Major General Win Burkett surveyed the concertina wire and military vehicles neatly arrayed on the US side of the southern border where he is commanding 500 Texas National Guard troops deployed to defend the Texas frontier.
The camouflage-clad soldiers, toting automatic weapons, were deployed Tuesday morning, and spent two hours setting up a formidable half mile long military barricade along a stretch of border fence.
Burkett — a decorated army aviator — said one of his major concerns is any cartel influence taking advantage of the desperate migrants who are amassing at the southern border and attempting to smuggle them in.
“I’m concerned for the safety and welfare of the migrants but the cartels are not,” he told The Post standing on a ridge amid small piles of discarded and torn clothing, make-up, water bottles and even sneakers left behind by migrants who tried to scale the 30 foot border fence next to the Rio Grande.
“They are exploiting this migrant surge so that they can have unimpeded access to the border,” he said. “Our message to the migrants is that this is not safe. There have been drownings every day of people crossing the river at Eagle Pass where the water is deep, and there is a high risk of hypothermia as the temperature drops.”
Major Genera Ronald Win Burkett said one of his major concerns is any cartel influence taking advantage of the desperate migrants who are amassing at the southern border.
Burkett also said his troops are also working to help bust drug rings, adding: “Our patrols are involved weekly in assisting Texas Department of Public Safety with the seizure of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine.”
The National Guard were sent after migrants overwhelmed El Paso and the mayor declared a State of Emergency, triggering state and federal support. The city has become the busiest border crossing in the nation, with some 53,000 people attempting to cross from Mexico into the US in October alone.
“We will be here for as long as the governor sees our value in helping to deter the migrant surge,” Burkett, 57, said adding there are plans for even more National Guard troops to be deployed in the near future.
Burkett also said his troops are also working to help bust drug rings, adding: “Our patrols are involved weekly in assisting Texas Department of Public Safety with the seizure of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine.”
The National Guard were sent after migrants overwhelmed El Paso and the mayor declared a State of Emergency, triggering state and federal support. The city has become the busiest border crossing in the nation, with some 53,000 people attempting to cross from Mexico into the US in October alone.
“We will be here for as long as the governor sees our value in helping to deter the migrant surge,” Burkett, 57, said adding there are plans for even more National Guard troops to be deployed in the near future.
RELATED: With border bursting at the seams, woman goes into labor as armed National Guard faces off with migrants
A pregnant woman went into labor at the Texas border as heavily armed National Guard troops faced off with tens of thousands of desperate migrants forced to wait longer than expected to flood into the US.
The mom-to-be was among huge crowds — including young kids — gathered on the banks of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, where armored vehicles and endless stretches of barbed wire also kept them from attempting to cross from Mexico, with many destined for New York.
They were expecting to be allowed in first thing Wednesday at the lifting of Title 42 restrictions — until an unexpected, last-minute order was issued to temporarily keep it in place.
The unidentified pregnant migrant went into labor on the riverbank, where Border Patrol agents rushed to help, according to First Sgt. Suzanne Ringle, a spokesperson for the National Guard forces on patrol there. It was not immediately clear what happened to the woman and her baby.
RELATED: Migrants wait behind razor wire put up by National Guard and DPS along border
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By: Miss Cherry May Timbol – Independent Reporter
