Having spent the better part of a week along Maine’s 611-mile Northern Border, connecting with law enforcement near crossings, my essential readout is that deterrence matters, law enforcement needs our support, officers seldom complain, but without their courage and commitment, we would be overrun.
While my own lineage is only part Irish, they have a saying: “You cannot bolt a door with a boiled carrot.” Luckily, Maine’s northern border – largely forested and open – is harder to cross than the southern border, but we need to bolt it tight.
Maine has 24 border crossings, and illegal aliens and traffickers are a constant threat. Consider examples of what Maine faces – and could soon face in spades.
Near Rangley’s crossing, where I spoke with officers last week, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) is active, even if the crossing seems quiet. Taken as a whole, the Houlton Sector – which encompasses all of Maine – apprehended 113 aliens in April from 16 countries.
They then caught another 39 illegals in May, many with criminal records – from Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and China, sweeps Rangely to Madawaska, down to Augusta.
One illegal arrested in Rangely was MS-13, an El Salvadoran gang that President Trump designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization, wanted by Interpol for aggravated murder. Recent meth and cocaine takedowns also occurred in Rangely.
Over in Jackman, the border was similarly quiet, but quiet can be deceiving. A Colombian and 13 Romanians – all illegals – were arrested by Jackman CBP agents in Skowhegan last month, part of a wider theft ring.
Inexplicably, as law enforcement protects Maine, risks rise. Not only are police undermanned, but heated anti-law enforcement rhetoric is creating its own risks. Late August, federal, state, and local law enforcement were escorting illegal aliens in Knox County, when a US citizen took it on herself to try to run them over.
Absurd, terroristic, but true. A DHS spokesman noted: “These incidents come after months of smears and rhetoric by activists, politicians, and the media comparing … law enforcement to the Nazi Gestapo, kidnappers, and Secret Police. This shameful rhetoric has fueled a culture of hate against law enforcement, resulting in a 1,000 percent increase in assaults against them.”
In pointed reference to Maine, the spokesman said: “All sanctuary politicians, activists, and the media need to turn down their rhetoric.” Note that the Democrats passed a bill making Maine a Sanctuary State, which prohibits cooperation with federal officers.
On another day, in Houlton itself, speaking with state police and federal agents, several realities popped. First, in nine months ending July, the Houlton sector – entire northern Maine border – made 557 arrests, including dangerous Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members, those on the terror watch list, including those from Egypt.
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MAINE’S NORTHERN BORDERRead More »
