In a harrowing statement that should wake up all Americans, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller detailed a nightmarish reality unfolding on our doorstep: a Texas rancher, Antonio Cespedes Saldierna, tragically killed by a cartel-planted IED near Brownsville. This is not a scene from a war-torn foreign land; this is happening right here on American soil, at the hands of brutal cartel terrorists. It’s a stark reminder of the anarchy seeping through our porous borders.
Miller’s urgent plea to our farmers and ranchers near the border is chilling and clear: exercise extreme caution. The violence creeping into the Texas agricultural heartlands is not just a threat to individual lives but an existential threat to the backbone of Texas—its agricultural community. The rising cartel violence underscores the need for vigilant awareness and proactive self-protection measures among those living and working on America’s frontline—the Southern border.
Cartels, emboldened and lawless, are no longer just drug peddlers; they are terrorists implanting bombs like those that took the lives of Saldierna and Horacio Lopez Pena, and critically injured Ninfa Griselda Ortega. Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham has rightly condemned these barbaric acts, echoing the collective outrage and call for decisive action.
It’s an outrage that this level of violence is proliferating under the noses of our federal government. The State Department’s highest-level travel warnings for areas just steps from our territory tell a story of abject failure in securing our national safety. The designations of notorious cartels like Tren de Aragua and Mara Salvatrucha as “foreign terrorist organizations” are steps in the right direction, yet much more is required.
President Donald Trump was prescient in his tough stance on cartels, treating them as the terrorist entities they are. This approach isn’t just about border security; it’s about national defense. Cartels are conducting operations that amount to acts of war against the American people. This is a battle not just for control of drug routes but for the sovereignty and safety of American lives and livelihoods.
The recent attack that claimed the lives of our fellow Americans should be a clarion call for a fortified and unyielding response. We need more than strong rhetoric; we need fortified borders, enhanced surveillance, and a no-tolerance policy for any entity threatening American soil. It’s high time we bring the full might of the U.S. to bear on these terror entities. Let’s not wait for more American blood to be spilled before we act decisively. We need to support and defend our people—ensuring such tragedies are never normalized but are eradicated with the resolve and strength that define the best of America.
