Statement of Tobin Armstrong
before the
House Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims
June 10, 1999
My name is Tobin Armstrong. My residence is at Armstrong, Texas, in the center of Kenedy County. There are 460 people in Kenedy County-3 people per square mile. It is 60 miles north of Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico and has no cultivated land. It is all native pastureland and has a thick cover of thorn trees and live oak trees. I have lived in Kenedy County all my life, have served as a county official since 1948, and am presently County Commissioner for my precinct. I am the managing partner of the Armstrong Ranch, which is a family partnership involving 49,300 acres and 2500 cattle units.
Since about 1993 my home county has experienced an escalation in traffic of illegal aliens resulting in increasing:
1) destruction of property
2) burglary
3) auto and equipment theft
4) death by starvation, exposure, disease, auto and train accidents and murder
5) illegal alien smuggling
6) narcotics trafficking
7) forage contamination
8) massive littering of our pastures
9) and most distressing of all, the introduction of diseases uncommon in the U.S.
Health authorities say there is no way to prevent illegal immigrants' bringing in these disease. In October 19998 two women, a mother and daughter from El Salvador, were discovered in our pasture by the Border Patrol. Both had malaria and were at death's door. They were treated in the Spohn Memorial Hospital for 10 days and released at a cost to the hospital of over $39,000. The mosquito that carries malaria is found as far north as Corpus Christi, Texas, 150 miles north of the Mexican border.
Mary Lee Grant, well regarded reporter for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, and her co-worker contracted T.B. while doing investigative reporting on the conditions in the colonias in Nueces County. She conservatively estimates that, based on numerous interviews conducted, 70% of the people in the colonias are illegal aliens, which leads us to strongly suspect that the sharp increase in T.B. in South Texas is due to the influx of these illegal transients.
Other diseases being brought in to the U.S. by illegal immigrants include encephalitis, cholera, rheumatic fever, salmonella, intestinal parasites, smallpox, measles, HIV and V.D.s.
The threat of the introduction of foot and mouth and other devastating livestock diseases is staggering. The toll on the illegals themselves is appalling.
We have found 5 bodies in the county since January 1 and have been averaging 20 per year for the past 4 or 5 years. Who knows how many bodies will never be found in these remote pastures?
Last year 6 illegals were run over and killed while sleeping on the rails adjacent to our pasture.
In March, 12 illegal aliens were severely injured, one of them permanently paralyzed, when the Suburban they were being smuggled in turned over and crashed through our ranch fence. Local hospitals and taxpayers must pay these bills.
In April 1999, 123 illegals were found locked in a semi-trailer truck at the Sarita Immigration Checkpoint 6 miles north of my home. The driver of the truck was carrying $25,000 in cash.
Thirty illegals were found in a truck the week before. This has become a common occurrence along our frontiers.
About 2000 illegals per month are apprehended in the Sarita Checkpoint. 1,555,776 were apprehended in the district in fiscal year ending October 31, 1998.
It is common opinion that this is but a fraction of the numbers that are getting through.
Smuggling organizations are increasingly large, well financed and well connected with sharp scouts, decoys, guides and hi-tech communications. Smuggling has become big business.
Some bus drivers are able to pick up illegals, pocket the fares, and issue no tickets.
Make no mistake about it: the word is out that if you can get to the U.S. interior you are home free. That is why illegals will continue to come in increasing numbers. The situation is getting worse, not better. Interdiction hasn't significantly deterred illegal entry-it just redirects it.