Perhaps a better term to describe the Mexican-American border would be “anarchic,” since the most gruesome violence is occurring just across the Rio Grande, which is leading to a completely chaotic situation in American towns such as Ft. Hancock, Texas. The other evening, Nightline re-aired a report about that besieged town in a remarkable segment that you probably wouldn’t have seen two years ago, but which you have to watch now.
There are so many illuminating aspects to this report, not the least of them being the fact that almost every adult citizen living in Ft. Hancock now feels compelled to carry a firearm-or two-in order to protect him or herself from a potential assault, kidnapping, or homicide. Fears that are not illusory, as you can see by peeking over the border.
But the most amazing part of this segment, in my opinion, is that it was produced in the first place! While we have all become inured to the constant barrage of soft-focus, sympathetic portrayals of illegal aliens-or “undocumented migrants,” as their supporters prefer to call them-the inescapable violence that has consumed Mexico is forcing at least some journalists within mainstream media organs to report truthfully on what is happening in this country’s border states. And while the oft-repeated trope of “hard-working” migrants looking for a gateway to opportunity does inevitably appear here, it is overshadowed by the realistic appraisal of the unfunded, partially constructed border fence, the complete absence of federal authorities, and other gaps in security that Terry Moran forthrightly points out during the course of his report.
It might not be an epiphany, but it’s a good start.
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