Texas Ranchers Dealing With Armed Smugglers on Land

A game camera captures illegal immigrants walking through private ranch land in Jim Hogg County, Texas, on March 25, 2021. Courtesy of Susan Kibbe

McALLEN, Texas—Two heavily armed suspected smugglers drive down a dirt road to hand their cargo of illegal aliens over to the next vehicle. One, the front passenger, is filming the bumpy drive with one hand, while pointing an AR-15 with a drum magazine out the windshield.

They’re speaking Spanish, talking about how much farther to go. At one stage, the driver communicates over a radio to say, “I’m there, I’m there, hold on.”