Dear Editor: 

In July 2015 Border Patrol agents apprehended a group of undocumented aliens (UDA) in the Peloncillo Mountains, in Hidalgo County between Animas and Rodeo. In conversation a UDA informed Border Patrol of the presence of a body at the bottom of the canyon.

Border Patrol investigated, found the body and notified New Mexico State Police who then requested The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) assist in the recovery and identification of the body.

My name is Mike Barragree, an OMI Field Deputy Medical Investigator serving in Grant, Hidalgo and Luna County. I was notified of the death and drove 105 miles to meet with NMSP in Animas. From there we traveled another 20 plus miles by truck pulling a trailer with 4 ATV's. When the truck could go no further the ATV's were used as far as they could go and then we traveled on foot, using an ancient Native American trail, to the bottom of the canyon where the body was located arriving at 8pm.

The scene was processed, photographed and the body packaged. The site was so inaccessible the only way the body could be recovered was by helicopter. The body was left behind and the recovery party trekked out of the canyon on a pitch black night arriving back in Animas at 1am. Two days passed before a successful recovery was accomplished, using a helicopter.

The decedent, an unidentified male dressed in blue jeans beneath military type camo pants, had slipped and fallen to his death. His shirt, shoes and drug pack had been taken by other members of his group.

A cell phone was recovered along with a wallet containing a religious card, a one dollar bill and a Mexican Instituto Federal Electoral Credencial Para Votar card. This is a voter registration card which contains the name of the holder, the voting information, a photo ID on the front of the card and a fingerprint on the back of the card.

OMI Central Office, in Albuquerque, contacted the Mexican Consulate and inquired about missing persons with the decedent's name. A Mexican national with this name was missing. Next of kin, living in North Carolina, were contacted and the contact number they had matched the cell phone number of the decedent. At the present time the decedent's body is residing at OMI Central pending DNA results.

Thanks to this Mexican voter registration card, which I think of as a national identification card, the decedent was tentatively identified in a couple of days. Here in the United States we do not have a national identification card with photo and fingerprint. It might violate someone's rights.

Who pays for the Border Patrol, NMSP, OMI, helicopter service, recovery of the body, the DNA testing and other costs? Why the American Taxpayer, of course! Are the Next of Kin living in the North Carolina legally or illegally? Who knows? Will the NOK or Mexico be billed for any of this? Probably not!

This is one isolated incident along our border with Mexico and the United States is being invaded daily. No one seems to care except the ranchers and residents who live in the area. A wall is impractical, not the solution, even if Mexico pays for it.

This past weekend I watched the demonstrations in Chicago and Los Angeles with the big F@@K America signs, the children flipping off passing motorists, screaming profanities. Why did law enforcement do virtually nothing? They should have had transportation waiting to take those individuals, who hate America so much, back to their beloved Mexico. There should be no sanctuary cities in the United States. We are told that the United States is a nation of laws. Immigration laws are not enforced by our federal government. We have a catch and release program on the border.

For those of you who share my views and would like to learn more about the situation on the New Mexico/Arizona border with Mexico please read The Reaper's Line, Life and Death on the Mexican Border by Lee Morgan II. Lee coined the term REMF for those government officials who work in safe secure areas and make bad decisions for those fighting the battle on the border. Rear Echelon are the first two words in case you are wondering.

It is not only drugs crossing the border, but individuals from the Middle East, China and other countries coming here to wreak havoc on our society. We are fortunate that these individuals are going to the big cities where they can blend in, enjoy benefits they are not entitled to and demonstrate with impunity.

Thank you Border Patrol for the work that you do and the impossible conditions that you work in. The Washington Cartel should have experienced this one incident to appreciate the impossible task you are assigned to do on a daily basis.