(solemn music)

- Basically, guys, ourborder is under attack.

- The job that the Border Patrol does,

is this hard job, avery, very difficult job,

a very, very dangerous job.

- [Tara] An immigration system

at the breaking point.(siren blaring)

- It has taken a lot out of everyone.

- [Tara] Migrants floodingthe southern border.

- President Biden'sadministration, itself,

is exposing Texans andAmericans to COVID-19

through illegal immigrants.

- There's a great sense of unease.

- [Tara] Not all survive the journey.

- They run out of water,they run out of food,

the coyote pushes 'em too fast.

- [Tara] As the presidentsends mixed messages.

- Don't come over and aprocess of getting set up.

- [Tara] And many Americansfear for the country's future.

- Little by little ouroriginal Constitution

is being ripped apart.

(sirens blaring)

- [Bystander] Holy!

(solemn tense music)

- That field is in Mexico,so the Rio Grande River is

just right, here behind us.

- [Tara] A giant metal fence slices

through the south Texasplantation that's been

in Dottie's family for generations.

The situation has changed over the years.

- Oh, it's whopping,it's a humongous change.

There was no, no fence, no wall.

- [Tara] Dottie, who askedus not to use her last name,

has a bird's-eye view of Mexico,

and a deep appreciationfor those who keep watch.

- [Dottie] What they go through

to protect us and our properties.

Without our Border Patrol,we don't have a country.

- [Dottie] Growing up,Dottie watched as laborers

from Mexico went back andforth freely between countries.

- [Dottie] The people who came over then

were super nice people.

They'd come over, theywould work for the day

and go on back over.

(filmstrip ticking)

As years went by, thenthe government decided

oh, let's change things.

(siren ringing)

- [Tara] And throughthe years, Dottie says,

the people have changed too,

routinely damaging private property

or hiding there from the law.

(CB radio chatter)

And another change, noteveryone is from Mexico anymore.

- [Dottie] You haveall these people coming

from different countries here,and now just hoards of 'em

that are, that come through at a time.

So how do you tell the good from the bad?

(people speaking foreign language)

- Behind the treelineis the Rio Grande River.

In the short time we've beenhere, a couple of people

appeared off in the distance,

continued walking across the field,

then quickly disappeared.

In addition to this beingfarmland, it's an area often used

by scouts to make sureBorder Patrol is not around.

Since President Biden tookoffice, illegal entries in the US

hitting new highs, on track to reach

a million or more this year.

- It is the direct consequenceof policy decisions

by the Biden administrationto stop building the wall,

to return to catch and release,

and to end the Stay In Mexico policy.

- [Man] Amazing what these smugglers,

drivers with these trucks can go through.

- [Tara] Desperate to beheard, south Texas ranchers use

social media to blame Biden for the flood

of Central Americans and otherssneaking across the border.

- They oughta send 'em allup there to the White House,

put 'em in there with him.

And he can put his mask on.

- [Tara] And onto their land.

- Who in their rightmind thinks this is okay?

Who in their right mindwhen they say amnesty

give 'em a free pass tocome in, they promise 'em

health care, they promiseall sorts of stuff.

These are not the people wewant coming into this country.

- [Tara] Across thousandsof miles of ranch lands,

migrants running from the lawhave long posed a challenge,

even many miles from the border.

- [Stephanie] Mother, baby, and father.

- [Tara] And as numbersswell at the border,

more migrants are trucking onfoot or packed into vehicles

heading north through these parts.

Ranchers say they'venever seen so many people.

- This country's reallygood, humane, Mr. Biden.

- [Tara] Bringing damage.

- We come upon their campswhere we find a bunch

of backpacks, trash.

- [Tara] Danger.

- And numerous ranchersthat have been assaulted

while they were opening a gate.

- [Tara] And heartbreak.

- [Man] I got you.

- [Susan] This is wherethese children were brought

across and dumped here alone.

This is where they slept last night.

Look at this.

Look at this.

(man speaking foreign language)

- [Tara] This is alsoconcern about Biden's plan

to ground the Border Patrol'sEyes In The Sky that have

dotted the south Texas skyline for years.

- It's like we've beenabandoned and left alone.

And all the technologiesthat were in place,

the aerostats therewere on private property

north of the Border Patrol checkpoints,

those have all been removed.

There's no validtechnology being used today

to help land owners inthe checkpoint areas

north of the border.

- Agents see illegalcrossers and their smugglers

also taking advantage ofgaps left in the border wall

since Biden ended constructionthe day he took office.

(camera shutters clicking)

All of the equipment isstopped, the crews are all gone,

and there are stillmiles and miles of gaps

up and down the border line.

Dottie, who once opposedany wall on her property,

now fears it will be torn down.

- Those people in DCwanna say get rid of this

this wall, get rid of it.

Open up the borders, let them come across.

I won't be able to livehere, if they do that.

- [Tara] She's not the only one.

Landowners throughout south Texas report

an alarming increase inhome and shed break-ins,

expensive fences and irrigation lines cut,

drugs left behind,

(sirens blaring)

and high-speed chasestearing through their yards.

And for each arrest,overworked border agents

and other law enforcement make

many more are getting away.

- We definitely need to regroup,

you know, and have astrong immigration reform.

Without that, it's gonna continue.

- [Tara] Are we moving in thewrong direction do you think?

- As of right now, as we sit here, yes.

It's definitely the wrong direction.

(solemn music)

- [Dottie] It's not justthe good people that

are doing this, it is theincrease in the bad people

who are taking over.

- [Tara] And like a growingnumber of south Texans,

she hopes she's not the next to leave.

(solemn music)