'Helped decrease illegal crossings': Texas border town grateful for National Guard presence
IT’S GOING TO BE A BUSY NIGHT. BILL. THANKS. SURE. WELL, KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN IS ON THE GROUND AT THE U.S., MEXICO BORDER. WE’RE THERE TO BRING YOU COVERAGE OF THE NEBRASKA NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT. BEFORE WE DO, WE’RE TALKING WITH THE CITY OF EAGLE PASS, TEXAS, ABOUT HOW THEY’RE COMMUNITY HAS CHANGED. KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN’S BILL SCHAMMERT HAS OUR EXCLUSIVE REPORT. HEY, WE HAVE MADE IT TO EAGLE PASS, TEXAS THIS IS THE U.S. MEXICO BORDER AND THE BORDER WALL THAT WE’RE ALL SO FAMILIAR WITH. BEYOND THIS FENCE, YOU’LL FIND A FIELD BEYOND THAT, THE RIO GRANDE RIVER. AND BEYOND THAT, THAT’S MEXICO OVER THERE. WE’RE UNDERNEATH ONE OF TWO INTERNATIONAL BORDER CROSSINGS IN EAGLE PASS, TEXAS. TODAY. WE SAT DOWN AND TALKED WITH THE CITY ABOUT HOW BOTH LEGAL AND ILLEGAL MIGRATION HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS. YOU’RE NOT GOING TO SEE THE LARGE CROWDS OR THE LARGE NUMBERS THAT WE SAW BACK IN DECEMBER. AND AS I MENTIONED TO YOU EARLIER, THE MAJORITY OF THOSE WERE COMING VIA ON THE TRAIN, YOU KNOW, SO ONCE THAT TRAIN WOULD GET INTO MEXICO AND ONCE IT WOULD STOP, THEY WOULD JUMP OFF AND CROSS THE RIVER. WE TALKED WITH RONNIE RIVERA, THE CITY OF EAGLE PASS PUBLIC RELATIONS COORDINATOR. HE SAYS THE IDEA THAT EAGLE PASS IS SOME SORT OF WILD, WILD WEST WITH ILLEGAL MIGRANTS RUNNING EVERYWHERE IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE. THAT’S A MISCONCEPTION. AND THAT CRIME IS ACTUALLY DOWN IN EAGLE PASS IS ONE OF THE FEW BORDER CITIES RIGHT NOW THAT’S GROWING IN POPULATION IN THE MILITARY THAT HAS COME IN ALL THE DIFFERENT STATES IN THAT THAT HAS ALSO, I GUESS, HELPED WITH DECREASE THE THE, THE ILLEGAL CROSSINGS AND AGAIN, UM, THE ECONOMIC BOOM THERE PART OF IT, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THEY ARE SHOPPING HERE LOCALLY AND THEY’RE HELPING OUR BUSINESSES. THE CITY TELLS ME THE LAST THING THEY WANT IS FOR THESE LEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS TO CLOSE, BECAUSE THEY CONTRIBUTE TO ABOUT HALF THIS CITY’S REVENUE ON TUESDAY, WE’LL TAG ALONG WITH THE NEBRASKA NATIONAL GUARD AND GO BEYOND THIS FENCING TO SEE FIRSTHAND THEIR ROLE IN KEEPING OUR BORDERS SECURE. REPORTING ALONGSIDE JOURNALIST EDDIE MITCHELL, I’M BILL SCHAMMERT KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN, OUR EXCLUSIVE REPORTING FROM THE BORDER IS JUST GETTING STARTED. YOU CAN FOLLOW BILL SCHAMMERT AND EDDIE MITCHELL ALL WEEK LONG FOR COVERAGE. YOU CAN TRUST FROM OMAHA’S NEWS LEADER. AND RIGHT NOW ONLINE, KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN GIVES YOU A TRANSPARENT EXPLANATION OF WHY WE DECIDED TO TAKE THIS TRIP TO THE BORDER TO COVER THIS WITH OUR OW
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'Helped decrease illegal crossings': Texas border town grateful for National Guard presence
The western edge of Eagle Pass, Texas, is layered with a border wall and fencing, a large field, the Rio Grande River, and a military presence before you can see Mexico."Our city is a safe city," said Ronnie Rivera, the public relations director for the city of Eagle Pass. But Rivera is the first to acknowledge how hard December was when Customs and Border Protection saw illegal migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border top 300,000 people."Numbers were uncontrollable," Rivera said. "But unfortunately the video taken in December is still being played today. The perception is large numbers are still crossing in Eagle Pass and that's not true."Rivera credits the U.S. and Mexican governments working together, along with the military presence in Shelby Park, which borders Mexico. That presence includes State of Texas law enforcement, CBP, and several national guards, including Nebraska's. "That's helped deter illegal crossings," he said. "They don't want obstacles to cross into the U.S. — so whatever's been done - obviously it's worked."Rivera said the National Guard's presence contributes to the city's feeling of safety and has also contributed to an economic boom. The city said the last thing it wants is for one or both of its two legal border crossings to close. According to Rivera, the legal border-crossing economy accounts for about 50% of the city's yearly revenue. "When the bridges close, it means we're headed for a disaster," he said. "We really want the federal government to keep them open." Rivera said that when they were forced to close one bridge, the wait time to get across the border was about 12 hours. On Tuesday, sister station KETV rode with the Nebraska National Guard to get a first-hand look at their operations during their 90-day deployment to the U.S.-Mexico border.
The western edge of Eagle Pass, Texas, is layered with a border wall and fencing, a large field, the Rio Grande River, and a military presence before you can see Mexico.
"Our city is a safe city," said Ronnie Rivera, the public relations director for the city of Eagle Pass.
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But Rivera is the first to acknowledge how hard December was when Customs and Border Protection saw illegal migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border top 300,000 people.
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"Numbers were uncontrollable," Rivera said. "But unfortunately the video taken in December is still being played today. The perception is large numbers are still crossing in Eagle Pass and that's not true."
Rivera credits the U.S. and Mexican governments working together, along with the military presence in Shelby Park, which borders Mexico.
That presence includes State of Texas law enforcement, CBP, and several national guards, including Nebraska's.
"That's helped deter illegal crossings," he said. "They don't want obstacles to cross into the U.S. — so whatever's been done - obviously it's worked."
Rivera said the National Guard's presence contributes to the city's feeling of safety and has also contributed to an economic boom.
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The city said the last thing it wants is for one or both of its two legal border crossings to close. According to Rivera, the legal border-crossing economy accounts for about 50% of the city's yearly revenue.
"When the bridges close, it means we're headed for a disaster," he said. "We really want the federal government to keep them open."
Rivera said that when they were forced to close one bridge, the wait time to get across the border was about 12 hours.
On Tuesday, sister station KETV rode with the Nebraska National Guard to get a first-hand look at their operations during their 90-day deployment to the U.S.-Mexico border.
