Picture from Zavala County Sheriff’s Office Facebook Page

Article by Michael Robinson

The Uvalde Hesperian spoke with two Zavala county residents about the realities of living in an area where high speed pursuits and bailouts are a daily occurrence. Due to the nature of the subject matter, the two residents wish to remain anonymous and will be referred to with pseudonyms: Both will be referred to as she. Both residents live on properties near Highway 83 not far from Crystal City and Carrizo Springs.

Each day, Martinez listens to police scanner channels covering Uvalde, Zavala, Kenney and Frio Counties on a smartphone app. Martinez also posts reports of illegal aliens referred to as IA’s are a daily occurrence and happen many times a day at all hours. Yesterday, she posted reports of bailouts and high speed police chases on her personal Facebook page. “Eastbound 140 high speed chase…LE losing it,” Martinez posted. In another post, she wrote, “120 mile an hour high speed chase about to hit 35.”

Because many of the bailouts happen close to their properties, Martinez sometimes says they have what is known as “bail-gate parties”  where residents sit outside of their homes watching the law enforcement pursuits and bailouts of IA’s near their residences.

Martinez and her husband goats and many of the fleeing migrants crash into the fences which makes it hard to keep the goats from escaping. When asked how often she and her husband have to repair the fences, she said it is a weekly occurrence and happens so often, fencing materials need to be kept on hand. “There is no time to drive to Uvalde to pick up fencing materials when the fences and gates are damaged.” she said. Martinez went on to say that the broken fences have to be repaired quickly as the goats can get out.

Both Smith and Martinez say they when going outside, it is important to always stay armed as IA’s have been found on the properties before. Sometimes, Smith said migrants will knock on the door looking for food and water. That said, many are looking for outlets to charge their cell phones. For example, when a couple of migrants came to the door asking to charge their phones, Smith told them. “Sorry, I can’t help you.” A few hours later it was discovered the migrants went onto the property and found an electrical outlet in a nearby shed.

                                                                                                                                                          Constant Vigilance

Smith and Martinez say the migrant activity has brought them and other neighbors together creating an unofficial neighborhood watch. Smith said they each look after each other letting them know of potential incidents and threats. Both say it is not advisable to go out on property at night as it can be unsafe.

While driving and at home, the police scanner is always on. According to Smith, when one listens to the chatter, one learns how to interpret the 10 codes and pick up on the terminology used by law enforcement or LE. “When driving to and from home, I can tell by the way the vehicles are driving that they are local or possibly smugglers,” Smith said.

She went onto say one has to always be on the lookout for vehicles fleeing LE. Even when getting out of the truck in the carport near the house, family members are always checking on each other. Smith said recruitment ads for human smugglers are placed on Craigslist and other sites on the internet and depending on the distance of the drive, the pay offered is high.. Many of the smugglers who are caught often carry large amounts of cash. Migrants also carry other items as well referring to narcotics like Fentanyl.

At 3:45 PM today in Knippa, a citizen reported seeing numerous numbers of police vehicles on Highway 9o and possibly on FM 1049 near the post office. According to the citizen, heavy presence of various police vehicles made it difficult to cross at the two railroad crossings resulting in traffic having to use the underpass under the railroad bridge on the West Side of Knippa.

According to Sheriff Rubin Nolasco, law enforcement units were responding to a bailout.