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As border security efforts continue, different cartels are battling each other and authorities for control of the South Texas border region. And Americans are getting caught in the crossfire. Just recently, just south of the Texas border, an American was killed by a cartel IED.
This is something that Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland says is affecting every single border sector, including his own. He said, "The border is certainly vulnerable, our U.S. Border Patrol agents are certainly vulnerable. We make sure that we put out the proper messaging for officer safety, and intelligence bulletins, we share that across the spectrum."
He said that violence from these cartels really isn’t anything new, but it’s gotten worse recently. According to Cleveland, "They definitely have escalated their attacks, utilizing IEDs, as well as drones. We’ve seen some recent footage of drones in cartel-on-cartel violence."
Cleveland also warned that as border security improves, and cartels are forced to fight each other for smaller and smaller pieces of territory, things could escalate. He said, "They’re going to be fighting over different areas to smuggle their products through, but also, they may start fighting the U.S. government, even more than what we’ve seen in the past."
He says this is why making sure the border is completely secure, and border agents are protected, should be a bipartisan effort.