Texas ranchers want Biden to control border, not pay for damages

 Washington Examiner:

Texas ranchers are rejecting an offer from the federal government to cover property damages resulting from illegal immigration and drug smuggling, fearing the aid will come with strings attached and won't help with the underlying problems at the border.

A Department of Agriculture initiative to pay landowners across the state for a wide array of losses they sustained due to a surge in trespassers traveling from the border north into Texas is being met with skepticism and calls for President Joe Biden to secure the border.

Under the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service began last week allowing farmers and ranchers to claim reimbursements for more than two dozen types of costs sustained, including fencing repairs, livestock fatalities, irrigation, and crop planting, through July 5. The service has not disclosed how much funding it will make available or how many people it expects to apply to the new program.

But at least some of the intended beneficiaries aren't buying in to the program.

“It looks good on paper. It looks good in the media,” said rancher John Paul Schuster. “But in reality, it's not servicing us right now.”
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The southern property line of John Paul Schuster and his wife Donna’s ranch is 25 miles north of the border, but their land has become a hot spot for illegal immigrants who have crossed the border and are trying to evade law enforcement by passing through the private ranches. The Schusters have made innumerable repairs to their fences, had animals escape or die, and lost long-term water supplies due to the nonstop trespasses.

Most importantly, Donna Schuster said, they have lost their peace of mind over the past 14 months that they said the border fell out of control. The Del Rio area in January saw more illegal immigrants stopped by law enforcement than any other section of the border, a first in the Border Patrol's 98 years. While families often surrender to Border Patrol, many adults try to avoid getting caught by escaping across private property.

Nearly all trespassers are men, and some are dressed in camouflage to avoid being detected.
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But the Schusters' hopes quickly faded after realizing that, since they had paid out of pocket to repair their fence every time it was cut in 2021, they are ineligible for reimbursement now, as the program only applies to unrepaired damages.

Page Day is a professional outfitter who makes a living hosting hunters on guided expeditions on his 20,000 acres outside Del Rio. He said he has spent up to $60,000 on repairs over the past year. Since Sunday, he has found five holes cut in fences on his property, meaning new repairs are necessary. Day plans to apply for reimbursement but is concerned that the money will be taxed or that it is a loan, not free money, though the USDA has indicated it is not a loan. Day said the details of the initiative were not laid out in detail, making him more unsure about applying.

“I don’t have high hopes we’re going to get money or that it’s going to work because of the way they’ve worded it,” Day said, adding that giving money to landowners does not get at the cause of the damage. “I almost want to say it’s a political stunt by the government to say, ‘Look, we are helping the ranchers.’"
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Biden should have to pay for these damages out of his own pocket and not the government because he is the one ignoring his duty to enforce the US immigration laws.  It is something he should be impeached for.