He Was One Tough Texas Ranger, The Case Of Clay Tippet, and How to Take Care of Illegal Immigration
He Was One Tough Texas Ranger, The Case Of Clay Tippet, and How to Take Care of Illegal Immigration
By SOF’s Dr. Martin Brass, aka Vann Spencer
In 2007, we ran a series on the “Virtual” Fence, on the Mexico/United States border. WE spoke to two Texans, former Border Patrol Chief William Carter and 30 year Texas Ranger veteran Joaquin Jackson. Joaquin Jackson was tall, lean and mean and as tough as nails but a straight shooter. He worked tirelessly to do his sworn job. 2016 he died after a bout with cancer. Here is one of the excerpts from SOF archives from articles we wrote based on Chief Carter and Ranger Jackson’s take on illegal immigration, drug and people smuggling and violence along the U.S. Mexico border.
2007 May, the Bush Administration ordered 6000 National Guard troops to back up the undermanned Border patrol fighting the immigration war zone along the southern border.
The troops came from all around the country to fly surveillance aircraft, build fences and monitor the borders. They could not apprehend the illegals that they spot, but they gave the heads up to any Border Patrol agent in the vicinity of the sightings. The M16s the National Guard troops carried were only for self defense against armed bandits and drug and people smugglers. Since the stakes are high for traffickers, the thugs were charging more for smuggling laborers and preparing for violent encounters with the Border Patrol agents.
Both Chief Carter and Ranger Jackson gave thumbs up to the deployment of the National Guard.
“When I left the Border Patrol in 2002,” Chief Carter said, “We had over 9000 agents and by 9-11 probably 11,000. Even with the addition of 6000 more agents since 9-11, to make a total of 17000, the Border Patrol is still undermanned.”
“The biggest mistake made was authorizing Homeland Security to take over customs and Border Patrol,’ Ranger Jackson said. “The Border Patrol needs to be given back more security control. Those politicians sitting in Washington cant provide security from up there.”
“Homeland Security was a knee jerk reaction, “ Chief Carter said “if you had given to CBP the resources and given these agencies that money, they would have been better off.
“If they had done that, Border Patrol might be up to 15,000 agents already,” Ranger Jackson said.
“I talk to those agents all the time,” Jackson continued. “Now they have special orders from Immigration and Custom Enforcement. The plainclothesmen and anti smuggling agents are now under the control of Customs not Border Patrol. The plainclothesmen should be back and Border Patrol aircraft should be under Border Patrol control.”
“Take the case of Clay Tippet who captured a whole truckload of dope in a helicopter while on a loudspeaker,” he said. “The Border Patrol was there when the druggies hit the ground. When I was in the Rangers, our best support and for me personally was the Border Patrol. If we had a crime scene, they would seal that crime scene off, help you track and help you capture.
“Jackson took on the responsibility of tracking down the murders of two Americans in the Bend’s Colorado Canyon in 1988. All clues led to Mexican Nationals as the murderers of the Americans they didn’t even know.
“If not for the Border Patrol, I would have never cracked that case,” he recalled.
“Those of us who spent the day on the river went to work on the crime scene, piercing the event together to see if it made sense. There was a swarm of good officers working the scene but I found myself leaning most on Border Patrol agent Wayne Weimers, who, among other talents had developed an extensive intelligence network in Mexico. Then there was ex DPS narcotics officer turned U.S. Customs agent Bill Fort, who knew how to make sense of the formidable federal resources, including snitch money to spread around if it came to that.
“I asked Chief Ruston if we could set up a roadblock and block it off on both sides of the U.S. and Mexican border for 10 days to try to track the murderous dope smugglers. On the 8th day of the blockade, three anonymous informers phoned the Border Patrol, naming the four murderous Mexican sons of bitches and telling us where we might find one suspect who crossed each night.
The rangers and Border Patrol flew a helo over the suspect houses 10 days after the shootings and snatched the killers.
We asked Ranger Jackson if we could secure the border.
“Not without help from Mexico,” he said. He blamed the “all talk and no action” political approach for much of the illegal immigration problem.
“The U.S. can put as may people as you want on that border, but you got to get tough. Bush says its impossible to pile up 12 million people and send them back, but you can surely make a dent,” Man of Action Ranger Jackson said.
“I don’t think you need to send them back, Chief Carter said. “They will attrit themselves when you control the border and back it up with interior enforcement and employer sanctions with teeth.
It is the employers who want cheap labor the Chief said. “If you pay a decent wage to individuals, you will get Americans to work. You got to pay to play.”
“Its about the green back. Over 568 billion a year is going from here to Mexico,” Ranger Jackson called the bottom line.
“Its going to take tough diplomacy. You are going to have to tell Mexico, ‘you are going to help us or we are going to cast you off’.
“The National Guard is going to station right on the river. They are going to be the eyes and ears of the Border Patrol. But you are going to have to get some cooperation from Mexico.”
“You stop the illegal aliens and dope. You open a Swiss bank account for the most powerful SOB in Mexico. That may be the Generals. They control everything, but also get paid by the cartels. You got to pay that General more money than the cartels do. You need to put $25-30 million in a Swiss bank account, then tell them that for every illegal or doper, we are going to deduct from the account. Maybe $250000 for any load of dope. There would not be a piss ant taking drugs out. There would not be five, six seven illegals coming across. Those generals would take care of the cartels and everything else,” the tough old Texas cowboy said.
R.I.P. Ranger Jackson.