Texas sheriffs and some residents have a message for a trucker convoy scheduled to come to the Texas border on Feb. 3: “Don’t come.”
Organizer of the “Take Our Border Back Southern Border Convoy & 3-state Rally” are calling on “all active and retired law enforcement and military, veterans, mama bears, elected officials, business owners, ranchers, truckers, bikers, media and law abiding, freedom-loving Americans” to travel to rural, hard-to -reach areas near Eagle Pass, Texas, Yuma, Arizona, and San Ysirdo, California.
The convoy is expected to follow a route from Virginia Beach, south through Jacksonville, Florida, and west along I-10 to Houston, south on highway 35 from San Antonio, which Texas sheriffs note are major human and drug smuggling corridors and criminals could capitalize on their efforts.
The group’s stated objective is to “assemble in honor of our U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights,” to express support to secure the southern border. Its Go Fund Me page has raised more than $130,000, none of which goes to state or federal border security efforts. Social media posts indicate some joining the convoy will be armed.
In response, Goliad Sheriff Roy Boyd, who leads an Operation Lone Star Task Force along a major smuggling corridor, is urging the convoy not to come to Texas.
“If the desire of protests like the convoy are to make an impactful difference, there are better ways to do so,” Boyd told The Center Square. “Unfortunately, driving to a border town is not the best way to make an impact. If a group wants to bring attention for the mainstream media to report on the protest, the convoy would be better off showing up on the streets of New York City or Washington, D.C.”
The convoy will impede law enforcement efforts that have been targeting 18-wheeler and other truck drivers smuggling people from the border, he and others, say.
“Increased traffic, especially commercial vehicle traffic, works to the benefit of smuggling organizations by providing them with more opportunities to blend in while reducing the likelihood of loads being stopped,” Boyd said.
The OLS Task Force first shared with The Center Square how cartel operatives are advertising online, paying drivers $70,000 to smuggle more than 80 people per truck load from the border, and how they’re actively working to catch them.
OLS Task Force Jackson County Sheriff Kelly Janica told The Center Square: “We appreciate anyone supporting securing the border, but please don’t come here. It will make our job harder.”
