the issue of illegal immigration. And high and strong those tensions run. By noon on Friday the timesleader.com Web site poll on the judge’s opinion had 12,000 participants, the most ever in our history and it was only mid-day.
An ordinance in Hazleton, Pennsylvania is not going to do a thing to solve the dilemma posed by illegal immigration. And it more than likely heightens the tensions as opposing to quelling them.
We need to let those illegals who are here stay. We need to work on stopping the illegal immigration. Tonight thousands of persons will be walking when it is dark and cooler than the day through the pastures of South Texas ranches, hoping they do not get lost or step on a rattler and hoping they stumble upon water they can drink.
The land of opportunity beckons and so far nothing can stop them.
An ordinance in Hazleton, Pa. is not going to do a thing to solve the dilemma posed by illegal immigration.