Operation: Rio Grande and Operation: Big Hassle? You are driving along with a group of friends in your car. You and your friends are talking and laughing having a good time, suddenly as you look in your rear view mirror you see that a sport utility vehicle is following your car. As your imagination begins to grow you begin to try and lose this stalker, as you are making your break; you see the flashing lights and begin to hear sirens. No, you are not in a disco dance club; you have just become another victim of, Operation Rio Grande. In the Valley, people have gotten away with car jacking, theft, and fraud, way more than illegal immigrants crossing the border have. In some personal experiences I feel that the actions taken to stop illegal aliens from entering the United States are a bit much. Money spent on Operation Rio Grande could be used for other programs, such as making classes for U.S. citizenship. Instead of spending money on illegal immigrants we could make them U.S. citizens and have them contribute to society by the American nightmare, taxes. Money could go to other programs as well, such as improving roads, hiring another judge, improving out police department. A witness at a murder scene seems to not get asked as much questions as a possible illegal alien.But despite all of the complaints about Operation Rio Grande, you cannot argue with success. From 1996 to 1998, in Kingsville, illegal immigration has gone down 26 percent, and continues to drop. Highway 77, leading from Brownsville all the way to Corpus Christi are the hot zones for alien smugglers, once they get north of the checkpoints they are home free. But, since the increase of border patrol units along U.S. Highway 77 and in Brownsville, many immigrants have started shifting west to travel north on U.S. Highway 281 towards Falfurrias. Joe Garza Chief of Border Patrol in McAllen, claim that apprehensions have increased after shifting towards Falfurrias...
