JUDGE: Let’s keep an eye out for each other

In the last few weeks Milam County, like most counties in Texas, has seen an uptick in various incidents that are very disconcerting and quite frankly have to be addressed. With the federal government’s complete lack of control at the southern, and now the northern border as well, we have seen record breaking numbers of illegal aliens pouring into the country in each of the last three years. As a result, we are also experiencing a rise in illegal-alien-related crime that has kept our law enforcement and emergency managements agencies on a constant state of alert. It’s a heightened stage of alert that we should all be aware of.

I am not looking to panic anyone, that’s not the purpose of this article today. But it is important that we all be doing our utmost to be aware of any dangers and to stay safe. 

Last July, the Milam County Commissioners’ Court approved a Disaster Declaration on the Border Crisis aligning ourselves with the 53 other Texas counties who did the same. While the Milam County disaster declaration was mainly to help our law enforcement and give the state the impetus to send us more support, we also listed other items that caused an increased need to help our law enforcement personnel here in the county.

Rising numbers of illegal aliens were, and still are, a serious issue we addressed in our declaration. When the Commissioners’ Court Declared this emergency, there had only been approximately 5.5 million illegal aliens allowed into the country since January of 2021. 

Today, not even a full year later, that number stands around 8 million and is rising. Last year also set an all-time high of over 43,000 illegal aliens deemed inadmissible by the federal government. But with a lack of facilities to hold these individuals, and without any leadership from the leader of the Department of Homeland Security nor the White House, those illegal aliens who were deemed inadmissible, were ultimately released into the interior of the country. Possibly even here in Milam County.

Our disaster declaration specifically addressed the lack of control at the border that constitutes an invasion as per Article IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution and as found in Article 4, Section 7 of the Texas Constitution. We also made this declaration based on the increased numbers of drug trafficking and human trafficking which comes from a lack of control that was greatly caused by the removal of effective Presidential Executive Orders that were rescinded by President Biden. 

Recently, it seems that not a day has gone by without an Amber Alert of some sort and on somedays there are multiple Amber Alerts. In the last few weeks there were several suspicious incidents right here in Milam County that has local law enforcement and school officials on high alert. 

As community members, residents, neighbors, and most importantly as parents, we should all likewise be in a state of alert. As a child, I remember the programs at schools, the talks with our parents, and the public service announcements in the media talking about “stranger danger” or the “just say no” campaigns.

Now is the time to bring some of that back and make sure that our kids, our loved ones, our communities and our county are safe as a whole. It’s up to us all to keep an eye out for each other and help each other out.