MCALLEN, Texas – President-elect Donald Trump will officially take charge in a week. Many are waiting to see if he’ll keep his promise to secure the border by building a wall. A KSAT crew traveled to the Rio Grande Valley to hear what those charged with defending the border still see as big challenges there.
While undocumented families and unaccompanied minors are have swept the headlines, and a constant flow of drugs is what is usually expected, Border Patrol RGV Sector Chief Manuel Padilla said geography may be his biggest challenge.
“If we can look at this area being flat and having that very brushy growth is very difficult to detect traffic, it's even more difficult to react to that traffic," Padilla said.
Padilla has served the Border Patrol for 30 years. This is his first year in the Rio Grande Valley sector. His focus is improving response times, adding all-weather roads and stopping criminals.
“The traffic that is actually trying to evade us, the narcotics traffic, the human smugglers, the people that are using the stash houses, that is the traffic that we focus on," Padilla said.
To secure the border, Padilla believes he’ll need infrastructure, technology and boots on the ground. He also said that a border wall may not be a bad idea.
“I can tell you, having worked this border from California all the way down here, the wall or the fence absolutely works,” Padilla said.
As security tightens, so do the risks for those involved.
"Some of the things that we're seeing at a higher pace now is the assaults on Border Patrol agents, and that is almost an expectation. As you get better at securing the border, the assaults or the frustration builds with the criminal organizations,” Padilla said.