The southern border has been locked down tighter than it's been in years. Oh, in Congress and elsewhere, Democrats are complaining about the Trump administration's border security and mass repatriation efforts, but you can add that to the list of reasons that the Democratic Party, in most parts of the country, is about as popular as a turpentine milkshake.
In Texas, the Big Bend area has always been a special challenge for the Border Patrol. But some new technology is serving as a pretty good force multiplier in that area, where illegal crossings have plummeted.
The sector this week unveiled a first-of-its-kind advanced vehicle barrier system, the GRAB 350, at the Sierra Blanca immigration checkpoint. The checkpoint is located at a critical enforcement location along Interstate 10 in Hudspeth County roughly 90 miles east of El Paso.
It is the first of its kind to be deployed at any of the 45 permanent Border Patrol checkpoints nationwide, CBP says.
The GRAB 350 is a new semi-autonomous vehicle barrier system that combines an energy absorbing ground-retractable barrier with an in-ground tire-shredding system designed to stop extremely large high-speed vehicles.
It sounds like a high-tech version of a spike strip. Interstate 10, as well, is a major east-west corridor, just as, for example, Interstate 25 is a major north-south corridor. Small vehicles can transit lots of places, but any commercial-sized vehicles that smugglers will be trying to use the highway systems. That seems to be what GRAB 350 is tailor-made for.
“Interstate 10 is a major artery connecting communities across the country. When someone attempts to bypass an immigration checkpoint, they are putting innocent motorists and our agents at serious risk,” Big Bend Sector Chief Patrol Agent Lloyd Easterling said. “This system allows us to stop and contain those threats in a controlled environment, before they become dangerous pursuits on public roadways.”
“From a public safety perspective, the technology is designed to reduce the likelihood of high-speed chases, collisions, injuries and loss of life. From an agent safety standpoint, it increases distance and control during enforcement actions and minimizes the need for close-contact vehicle interventions,” CBP said in a statement.
In other words, risk mitigation. That's a good thing.
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The company that makes GRAB 350 is called Global Grab, and they appear to have a history of making just these kinds of barriers. You can see their page on the GRAB 350 here. The company's information on this system says:
The GRAB 350 “Less-than-Lethal” Active Vehicle Barrier System is designed, engineered, and manufactured based on the input of Customs, Border and Law Enforcement Professionals and real-world Land Border Port of Entry vehicle “Port Running” incidents.
The patent pending GRAB 350 system is designed to deter, safely stop, and effectively contain intentional and unintentional vehicle “Port Runners” within the perimeter of the Port of Entry or checkpoint, thereby eliminating the need for high-speed chases.
The message to would-be illegal border crossers is pretty clear, here. That message: You're not coming across. One way or another, we're going to stop you. We'll catch you at the points of entry, we'll catch you in the desert, we'll stop you in the rivers and in the brush. We'll stop the tractor-trailers run by the human traffickers, and we'll stop the overland caravans of walkers. We'll stop groups, and we'll stop loners. We rely on our Border Patrol agents, but we're also relying on technology, and that technology is getting better by the day.
In one year, the Trump administration seems to have the border under control. Now, if some of our state and local political types could just get their own cities under control...
Editor’s Note: We voted for mass deportations, not mass amnesty. Help us continue to fight back against those trying to go against the will of the American people.
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