CAPITAL CLOSE-UP

Operation Wrangler
Latest Texas Roundup Takes Aim at Human Smuggling, Drug Trafficking
By Steve Cox
T
Texas Gov.
Rick Perry doesn’t
mince any words when it
comes to protecting his
state’s border.
“A strong Texas border
means a safer America,” said Perry.
“And until the federal government
fulfills its responsibility to secure the
nation’s borders, we will continue to
exhaust all available means at the
state level to secure the Texas-
Mexico border and protect our families
and communities.”
With that, Perry announced that
the first high-intensity phases of
Operation Wrangler earlier this year
led to the apprehension of numerous
criminals suspected
of human
smuggling and
drug trafficking. These criminals
were intercepted and drug shipments
halted, Perry said, thereby
making Texas safer.
Operation Wrangler is a
statewide expansion of a handful of
2006 highly successful border security
“surge” operations that Perry
claims reduced crime by an average
of 60 percent in the sheriff-patrolled
areas of his state’s border counties.
Katherine Cesinger, a spokeswoman
for the governor’s office,
said the Civil Air Patrol is playing
“an integral part” in the initiative.
“The Civil Air Patrol is serving as
an important reconnaissance tool,
and is vital to our operations here in
Texas,” she said.
According to press releases from
the governor’s office, Operation
Wrangler involves federal, state and
local ground, air and water-borne
assets, including more than 6,800
personnel, 2,200 vehicles, 48 helicopters,
33 fixed-wing aircraft and
35 patrol ships.
The fight to keep the Texas-Mexico
border secure has drawn federal attention
from as far away as Pennsylvania,
where U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, following
a congressional trip to
the Texas border town of
Laredo, drafted federal legislation to
make Civil Air Patrol assets more
readily available for homeland security.
Dent introduced the Civil Air
Patrol Homeland Security Support
Act of 2007 to address concerns
raised to him by officers of Customs
and Border Protection, who said
they lack aviation assets and
resources for their mission.
“I believe that by bringing CAP
into the homeland security equation,
this legislation will help in our
fight against illegal immigration and
will become an integral part of our
nation’s strategy to maintain border
security,” Dent said.
The congressman’s bill is currently
in subcommittee, awaiting consideration
by the House of
Representatives. Perry, meanwhile,
is asking the Texas Legislature for
additional funding to sustain border
security efforts.
“This latest operation has not
only made Texans safer,” he said. “It
underscores the need for state lawmakers
to provide the $100 million
Texas needs to continue these operations
while the federal government
implements new border security
measures.” ▲
Civil Air Patrol Volunteer 7 May-June 2007