Poet Robert Frost wrote the line “Good fences make good neighbors” in 1914. Today he might have rephrased it as “secure national borders to create safer citizens”.
When national borders are eroded—as continues to be the case along the southern border of the United States—illegal immigrants are free to flow into the country. This can cause confusion for legal citizens. I’ve said it before: confusion breeds fear.
In the desert of southern Arizona, this brand of fear can kill people.
That could be the case for George Alan Kelly, a 73-year-old accused of shooting and killing an illegal immigrant on his property near the US-Mexico border.
The alleged victim, identified as 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Butima from the Mexican voter registration found on his body, was no stranger to the U.S. According to the Daily Mail, Cuen-Butima has been deported back to Mexico multiple times, most recently in 2016.
Running: LIVE-STREAM VIDEO: Select subcommittee chaired by Jim Jordan holds hearings on arming the federal government against its citizens – today at noon ET
Kelly’s Kino Springs ranch is in an isolated area about a mile and a half north of the US-Mexico border. There, it’s every man for himself. Savage individualism was an American ideal. In Kelly’s case, it looks like a curse.
According to data from US Customs and Border Protection, more than a quarter of a million illegal immigrants were encountered at the US-Mexico border in December. It was the highest monthly total ever recorded, according to the New York Post.
It’s easy to see why US citizens living in rugged rural areas near the southern border might be a bit upset.
Is the Biden administration responsible for the border crisis?
Apparently, none of this played into Santa Cruz County’s decision to charge Kelly with first-degree murder. Kelly was also slapped with a $1 million bail bond, which he asked the judge to reduce because his wife would be left to fend for herself at the ranch.
“He’s out there by himself,” Kelly reportedly pleaded at the court hearing. “Someone will take care of him, the livestock or the farm. And I’m not going anywhere. I can’t come up with a million dollars.”
The judge didn’t have it. It sounds like overkill on the part of officials who are reportedly still trying to figure out what happened to trigger the shooting.
According to Mail, under Arizona law, a property owner can use deadly force to prevent an intrusion if he believes it is “immediately necessary.” Arizona has “stand your ground” laws that allow homeowners to use deadly force.
Kelly is an old man. It’s not like he’s going to jump bail and sneak across the border illegally.
The whole thing seems counterintuitive. Is Kelly being punished for protecting her property? Is he guilty until proven innocent? It is what it sounds like.
If it turns out that Kelly has a history of shooting people in the Arizona desert, why wouldn’t officials lead with that information to justify a $1 million bond?
The entire country has turned upside down under President Joe Biden’s watch.
Bottom line: The Biden administration has deliberately weakened border security. There is no other plausible explanation for the continuing calamity on our southern border.
Is it crazy? Yes. There is no doubt about it. And this is making us tribals very restless.
Frost was right — good fences make good neighbors, because they clearly designate private property. Protected borders clearly define a nation. Citizens become disoriented when borders are blurred. What was once clear became a question mark.
And so everything in the country is dear.
This article was originally published in the Western Journal.