High Speed Chases: How Illegal Alien “Bailouts” Threaten American Communities
A grandmother and her granddaughter killed in Ozonna, Texas by a car driven by human smugglers. An illegal alien dead after the car he was smuggled in crashed at 110 mph. Eight more illegal aliens dead as their smuggler raced to outrun cops at 100 mph. These are just some of the tragedies that have been caused by what law enforcement refer to as “bailouts.”
A “bailout” is a term used by law enforcement to describe a high-speed car escape by people transporting illegal aliens in vehicles. As U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents are overrun processing surges of illegal aliens at the border, their personnel are stretched thin and this encourages smugglers to try and simply outrun CBP officers. The bailout drivers have a callous disregard for safety, as was the case in one bailout where a car with a two-year-old migrant as a passenger was pursued in Hidalgo County, Texas, where the driver lost control during a chase with law enforcement at 90 mph.
Border communities have borne the brunt of the current administration’s relaxed attitude to border controls. In some border communities, such as Brackettville, Texas, boulders are placed near the school buildings to protect children from bailout crashes. The school had previously seen migrants in bailouts attempting to flee into the school building itself. Nearby is the town of Uvalde, which has also seen a massive surge in bailouts. Mayor Don McLaughlin told reporters that bailouts have grown in frequency to the point that the city sees multiple bailout chases per day. Uvalde is located on roads directly leading to some of the busiest border crossing areas, such as Del Rio and Eagle Pass.
The bailouts are not just killing and injuring people while creating a near-constant hazard on our streets. They are also impacting other areas of law enforcement. As law enforcement works hard to deal with this new threat and repeat “bailout alerts,” it can understandably lead to sense of fatigue, frustration, and demoralization. In July 2022, a Texas House Investigative Committee report suggested that police in border communities were experiencing a general “desensitization” towards crime and security caused by multiple daily bailouts. Law enforcement personnel do a difficult job, made all the more difficult by the refusal of the current administration to properly enforce border controls.
The danger of bailouts is now spreading beyond border communities. Illegal aliens generally head for cities where they aim to work illegally rather than staying long-term in border communities. In Lytle, Texas, Police Chief Richard Priest noted that officers were dealing with up to five bailouts per week. “What’s strange is we’re 132 miles from the border. I never considered us a border community” he told reporters. Lytle lays just outside San Antonio, a city many illegal aliens head to, which may explain the uptick in bailouts. Sadly, more communities, border and interior, will feel the impact of reckless driving by either illegal aliens or those who smuggle them.
Thanks to the current administration’s policies, America’s borders are essentially open. Illegal aliens will continue to take advantage of that, and these bailouts will continue to place everyone at risk.