LA JOYA, Texas — Just outside of La Joya, Texas, along the Rio Grande, on the last road of the town right in front of a solitary church, is where Gonzalo Mancilla has lived his entire life.
"Eighty-five years in the same place without leaving anywhere else,” he said proudly.
In his backyard, he still has the ruins of the house where he was born. He said this used to be a very peaceful and safe place, but everything has changed. The National Guard posted just yards away is a reminder of that. The area around La Joya has become a favorite for drug smugglers. The few residents of La Havana, a small community south of but still technically a part of La Joya, are always alert.
“They smuggle drugs and who knows what else. They come out through that lawn, cross the street and leave,” said Mancilla.
The border wall in this area wasn’t built, but the Border Patrol service road is right behind his backyard. He said that that offers some security, but a border wall would be more effective.
“It will disrupt and curb all of that drug smuggling,” said Mancilla.
While he was showing Spectrum News 1 the dense foliage behind his backyard to demonstrate that drug smugglers can easily hide there, he heard a noise come from that direction. He knew right away what it was. It wasn’t smugglers, but Border Patrol agents. He went out to the street to show us the white bus nearby.
“It’s the agents catching the groups of people that cross illegally,” he said, pointing in that direction.
A large group of migrants had just entered the United States and turned themselves in to Border Patrol. Since February, this small community has seen large groups of migrants by the hundreds daily, and not even the hot temperatures will stop them. Mancilla said the majority of the people in this town are not afraid of them or opposed to them coming, but are instead moved by their situation.
A neighbor, a woman who preferred to not give her name, went out to see and said, “I feel compassionate for them. I want to help them. I buy water and ice and other things to give to them. We are human beings and they are coming in need.”
While Border Patrol agents were processing this group, more migrants showed up slowly down the hill, many of them carrying small children. It is this constant flow all over the Rio Grande Valley that prompted Texas Gov. Abbott to declare an emergency and announce that he’ll build a border wall. But Mancilla thinks a wall will not stop them. It would just make it harder for them. Sometimes he has second thoughts about the wall.
“On the other hand, I don’t understand. Why spend all that on such a thing? That money comes out of the taxes we pay. They should use it on better things,” said Mancilla.
Mancilla went back to his backyard to continue working on a project. He said that all he wants is to live his years in peace. Wall or no wall, the border will always be the same.