With all the talk in Washington about how best to secure our southern border, agents in the Rio Grande Valley are preparing to blow up a makeshift tunnel found along the riverbank near Hidalgo.
Othal Brand, Jr. is with the Hidalgo County Water Improvement District 3. Customs and Border Protection agents called him last week to come take a look at their discovery.
“The tunnel is only, according to the other people there, it was only about 60 feet deep,” says Brand. “It didn't end anywhere, it was still in the process of being dug.”
The tunnel likely belongs to drug or human traffickers, which Brand says highlights the need for some sort of barrier.
“There's nothing that's going to stop everything or everybody,” he says. “But in our area I think it would prove the point that a wall certainly has an impact. It's not the sole solution, but it is a component to the solution.”
Brand says its time decision-makers in Washington come see first-hand what is needed, or not needed along the Mexico border.
“If they want to find out what's going on they need to come down here to talk to people who work and live on the Rio Grande,” he says. “I don't want to hear from people 2,000 miles away about it being safe, they don't have a clue.”