News Nation correspondent talks daily challenges at Texas-Mexico border

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BIG COUNTRY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) — In this week’s episode of Big Country Politics, News Nation Southwest Correspondent Ali Bradley discussed her experiences covering the Texas-Mexico border, highlighting the daily challenges faced by law enforcement and the community.

As a reporter along the southwest border, Bradley said she sees something new every day.

“Every time I think I can’t be surprised, something does surprise me. Every single day, something different is happening, like today. We’re talking about these tire deflation devices, like caltrops. I did not expect them to be this tiny and this small,” Bradley explained.

“This is what was found in a smuggling vehicle that Texas DPS says is an advanced smuggler that was looking for a way around law enforcement that has been working for the cartels for years. That’s going to pop a tire, and they’re going to draw out a bundle of them in front of the law enforcement vehicle to stop them in pursuit. So, every single day, something crops up on the southern border,” Bradley added.

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She added that there is a new story to tell every day, and in the end, it’s not a political discussion but a community issue for those who call the area home.

“My experience has been that it is zero political for people down at the border. Blue or red does not matter. It’s a community issue. It is not a political football down here at the southern border. This is people’s lives. This is our lives. I live down here at the southern border, too, and what’s happening every day is seeing the helicopters in the air, seeing the red and blues, and seeing the pursuits blow through communities,” Bradley shared. “That’s happening every day. America just doesn’t see it because they think everything’s under control under the border, because that’s what the administration is saying. Because numbers are down, numbers are down. That’s not the reality, though; America knows that deep down. I know they know that because they’re feeling it; oftentimes, I will email Customs and Border Protection, and instead of getting a written statement back, I’ll get a phone call because phone calls aren’t as easy to report. That is the reality down here. My job is extremely tough, and I rely very heavily on sources because I’m not able to lean on the federal administration.”

Bradley recently shared on social media that even though border crossings are down at the southern border, it doesn’t mean people aren’t still coming; they’re evading.

“The reality is the cartel is a 13 billion-a-year industry moving people and drugs illegally into our country. While we were with Texas DPS, a trooper actually stopped a loaded vehicle being driven by a smuggler out of Carrizo Springs. He was trying to transport seven individuals from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador; weeks before, that same Trooper stopped a cloned Lowe’s truck. The dude even got out in a Lowe’s t-shirt commercial vehicle, and it was fake. It was cloned by the cartel to move people so that they wouldn’t be the wiser. So law enforcement would be like, it’s a Lowe’s truck. Well, Trooper Hernandez said, this seems off. He stops, gets inside, sees a false wall basically, and finds 17 people crammed inside a three-by-three compartment. So, down here at the border, it’s not safe for migrants. It’s not safe for law enforcement. Things are not calm or under control,” Bradley explained.

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Bradley added that this has been frustrating for law enforcement as they have sought additional aid for years.

“It’s frustrating for them because they’ve been overwhelmed for three and a half years and have been sounding the alarm, saying, ‘We need help.’ Kinney County Sheriff only has two deputies at any given time patrolling his area, and it’s a major smuggling thoroughfare, so it’s a problem for them,” Bradley said. “One benefit of the executive action that I have seen is the illegal crossing, so to speak, the people crossing between the ports and getting apprehended by border patrol. Because that has gone down a little bit, border patrol and Texas DPS are actually able to go after those trying to evade. We’re seeing more people trying to evade, but you also do have law enforcement able to kind of do their job now. So they’re able to go after the bad guys, but you’re seeing more bad guys coming through because that threshold is there. So it’s kind of a whack-a-mole, no matter what happens… Border Patrol, they need resources. They need manpower, but what they tell me they want the most is basically to be empowered by the federal government to do their jobs, to not just catch and release people into the interior, to catch them and remove them.”

She mentioned that law enforcement officers she has spoken to want a wall built because it symbolizes trespassing.

“Every law enforcement individual that I talk to down here wants a wall. Whether they say it works or not, they say it’s a clear symbol of trespass. When someone breaches that, they’ve clearly broken the law. They’re clearly in the United States crossing a structure they weren’t supposed to, but they need the cameras on the wall to see the activity, and then they need the agents to respond to that activity. So all of those things play a role together. You can’t just have the nail. You need the hammer, too,” Bradley shared.

Tren de Aragua, also known as TDA, is a highly active Venezuelan gang that has recently gained attention in the United States. Bradley said it’s a fast-growing gang, with members in Chicago, New York, and right here in Texas.

“I have been reporting about TDA since at least January. It has been a problem in our country for at least a year now, and law enforcement has been alerting about their presence in the United States. DHS says that they are present in the US, or at least 1,000 known TDA members across several states, including we know in Texas, we know in Chicago, we know they’re in New York. We know they’re in Colorado. Tren de Aragua is a very fast-growing gang in our country right now.,” Bradley said. “It is not to be compared to the Bloods and the Crips or the Hells Angels or whatever. It’s more in line with something like what you would see out of MS 13 or the Mexican cartels. They’re more brazen. They’re just trying to grow and gain turf and territory; they have the clout to establish here. They’re trying to gain a stronghold in the United States, which is why Texas Governor Greg Abbott designated them as a terrorist organization and said no more. He actually put out a $5,000 reward for anybody who can provide information and lead to the arrest of these TDA members because they are present.”

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She mentioned that members of Tren de Aragua are in Houston and Dallas, and there are reports of them being in Austin.

“We’re seeing them armed. We’re seeing them with rifles. Sources are telling me that they’ve teamed up with the Mexican cartels because how does an illegal immigrant get a weapon like a rifle and AR or an AK in our country if they’re here illegally without a connection? Well, the cartels come in, and they connect them. Because the cartels, as the DEA has said, are present in all 50 states. They are heavily armed. They actually make transactions with weapons, guns, and cash. We’re seeing all these individuals infiltrate our country and leave their country. Why would they take TDA people back? Why would they want these individuals back? So it’s not going to stop anytime soon, according to my sources, and it is something to be concerned about because, again, the types of crimes are committing rape, child exploitation, extortion, all of these different things that are associated with this gang is something to be concerned of,” Bradley shared.

Eagle Pass has historically been a Democratic area in the state. Bradley said they sympathize but understand that something needs to change.

“When it comes to the Democrat side of things, they’ve understood the crisis for what it is. In a certain respect, they understand people are coming over here, seeking a better life. Yes, a lot of them are obviously from Hispanic culture countries, which is what primarily is down along the southern border. So, they have a level of sympathy and empathy for these individuals, and a lot of them have family members directly across the southern border. So again, this isn’t a political issue for them. This is a community issue for them,” Bradley shared. “They try to be compassionate in that sense. But obviously, Del Rio was literally broken to its knees in September of 2021 when they had nearly 16,000 migrants from Haiti underneath the International Bridge. So how they operate since then, I think, has been a little bit different, where they are kind of on edge. They do understand that, hey, the stripes are going to fill up with migrants here and there who are picking up the bus because they don’t have a bus depot here. They don’t have transport hubs down at the southern border, so you’re seeing things like that play out.”

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Bradley added that when Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, a Democrat, was asked what he wanted to happen, he said, “I welcome it. I want the wall. It keeps my community safe.”

“It isn’t political. These people do want the problem to be controlled. They don’t want 16,000 people under their bridge. They don’t want people panhandling on their streets. They don’t want people taking up their resources at their resources at their hospitals and schools and things like that,” Bradley explained. “They want it under control, but they also want a safe and humane pathway for these people who need a better life, and that’s just not happening. It’s the asylum seekers or bust right now, but those economic migrants are being lumped into the asylum side of things, and that’s breaking the system. I think you only have two Republican sheriffs at the southern border. I don’t think a lot of people know that in Texas. So, the majority of these sheriffs are Democrats, and they want it to stop. They’ve been sounding the alarm. They do interviews with me on a regular basis, saying there’s a problem. You have Democrats that are mad at the Democrats down here again; they just care about their communities, not the politics.”

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