Giffords holds ranchers' meeting

"Listen to us. Take action. Don't turn away." Former rancher Pam DiPeso, of Pearce, said the feeling that it would take the death of someone before Washington showed any interest in curbing the tide of illegal border crossers and drug runners has haunted the folks living in the San Bernadino Valley and eastern edge of Cochise County all the way up to San Simon. "These people know what they're talking about. They deserve to be heard," DiPeso added. It was evident that these people were not going to let this death be glossed over or forgotten. Instead, they want to make his tragedy a jumping off point for a better and safer border policy that protects U.S. citizens on the front lines of the war no one talks about. One family was afraid to give their names. The fear of drug cartel retribution is paramount in their minds. One young woman holding her four-month old baby girl told of just such a circumstance. Her neighbor called the Border Patrol on drug runners and his horses were stolen. A local veterinarian who offers services in Mexico said he had found the stud horse that he had tended to over the years in a Sonoran pasture. But how do you serve such a vast area with limited resources? The community's answer was: Send down the National Guard with ammo in their guns. Keep the Border Patrol on the border not 20 miles away sitting on the side of the road. Install operating stations on the border. Put up communication towers. Add patrols by county deputies. Make the ranches and homes safe enough to raise a family...more