Barry Smitherman New TV ad about Securing the Texas/Mexico Border

from Texas GOP Vote:

As the run-up to early voting, which starts in just over two weeks, Texas Attorney General candidate, Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman, is taking his message to the voters with a new television ad which launched this morning.

“My first ad focuses on border security and prosecution of crime along the border because that will be one of my top priorities as the next Attorney General,” said Barry Smitherman.

“Too many Texas landowners, farmers, ranchers and south Texas families," Smitherman continued, "are being subjected to trespass, vandalism, violence and mayhem. We have got to restore law and order, keep people safe, protect their property and stop heinous crimes like drug, sex and human trafficking where it starts: on our border with Mexico."

"Stopping crime along the border before it migrates throughout the rest of the state is critically important. As the only former prosecutor in the race and the only candidate that has effectively run large state agencies like the Office of the Attorney General, I am uniquely qualified to lead the effort to stop crime along the border,” concluded Smitherman.

From the very beginning of his campaign, Smitherman has not only made border security and illegal immigration top priorities, but he has also detailed out specific plans on how to assist border sheriffs and prosecutors to increase enforcement as stated in two prior interviews done with TexasGOPVote. Interview 1 - Interview 2

- See more at: http://texasgopvote.com/issues/fix-immigration/barry-smitherman-campaign-takes-its-message-television-006338#sthash.2IfdLnhn.dpuf

Where the Border Wall Ends: South East Texas/Mexico Border Wide Open (Video)

from Breitbart.com by Brandon Darby:

Both Democrat and Republican leaders continue to espouse that the U.S. border with Mexico is secure, but I found the exact opposite to be true when I went to the border on assignment for Breitbart News. 

These videos expose the ease at which illegal crossings occur in the southeast Texas area known as the Valley, one of the most heavy areas for illegal crossing into the United States.
The first video I took revealed a gaping hole in the border fence that resulted from a massive gate never having been installed. The opening was slightly more than 100 yards from the Rio Grande, the river that separates the U.S. from Mexico in Texas. I walked to the river, then walked through the open gate into a U.S. neighborhood. I did not see any security or border patrols for 30-35 minutes.
Approximately one mile from this gaping hole, I found the end of the border fence. The end of the border fence sits between another U.S. neighborhood and the river. A "wildlife management area" extends less than a mile between the fence and the river.
Here is the exclusive video:

see the rest of the article and the videos here: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/08/06/Where-The-Border-Wall-Ends-South-East-Texas-Mexico-Border-Wide-Open-Unsecured-Video

Video: Breitbart News' Brandon Darby Exposes Unsecured Border

from Breitbart.com by Brandon Darby: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/07/28/Breitbart-News-Brandon-Darby-Exposes-Unsecured-Border-Video


Video: Breitbart News' Brandon Darby Exposes Unsecured Border

Breitbart News’ Brandon Darby walks viewers from the Rio Grande River into a U.S. neighborhood, revealing just how unsecured the U.S./Mexico border really is. Darby walks viewers through the unfinished “Border Fence,” which had no gate or security of any kind. The location was west of Penitas, Texas.



Darby, who is on assignment along the U.S./Mexico border investigating cartels and public corruption, stated by telephone:
"The southeastern stretch of the Rio Grande river is where most of Texas' illegal immigration occurs. The area has many desolate regions and there simply aren't enough resources being applied to the issue.
"Cartels and street gangs control the human smuggling. The region where I took the video is currently heavily disputed between the Mexican Gulf cartel and the Los Zetas cartel, which is actually an armed insurgency," said Darby.
"Transnational crime syndicates usually have a stash house just on the other side of the wall. People cross the river and go to these houses. Then they are taken up various highways and let out just before the known immigration check points. They walk miles and miles from that point to the next stash house."
Darby was referencing a 2012 report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in his assertions about human smuggling.
"Breitbart News has just begun to open the taps on the human stories and issues of public corruption occurring on our southern border. We will continue to surprise our readers and the American public with the information we are uncovering," said Darby.

Washington, D.C. gets Air Defense System that Obama Shut Down on U.S. Border

Breaking News: Obama has taken down a vital air defense system (TARS) from along the southern border of America, only to turn around and put the same Aerostat type of air defense system up around Washington, D.C..... Obama seems to be lowering protection on America’s borders while heightening protection of his fortress in Washington, D.C…..

Call your Congressman and Senators ask them not to let Obama stop protecting our Borders.

About a month ago I wrote an article that revealed Obama was Closing a vital Air Defense System on the Southern Border of the United States (click here to read article on Texas Conservative Republican News). The closing of the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) will leave America vulnerable to low flying aircraft with terrorists, weapons, human slave trafficking, even low flying missiles. This article drew a lot of attention and outrage, and someone has even started a We The People White House Petition asking Obama not to shut down TARS on the border.

These Aerostats on the southern border were used and controlled by the Air Force. Obama's budget cuts are forcing them to be shut down March 15th, 2013.

After I wrote the article, some liberals have tried to defend Obama shutting down TARS by saying that this Air Defense System was not that important, or only used for drugs, or not cost effective. Well then, if these Aerostats are not important, then why is the Obama JUST NOW launching them up around Washington, D.C.?

That is right. Obama removed this Air Defense System from along our vulnerable and dangerous southern border only to have the Army put the same type of Air Defense System up around Washington, D.C.

On February 1, 2013, Jim Wolf of News Daily wrote an article titled “Blimps to bolster Washington's air shield in test.” The article revealed the deployment of these Air Defense Aerostats around Washington, D.C.

The article goes into depth explaining how these aerostats will be very cost effective compared to the alternatives, they will give the military more time to react because the aerostats detect incoming threats better than ground radars, and they will protect Washington from attacks/infiltrations from planes or missiles.

The interesting thing is that these reasons why Obama is launching the aerostats around D.C. are all the reasons why I said these aerostats are needed to stay on the southern border of the United States. Obama’s cronies tried to debunk all these reasons why the aerostats are needed on the southern border, but now that Obama is launching these aerostats around D.C., the Obama cronies are using my very same reasons to defend the launching of the Aerostats around D.C.

One thing is clear, President Obama is weakening the defenses of America.

He has already drawn down the National Guard troops on the border and now he is removing a vital air defense system that will allow America to be attacked low flying aircraft or missiles undetected from Florida to California. Also, don’t forget that once the drug cartels and terrorists know about the closing of TARS on the southern border, they will be coming over the border in small planed with weapons, human sex slaves, drugs, and anything else that they want to bring into America without having to go through a border checkpoint.  

In other news, Military Leaders are warning the Department of Defense that Obama’s military budget cuts would create “hollow force” like in 1970’s. These military leaders are claiming that Army brigades won’t be ready to fight. Navy aircraft carriers won’t be deployed. The Air Force won’t be able to operate radar surveillance 24 hours a day. We are sending fighter jets to Egypt but it was recently revealed that America is no longer even giving hot meals to many soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. Obama is destroying America, crippling the military, and leaving our borders vulnerable to attack.


Below are some excerpts from Jim Wolf’s Article:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2013 (Reuters) — A pair of big, blimp-like craft, moored to the ground and flying as high as 10,000 feet, are to be added to a high-tech shield designed to protect the Washington D.C. area from air attack, at least for a while.

The bulbous, helium-filled "aerostats" - each more than three quarters the length of a football field at 243 feet - are to be stitched into existing defenses as part of an exercise of new technology ordered by the Defense Department.

The coming addition to the umbrella over Washington is known as Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, or JLENS. Raytheon Co is the prime contractor.

NORAD, a binational command, is responsible for defending air space over the United States and Canada, including the Washington area with its many pieces of important infrastructure.

Operating as high as 10,000 feet for up to 30 days at a time, JLENS is meant to give the military more time to detect and react to threats, including cruise missiles and manned and unmanned aircraft, compared with ground-based radar.

The system is also designed to defend against tactical ballistic missiles, large caliber rockets and moving vehicles that could be used for attacks, including boats, cars and trucks.

A success in the U.S. capital area could give a boost to the JLENS program, which has been scaled back sharply along with the Pentagon's other 15 or so lighter-than-air vehicle efforts.

Blimp-like craft offer several advantages compared with fixed-wing aircraft, including lower cost, larger payload capacity and extended time aloft. However, their funding is to fall sharply as Pentagon spending shrinks to help pare trillion-dollar-a-year U.S. deficits.

Peter Huessy, a consultant on nuclear deterrence and missile defense, said the system would compliment current U.S. missile-defense capabilities.

Obama Closing Air Defense System on U.S./Mexico Border: Texas & America Vulnerable to Attack from Low Altitude Missiles and Aircraft

updates:

Outrage Growing over Obama Cutting Homeland Security U.S. Border Air Defense System (TARS)

White House Petition Asks Obama Not to Shut Down TARS Air Defense System on Southern Border

Texas Conservative Republican News EXCLUSIVE

by David Bellow 1/18/2013

URGENT: Call your Congressman and Senators immediately and demand that the recent budget cuts do not affect the security of America’s borders. The Federal Government wastes billions of dollars on things they should not even be involved in, but securing our country’s borders is one of the jobs that the federal government is actually supposed to do!

Obama has always pushed massive cuts in the military as part of any budget cuts he will accept as part of any fiscal deals. Obama seems to be getting what he wants and it will leave AMERICA’s borders vulnerable to attacks and other infiltrations.

Air Force’s Air Defense Radar Systems along U.S./Mexico Border will SHUTDOWN on March 15^th, 2013

On January 17^th, 2013, Exelis Systems Corporation sent out an email (see email below) to all of its employees informing them that on March 15^th, 2013 all TARS Air Defense Mission Operations will permanently cease. These TARS Air Defense sites were under the control of the United States Air Force. On January 15^th, 2013, the Air Force informed Exelis (the defense contractor running the TARS sites) that the TARS sites will be shut down. Exelis tried to then negotiate with the Department of Homeland Security to see if they would take over the vital project, but it seems as though those negotiations have failed.

What does this mean?

This means the Southern Border of the United States of America will be more vulnerable to attack from low flying aircraft, low altitude missiles, and other infiltrations such as smuggling.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one Exelis employee had this to say about the announced closure of the TARS sites:

“Not only will this closure mean hundreds of people will be out of jobs, but it also means our borders will not be safe, especially along the remote U.S. Mexico Border like in Texas. These defense radars detect low flying aircraft infiltrating our borders. Without these defense radars, low flying aircraft will go undetected. It will be open season for any drug/gun/slave smugglers, terrorists flying in with nukes low altitude missiles, or even a full scale low elevation invasion/attack against America.”

According to the Air Force’s website, the Tethered Aerostat Radar System, or TARS, is an aerostat-borne, surveillance program. Using the aerostat as a stationary airborne platform for a surveillance radar, the system is capable of detecting low altitude aircraft at the radar's maximum range by mitigating curvature of the earth and terrain masking limitations. TARS provides a detection and monitoring capability along the United States-Mexico border, the Florida Straits, and a portion of the Caribbean in support of the Department of Defense Counterdrug Program.

The primary agencies using the TARS surveillance data include U.S. Northern Command in support of Customs and Border Protection (Air and Marine Operations Center and Caribbean Air and Marine Operations Center) and U.S. Southern Command in support of Joint Interagency Task Force-South. In addition to its counterdrug mission, TARS surveillance data also supports North American Aerospace Defense Command's air sovereignty mission for the continental United States.

Email Sent to all Exelis Employees January 17^th, 2013 Announcing Closure of TARS Air Defense Sites:

Subject: TARS Contract Update

Tuesday, 15 January 2013, we received a government request for a proposal (RfP) to de-scope and close the TARS program by the end of the fiscal year. The government indicated that it does not intend to exercise the final two option years for the TARS contract. In the RfP, the government also indicated its intent that aerostat flight operations will cease on March 15, 2013, and that the remainder of the fiscal year will be used to deflate aerostats, disposition equipment, and prepare sites for permanent closure. We are currently reviewing all the details of the RfP and evaluating the possible impacts on the program and our workforce. We continue to communicate with the government on this matter, and we will have more information in the coming days and weeks.

The TARS program provides a critical capability to the U.S. government and we should remain focused on providing that service in an uninterrupted and robust manner.

The best thing we can do right now is to continue to provide the outstanding TARS support that has become the Exelis hallmark, while allowing the company and the government time to continue discussions on how to best support the customer, the program, and our workforce.

We will provide regular updates as we know more. Should you have a specific question, please address them to Tim Green, Program Manager.

Tim Green, PMP

Program Manager

Tethered Aerostat Radar System

Exelis Systems Corporation

Texas/Mexico Border Residents: Violence, Kidnappings, Food Stamp Fraud & Drug Cartel/Politician/Sheriff Corruption

I spent the last few days down on the Texas/Mexico Border. One of my brothers got married to a Hispanic woman down here so we all came down for the wedding.

We had a great time down here and I got to talk to a bunch of new family members. Some of the small talk we had of course wandered into the topic of border violence and life on the border. I have written many articles about this topic because I am very worried about the situation down there. I always love hearing stories from people who actually live down there, especially Hispanics. People who do not live down there need to know these stories from people living there. For some reason the media has never really fully covered all of the violence and corruption that is happening right here in America because it has spilled over from Mexico.

I am of course not going to list any names or locations because, well, these people live down there and, as some of you know, drug cartel members like to kill people down there for small things like anti-drug cartel tweets. This is what the border residents who I talked to had to say:

Kidnappings are a Common Occurrence

Kidnappings happen on both sides of the border and they happen all the time. One man I talked to said that just a few months ago his grandmother's 3 brothers were kidnapped. His grandmother lost everything, even her ranch, trying to get them back. 2 of them were released back. One of them died.

Many Politicians and Sheriff/Law Enforcement Officers are Corrupt and Controlled by Drug Cartels

I know that there are some very good law enforcement officers down here risking their lives for what is right, but I was not surprised to hear that there was corruption down here among some of them. Drug Cartels pump their money into elections to elect people friendly to them. I was pretty surprised to hear how rampant this corruption is though. Apparently, just in the one Texas County I was in, 3 different people recently elected as Sheriff for this county have been arrested for all kind of things from drug smuggling and even murder. Their jail time was minimal and one even got only house arrest.

Also, one man I spoke to was a paralegal and he said it is not out of the ordinary for him to be in court and see the District Judge tell a cocaine dealer to just don't do it again.

Border Violence, Gun Battles, Thousands Murdered a Year

It is normal down there to wake up in the middle of the night because of explosions and Drug Cartel gun battles. These massive battles happen all the time right on the Mexican side of the border, and many of them even spill over the border resulting in bullets coming over here and law enforcement having to respond to push back the violence that has crossed over during a battle. Battles are not the only type of violence that has spilled over. There and numerous murders and drug cartel killings that happen right here on the American side because the Mexican cartels are continuing to expanding their business (even entire operations) to our side of the border.  These drug cartel leaders are even easy to spot. One woman I talked to said she saw a man get into his SUV at Target. He had a dozen men surrounding him as he got into his SUV and they saw when the SUV opened the back door that the SUV had been bullet proofed.

And of course there are the mass murders. Thousands of murders that are happening each year. Many are gruesome with people getting their heads cut off and their limbs torn off. More people have died in drug cartel mass murders in the last year than the total of soldiers who have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars over the last decade. It is a bloodbath down there and some cities cannot even have a Police Chief for more than a few days before he gets gunned down.

Illegal Immigrants Living Good off of American Tax Dollars via Programs like Food Stamps

One Hispanic woman told me that something needs to be done about all the free money that is going to illegal immigrants to pay for everything from food to healthcare. She said that all an illegal has to do is have a kid over here and then they automatically get free money from us. She said that it really bothers her when she sees people who she knows to be an illegal immigrant living the good life off of food stamps. She works hard but cannot afford to buy expensive food. Her kids will be in line at the grocery store and they will see illegal immigrants who are well fed with large baskets of expensive food items like steaks. Her kids will ask her why they cannot eat food like that. The people with the expensive food will then pull out a lone star card and pay for the food using our tax money. She says that people getting fed by the government should only be allowed to get basic foods and if they want the good food then they need to get a job to pay for the good stuff.

More Food Stamp Fraud - Buying Booze and Feeding Pets

This woman went on to tell me of all the different times she has seen illegal immigrants commit food stamp fraud. One man at the grocery store tried to buy dog food with food stamps. The cashier told him that he could not get dog food with a star card. The man got angry and did not believe it. He then told his son to just go get some fajita steak meat that they would cook and feed the dog with. Then there was another man who was having a party. He wanted to get booze for the party so he got someone in the store who was buying expensive food and he paid for their food with his lone star card and in return the other people used their cash to buy him the beer.

Hispanic Americans want the Border to be Secured and a Crack Down on Illegal Immigration that is Draining our System and Money. Some Suggested a type of Guest Worker Program.

One person who I talked to said that about 11 years ago they knew of Mexicans who were cleared as non criminals and were put on buses every day and brought into America to work then went back home at night. They did not try to sneak over here live here or try to drain free money from the government. They just came and worked and went back to Mexico. This person I talked to suggested that there would be much less of a problem with illegal immigrants coming over here and draining our system if we secured the border and then gave the Mexicans who just want to work the ability to live in Mexico and just cross the border legally to come work in a legal, tax-paying capacity and then the go back home to Mexico every night. She said that many of the illegal immigrants here now would go back to Mexico with their family if they were allowed to just come over every day to work and go back home at night. The Hispanics down here that I talked to are against Amnesty from what I could tell, but they do believe that something needs to be done to allow people to come here and work because they say that it would really help with the illegal immigration problem with the people who just want to work. They of course were against anyone becoming citizens without going through the process like they did. They were also of course in favor of securing the border to keep the bad guys from coming over. They did not want free handouts given to people and in fact it ticks them off when they work hard to provide a living and then see illegal immigrants get free stuff. They did not want any Americans, like them, to be put out either so they would want jobs to first be offered to Americans. They did say though that would like to see some kind of guest worker program implemented and the government to crack down on the drug cartel violence and corruption.

Greg Abbott Tells Obama to PROTECT US NOW after Texas Officer Shot by Mexican Drug Cartel on Border

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sent a letter to President Obama on November 2^nd, 2011. The letter had a clear message. I TOLD YOU SO!

Greg Abbott has been pleading for the Obama Administration to take action to protect the Texas Border from these violent Drug Cartels. The Drug Cartels have killed tens of thousands of innocent victims and now the Drug Cartel violence is spilling onto the American side. Earlier this year I posted a video of a battle that happened on the border across from Roma, TX. The explosions and gunfire were easily seen and heard from the Texas side. I have also written articles detailing shootouts between the Drug Cartels and Texas Law enforcement and also about how Texas children are being recruited and killed by Mexican drug cartels.

Greg Abbott warned President Obama that soon these Drug Cartel bullets eventually harm Americans on the Texas side of the Border.

Sure enough, Greg Abbott was right.

A Texas Deputy was shot 3 times in a shootout last weekend.

Following this recent incident, Greg Abbott sent a letter to President Obama pleading for him to take action to protect Americans by protecting the Border. He used this recent incident as his example.

Below is the Letter that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sent to President Obama on November 2^nd, 2011:

Dear Mr. President,

Over a year ago, I wrote to you warning of the increasing threat of cartel-related violence spilling across our border with Mexico. At the time, gunfire from cartels in Juarez had crossed over the border into El Paso. Fortunately for El Pasoans, those bullets struck only buildings, rather than bodies. But as I warned back then, we cannot simply rely on good fortune to protect American lives from the ever-present threat of cartel violence on our southern border.

Since the incident in El Paso, the threat from the cartels has only grown—and now the bullets have struck Americans. Just last weekend, in a deadly shootout with cartel operatives, a deputy sheriff in Hidalgo County, Texas, was shot three times. Thankfully the officer survived, but the Hidalgo County Sheriff confirmed that the shooting spilled over from ongoing drug wars involving the Gulf Cartel in Mexico.

Unfortunately, last week’s gun battle in Hidalgo County was not an isolated incident. In January of this year, highway workers repairing a road near a known drug-smuggling route were fired upon from the southern side of the border near Fort Hancock, Texas. In June, Texas law enforcement officers near Abram, Texas, exchanged fire with drug smugglers who attacked them from across the border. In May, U.S. Border Patrol agents near Mission, Texas, also came under fire under similar circumstances. And in September, one man was killed when cartel operatives exchanged gunfire between vehicles driving down a highway in McAllen, Texas.

Within just the last two weeks, three high-level cartel leaders have been arrested inside the United States. Reports indicate they were hiding in Texas in an attempt to avoid violence in Mexico. But the violence is already starting to follow these criminals to the United States, as the increasing cartel activity in South Texas demonstrates. Their presence in our country is more evidence that the cartels increasingly view the porous border as no more than a line on a map. And if your Administration continues to fail to secure the border against this threat, it is only a matter of time before American lives are lost.

I implore you to aggressively confront this escalating threat. The safety and security of the Americans you have pledged to defend is at risk because of the cartel battles spilling across our border. To protect American lives, your administration must immediately dedicate more manpower to border security—especially along the 1,254 mile Texas border, which remains unacceptably porous. Texas and its law enforcement personnel at the state, county and local levels remain committed to working with your Administration to maintain the highest level of public safety. We ask that you collaborate with us to accomplish that goal before more American blood is lost.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Greg Abbott

Attorney General of Texas