From the front lines: Ranchers speak out on border chaos
I will continue to keep you updated on the investigation into Arizona rancher Rob Krentz’s brutal murder. The latest:
*Funeral services have been set for April 9-10 in Douglas.
*Police are working on theories about the shooter possibly belonging to “a drug cartel scout or a band of thieves terrorizing Arizona ranches.”
*Open-borders Sen. Johnny Come Lately McCain, in the political battle of his life, is now calling for the National Guard. Don’t read his lips. Read his border security-undermining, law enforcement-abandoning record.
*The Arizona Farm Bureau sends the following statement:
“The murder of Cochise County rancher Rob Krentz this last weekend should not have happened and was preventable,” said Arizona Farm Bureau President Kevin Rogers. He and his organization send their deepest sympathy to the Krentz family for their loss.
According to Rogers, the ranching and farming community along the border, have been asking for a secure border for many years. “Our members are the ones who see the illegal traffic including drug and human cargo smuggling coming across their farms and ranches.” Rogers explained that over the last several years, his members have reported coming face to face with these smugglers that are well armed and menacing. “It is time for the federal government to fix this problem before another one of our ranch or farm families are injured or killed. No family should have to endure what the Krentz family is experiencing.”
Rogers said inaction by Congress can no longer be tolerated. “The border needs to be secured,” said Rogers. His organization has long called for securing the border and fixing the worker visa program so we know who is coming into the U.S. and who is overstaying their permission to be here. “Fixing the worker visa program becomes part of securing the border,” he emphasized.
If this tragedy is connected to smuggling from Mexico, swift action is needed to make sure this will not lead to an escalation in Arizona of the violence associated with the drug cartel brutality now just south of our border. “Until Congress addresses securing the border, all necessary resources should be focused on Arizona’s border,” concluded Rogers.
Letters from ranchers along the southern border are pouring into my e-mail box. Here’s a sample of messages from the front lines:
From Michael in Florence, AZ…
Thanks for mentioning the story about Bob Krentz’ death. This hit my own family pretty hard at the nearby Riggs Ranch. We’ve been their neighbors for over 100 years, our own place established in 1881 in Dos Cabezas. This Government of ours just won’t provide the protection needed to secure this border, and the media is not even on the same planet with reporting about it. When the US Customs office located at the Maricopa BOT in Nogales got machined gunned last December by one of the cartels, not even the Arizona Republic did the episode any justice. The Fourth Estate doesn’t exist anymore; today, its just a propaganda outlet for special interests.
Thanks for your good work.
From Danielle…
Thank you for calling attention to the murder of the Arizona rancher. This is not an isolated problem. Families who have farmed and ranched on the US/Mexico border for over a hundred years. For many years, we farmed along side those on the other side of the border. Most people who crossed our properties were not a threat, but that has long since changed. We now find ourselves faced with a government that feels the issue is not significant, as well as our neighbors in the city who are more concerned about “immigrants rights” than our safety. While Bush’s fence project had a lot of problems, the section that crosses our property created a significant deterrent. Traffic decreased from over a hundred per day to a handful per week. The cartels don’t care how they get access to your property. If they can’t buy you out, they will kill you and your family.
Families who live along both sides of the border have been threatened and attacked for some time now by cartels. On the same weekend that the consulate worker was murdered, a young man from Fabens, Texas and his father in law were kidnapped and taken into Mexico. He had turned in a group who had moved onto his property and set up a meth lab to law enforcement. Both men were tortured for several hours before they were finally murdered and dumped.
Many families are sending their children, especially their sons, to live with friends or family away from the border so that they can attend school in relative safety without being intimidated into working for the cartels.
The cartels have been cultivating deep reaches into US communities for many years. They front legitimate businesses on this side of the border. Cartel members have used these “respectable faces” to gain influence and seats on school boards and city and county governments as well as working in many of our law enforcement agencies.
From Billie in CA…
Michelle,
…As a ranching wife, my heart goes out to Bob’s family and especially his wife Susan. No one outside the ranching community knows how hard a life this is ( in terms of physical work never being done). To those of us who love it, the price is well worth the benefits. But not for Susan Krentz. I cannot imagine what she must feel, knowing they have been robbed before, vandalized and terrorized.
While Obama and his minions wax poetic about health care ( and the so called threats of not having it) there is a hardworking woman who has been pulling her own weight for decades that now faces her golden years without her beloved husband and without any security for the future of her children or herself on the ranch they love.
Ranching families work hard as teams to get everything done to care for their animals. They are usually short on help considering all that needs to be done. I hope that Susan’s loss of her husband, her partner in the business and the head of a multi generational legacy is not lost in the reporting. Her life is forever changed and helping her find a sense of peace and sanity is what we all need to think about.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
 |
US State Department Expands Travel Warning for Mexico
February 11, 2012 03:29 PM by Doug Powers
29 Comments
Fast and Furious showdown: Holder/Obama defend bloody culture of contempt; Update: Fortress Holder, Stonewall City; vid clips added, Dems advise, “Don’t answer”
February 2, 2012 09:16 AM by Michelle Malkin
158 CommentsObama and Jan Brewer Have Words on Airport Tarmac; Update: Brewer Book Sales Skyrocket
January 25, 2012 09:54 PM by Doug Powers
165 Comments
Gingrich channels open-borders SEIU; Rubio rebukes; Update:Newt retreats
January 25, 2012 10:56 AM by Michelle Malkin
155 Comments
Obama heads to Disney World to push looser visa policies
January 17, 2012 01:14 PM by Michelle Malkin
95 Comments
Obama’s “Razist” Lobbyist Moves Up
January 13, 2012 06:29 AM by Michelle Malkin
233 CommentsThe Year in Obama Scandals — and Scandal Deniers
December 28, 2011 12:04 PM by Michelle Malkin
122 Comments
The murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry: One year ago today
December 14, 2011 11:11 AM by Michelle Malkin
70 Comments
Supreme Court to Decide Arizona Immigration Law
December 12, 2011 01:18 PM by Doug Powers
57 Comments
Categories: Amnesty,Immigration,Southern Border
Riehl World View
» Whitney Houston: If I should stay I would only be in your wayPatterico
» Rick Santorum and the two playbooksRiehl World View
» Romney's Blood Is Blue, Not ConservativePundit & Pundette
» King Barack vs. the NonconformistsJustOneMinute
» Cat Blogging In A Harsh New Light
MM: I would like to add my thanks for the good work you do.
Nothing ticks me off more than the fact the USA can go around the world fighting battles but yet ignors the war on their southern border.
I am about to the point to where we should just push through Mexico and set up our border on the very narrow part of the Yucatan. If we are going to inevitably give them citizenship, we may as well benefit. We could guard the very narrow corridor easily and crush the cartels ourselves. God knows they won’t.
no comment from nappy about this? the masses are supposed to accept that the “system worked”?
Nothing to fear my friends…. McCain is on top of the situation.
My condolences to the Krentz family.
His first act that would be considered sincere would be to fire Juan Hernandez. His second act would be to publicly and forcefully stand up against amnesty, and champion what needs to be done to secure the border.
Until then, McAmnesty is only blowing so much hot air.
It would be interesting to know how many times the Krentz family had contacted McCain for help over the years.
…or that nitwit Napolitano.
….as I think of this, this REALLY PI$$ES me off because reports of ranchers being targeted have been reported for years….even while McAmnesty and Grahamnesty have been pushing their agenda.
This crap WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED had they taken action to secure our borders.
This comment says it all:
We are being invaded!
When will that arrogant Chicago Thug decide to get his earth shoes dusty, show up on the border, and declare that he will defend our borders? I know, it’s early and I must be still dreaming.
Krentz’s ranch would seem the ideal Tea Party/Conservative site to stage a major counter-Amnesty/support ICE/pro-wall rally.
James Greenidge
Queens New York
This is not absurd. It’s obscene.
James Greenidge
Queens New York
WE COULD STOP THIS CRAP TODAY! RIP….Rob….
No border, no country.
A sad commentary on Obama, he lacks the stones to fix the gang banging RIGHT IN DC, and on our border! It is time for this so called “government” to address real problems and to stop creating straw men.
And get gunned down…which would play interestingly in the media.
People in AZ are fools if they don’t support JD and show McCain the door.
Obama fix it? I doubt border ranchers are unionized campaign donors.
AFTER. AFTER. AFTER. AFTER. AFTER.
Why not BEFORE, McCain?????
You scratch my back…I’ll scratch yours.
That’s kind of the point. Because all cultures are equally superior to the United States.
How do I volunteer to be a border guard?
Local news has had a story where some “immigrant rights” group has been accusing ICE of running amok and even lying about “criminal immigrants”.
Look for the rhetoric to heat up further as they move this to the front burner.
Hopefully, we can keep the focus on situations like this to prevent amnesty from happening.
And backed by ACORN and SEIU.
Let me guess he wants the National guard there to help escort the illegals…
It is past time to demand that these ranchers (and our nation!) be protected.
DC, can you hear them now?
This administration will do NOTHING about this. Why would they? These drug cartel thugs are exactly the kind of folks Obama wants in this country to fit right in with his Chicago-thug mafia. And the rest of the illegals are future voters. Obama is only the president of 1/2 of the citizens of this country. The rest of us are his “opponents”. He has made that abundantly clear. He is the president of the Progressives only. He is the president of the unions. He is the president of the environmental wackos. He is the president of la Raza. He is the president of Code Pink. He is the president of the EPA. I could go on. One thing for sure…he is not MY president!! And, he has violated the oath he took to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God. He is a traitor.
Oh, and Juan McCain…STFU. Your campaign talking points disgust me.
It’s a big desert out there, people could die and nobody would ever find the body. The Mob used to take advantage of that out in Vegas. If you were caught cheating, you were driven out into the desert, handed a shovel and told to dig. when the hole was deep enough, you were shot in the back of the head and covered up. One of these days when Vegas gets big enough, they are going to start digging up skeletons when they go to dig the foundations of new houses….
Under the constitution, the people retain all the rights and delegate some of them to the Federal Government (common defense and border security for instance) but they still retain the right to enforce them themselves if they must.
I am a firm believer that our government has been subverted by drug cartel money flowing into the political process through quasi-legitimate fronts for these organizations. Our government no longer works for us, it works for the cartels, or the PRC (same mechanism is in play), or George Soros, or anyone who has enough money to buy his or her way into the political process.
One of the most thankless, depressing jobs has to be that of being a border patrol agent. The government elites certainly don’t like him, and the Hispanic lobby certainly doesn’t like him either. They have to work everyday with both hands “tied behind their backs”. The government has just enough of them to show that they’re “doing something” about it, but never enough to actually stop the new “voters” for the liberals.
Why are they asking Obama for the National Guard? I thought the Governor of each State controls they own National Guard. The Governor of Arizona should be impeached for dereliction of duty. If all the Governors actually controlled their States they way they are supposed to, the Federal Government would be much smaller and less totalitarian.
I’m sure DHS is sorry about this tragedy, but they have to allocate their manpower, helicopters, etc. carefully, and there are “Christian” militia groups to be rounded up. But everyone will be glad to know the situation is under control and no “Christian” militia groups have committed violence on Obama’s watch.
On a serious note: to the families on the border sending their sons away to get them out of danger–we have 2 boys and an extra bedroom. Michelle, if any of them contact you, please forward my email addy.
And as crowds were gathering, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY NAPOLITANO was heard to say, “keep moving, nothing to see here, nothing happening here, just keep moving along”…
People are fleeing El Porvenir to Fort Hancock, Texas from the drug cartels, asking for asylum. This reminds me of the days of Pancho Villa. It’s time for a military presence if Drugexico can’t handle its affairs. Either that, or our citizens need to start handling this themselves. Get these so-called “Christian” militas on the border. Instead of shooting cops, they can do raids against the drug cartels.
“Don’t bother me with this trivia, I’ve got returning vets to keep an eye on.”
I also noticed Obama called out FEMA for Rhode Island. After Katrina, no president will respect state’s rights with regard to the National Guard or FEMA.
I’m sure that won’t come back to bite us.
The alleged spitting incident last week got more coverage expressing more alarm and outrage than this murder of an innocent.
If McCain won’t do anything about Mexican drug cartels despite living in the kidnap-for-ransom capital of the world, why would we expect him to act on this murder? The King of Comity Central is more likely to admonish us for raising our voices above a whisper.
I suspect that McCain will be an open-borders advocate until an illegal harms one of McCain’s loved-ones. Like Megan, for instance. I don’t suggest they kidnap her or anything. That would be so, like, grody to the max, like. I am just saying…
Gee…seems the Minutemen had it right all along.
For what it’s worth, I’m for hire at any border ranch or property that wants a Government trained security
trigger… uh..consultant.The Border War has begun, but don’t bother telling the Director of Homeland Security, she’s got angry white tea partiers to worry about.
Obama? Not now. the Final Four in basketball is this weekend. “Don’t bother me.”
McCain? You have got to be kidding me. “Border, we don’t need no stinking border”
Meanwhile, the Vagos motorcycle gang (allies with the Mexican Mafia) has been trying to assassinate police in Hemet, Ca.
But hey, Janet Napolitano, never mind about that. There’s some white people with flags and homemade signs over there on the corner. Better get after them, they’re dangerous.
Related lengthy, but good article on the topic by Victor Davis Hanson over at National Review Online here.
Errah, hopefully Juan McLame can wash the blood from his hands before attending Mr. Krentz’z funeral on the 9th.
Regulus – Thanks. What a great overview of the situation. It’s nice to see VDH writing on the subject once again.
(Highly recommended for all here)
Questions for illegal alien apologists like John McCain:
Why does The National Council of the Race (la raza in spanish) and the Chamber of Commerce get to negotiate a “Comprehensive Shafting of The American Citizens” behind closed doors? Since when does an organization representing foreign nationals breaking our laws get to rewrite our immigration laws to suit the lawbreakers? Isn’t this akin to allowing NAMBLA to rewrite our laws regarding child predators? Or allowing organized crime syndicates to rewrite racketeering, gambling, prostitution, and extortion laws?
We The People are being told by our representatives that we should sit down and shut up while they invite in the entire world. We The People should get some say in this matter. Another amnesty will set off a stampede like we have never seen before. There is not much time to save our country. All the power and money are on the side of shoving this amnesty down our throats. The RNC wants another amnesty candidate, don’t vote for one.
Well he will, but he’ll be on the Mexican side, telling them he will defend the open border. I wish we had an American President – I’m old enough to remember them…
We need to put Hawaii in charge of defending the border. No border problems over there.
MM, I also want to pass along my thanks for reporting on this story. The Federal government doesn’t care about border security. If they did, they would stomp the invasion out. It’s like these ranchers do not have any rights at all.
I am especially angry at the business community that encourages the illegal invasion of our country. People who hire illegals are traitors. I also despise the government for letting this happen (like Juan McShamnesty) so that they can gain new voters. Special interests rule this country and cater to these invaders while native Americans watch helpless and are powerless to act.
This is disgusting.
Meanwhile, Michael Steele is meeting with advocates of amnesty and promising them he’s going to work to get more Republicans on board. The Stupid Party has a death wish.
GOP-RIP
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/03/31/rnc-chairman-meets-immigration-group-sides-differ-on-outcome/
Juan McCain was in Cochise County yesterday. He spoke on Fort Huachuca and then held a townhall meeting the the VFW in Sierra Vista. I didn’t go, but the local paper, http://www.svherald.com/content/news/2010/04/01/border-key-topic-when-mccain-makes-campaign-stop-sierra-vista
reports that 200 showed up. I think McCain showed up because JD Hayworth was here last week and had a pretty good turnout.
Last night, Bill O’Reilly talked about McCain’s change of heart on the border but doesn’t believe it’s because he’s up for re-election. What an idiot. Hayworth is now within 4 points of McCain. Most of the people I know around town support Hayworth, but Cochise County is very conservative. I fear the more liberal areas of Phoenix and Tucson have us outnumbered.
Yes we are, and we have been for years now, to the tune of 20-30 million invaders.
According to the old document that out government apparently no longer believes in:
The U.S. Constitution, Article IV
Section 4
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.”
Quite obviously, the Constitution is again being ignored.