The authorities are awake Tammy, believe me. But they are hamstrung by accusations of racism.
ICE could deputize every officer in the US today with this:
Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g)
but they don’t because of political pressure that it encourages racial profiling.
I have been present when van and truckloads of illegals have been stopped and ICE refused to come out to take them into custody.
I have also seen ICE raid apartment complexes for illegals who returned five days later.
It is common practice for those illegals who have been arrested for first time drug trafficking to volunteer to self deport in an effort to avoid prosecution. They just return under another assumed name and social security number.
It is going to take a concerted effort from citizen, legislator and authority alike to combat this. But as long as La Raza, MALDEF, and LuLAC hold political sway, it’s not going to happen.
Not by conventional means at any rate.
Not all authorities are awake, many are- but we still have sheriffs near the border that spout open borders nonsense, or say there is no problem when they know there is (my favorite is the one in TX saying there wasn’t a problem until his department ended up in a running gun battle- then admitted he was wrong- not too long ago), we still have sanctuary cities, and of course the feds being driven by politicians are on a roller coaster between being told to crack down and then to all but stop enforcing laws or refuse to prosecute.
I have seen all you mentioned and more- I have seen times when feds by policy from above wouldn’t prosecute drug smugglers caught red-handed with a load of MJ unless they had a big load- we are talking over 500#. That is astonishing I know but absolutely true. I have seen them refuse to prosecute if smuggler was under or over a certain age- as if the smugglers don’t figure out these policies even though the public is sure not told.
Accusations of racism do happen but the real root of it all is political corruptness. Politicians want to pander to those that hire illegals, so they don’t want illegals picked on. They exchange cheap labor for campaign support and money. Politicians also pander for the votes, all about money and votes to them- they don’t care about what is good for our country. Politicians don’t want anyone to know how bad the border is because then we the people would demand it be secured.
Those that think illegals that come here to work do no harm choose to ignore the fact that all the border crime- illegal immigration, drug smuggling, murder, kidnapping, etc is all tied together and allowing illegals to come in to work is aiding the cartels in their business. The fact that many don’t come to work at all, but to get on the dole or be criminals here is also overlooked.