Tensions are running high in Texas along the U.S. and Mexico border. In the absence of a federal response to the situation, armed militia groups have moved in to prevent unaccompanied children from Central American from entering the U.S.
Dubbed operation “Secure Our Border,” the “Patriot” militia group is reported to currently have members already in Texas, but the group is also urging more people come down to join the cause. Many believe militia groups have become bolder since the federal government backed down during a standoff with militia forces at the ranch of Cliven Bundy, in Nevada, over a cattle grazing dispute. According to Denise Freeman, a spokeswoman for the Patriots, the group is calling for both armed and unarmed civilian militia members to help protect private property in Texas where landowners feel threatened by the Mexican drug cartels and Salvadoran-based MS-13 gangs, considered extremely dangerous by U.S. law enforcement.
According to organizers, the militia group members weren’t meant to use violence, saying the state of affairs at the border is not a “go-in-guns-blazing” situation. However, another report stated that militia members were being told to threaten the immigrants with their weapons and, according to a deleted YouTube video, one activist told some illegal immigrants, “Get back across the border or you will be shot.”
Some fear violence could erupt if non-English speaking immigrants fail to understand the militia member’s directive and Hidalgo County Texas Sheriff Eddie Guerra isn’t thrilled with the militia group’s activity.