Border Resident: Nancy Pelosi Should Visit My Ranch
BROOKS COUNTY (KRLD) -- "I've had a 7-year-old little girl from El Salvador with her mother come to my front door just in dire need, lost, needing help," says Linda Vickers, who owns a Ranch in Brooks County.
"They wanted to get a ride to Houston; they didn't want me to call border control. This ranchland is ruthless. It's deep sand; it's hot; it's humid; it literally sucks the life out of a person."
Vickers says even though her ranch is about 60 miles north of the border, bands of illegal immigrants are still crossing onto her land by circumventing border patrol check points.
"I have a set of dogs here that are a deterrent and they tend to put some of these people in trees. I've even had an MS-13 gang member in a tree up here in front," says Vickers.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to travel to South Texas on Saturday to meet with immigrant children at a detention facility and be briefed about the ongoing humanitarian crisis along the Texas-Mexico border.
Vickers wishes Pelosi or a member of her staff would come to her ranch to see first hand what everyday Texans are going through.
"I'd have to ask my husband if he'd have Nancy Pelosi on the property first," says Vickers, who's also a member of Texas Border Volunteers. "No. We'd have her here."
(Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Vickers goes onto speak about the things Pelosi might see.
"On one hand, I have women and children and young people in distress -- and then on the other hand, I've had a criminal element of gang members," says Vickers. "Young men that have had multiple deportations and do not want to get caught. I've heard them tell border patrol as they're loading them into their vehicle 'That's okay, Obama's gonna let me go.'"
Congressman Henry Cuellar (R-Laredo) says he spoke with Pelosi about her impending visit.
"We talked about it. She's coming to Brownsville and I welcome her down to South Texas. It's important for everybody to come down and see exactly what's happening. South Texas has now garnered not only national but international news because we also have the first lady of Honduras visiting with members of her husband's cabinet."
In a statement released Thursday Pelosi stated, "The humanitarian crisis unfolding across our nation's southern border demands Congress come together and find thoughtful, compassionate and bipartisan solutions."
Pelosi went onto say. "We must ensure our laws are fully enforced, so that due process is provided to unaccompanied children and the safety and well-being of unaccompanied children is protected. We must also work to address the root causes of the problem."
Pelosi will be joined by Democratic Reps. Filemon Vela of Texas, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee; Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Rubén E. Hinojosa of Texas and Steven Horsford of Nevada.
You can follow Joe Gomez on Twitter at @JoeGomezKRLD.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Latest News:
Top Trending:
- PHOTOS: Your Pet Pictures