Big Bend
Texas Monthly’s taco editor (yes, they have one) José Ralat went through a rattling experience in the Big Bend last Thursday when he and a friend were stopped three times by law enforcement while on an assignment to look at old Spanish mission sites in the area.
“We were shaken, and angry at and afraid of what seemed like a coordinated effort between federal and state officials,” Ralat wrote about the experience in Texas Monthly.
It started when Ralat and his traveling buddy Rodrigo Bravo were heading west near Sanderson, and a Terrell County deputy pulled them over and told them they were going 5 mph over the speed limit. Ralat wrote: “‘Why would we get pulled over for such an insignificant overage?’ I thought.”
In a phone call with Big Bend Sentinel Tuesday Ralat said he thought it was odd that the deputy only asked for IDs and not insurance. The trend would continue, with a “weird” and “disturbing” encounter northwest of Presidio on Highway 170, he said. The pair were headed toward “Ochoa,” really just a cemetery off the highway with burials with that surname. On the way looking for another historical marker, a white truck passed them. Driving back toward Presidio, the white truck pulled up behind them at the intersection of Highways 170 and 67 and eventually pulled them over near the Presidio Lely International Airport after following them for about five miles.
“I wasn’t speeding or doing anything,” Bravo said in a phone call Tuesday. “I was definitely surprised. There were two agents, a gentleman and a lady.”
The agents asked him where they were from, where they were going—“Marfa,” they said—and kept them waiting for 30 minutes before letting them continue. “I felt like saying, ‘Hey, what’s taking so long?’ But we just played it cool,” Bravo recounted.
While Ralat wrote that they were U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
agents, that probably wasn’t the case—technically. A photo from Bravo shows a white U.S. Customs Enforcement truck. Yes, they and Border Patrol are all federal agents, but the distinction is that with the massive ICE presence and ensuing violence and shootings in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Big Bend Sentinel intends to monitor the types of law enforcement involved to see if there is an escalation of immigration enforcement.
That wasn’t the end, however, as they were pulled over by a Department of Public Safety trooper just north of the Border Patrol checkpoint south of Marfa. “José and I couldn’t believe it,” Bravo said, and added that the trooper didn’t ask for insurance either. The trooper said they were going 77 in a 70, but Bravo said their cruise control was set at 70 to 71 mph. They were given a warning.
Despite not facing any citation, the encounters left the two curious about if they were indeed being tracked through the area. “I’ve had bad experiences with cops in the past, so I was terrified,” Ralat said, recounting an incident at age 14 when he was dragged out of a car by his shirt collar. He wondered if his brown skin was part of the equation.
Bravo noted that all of the law enforcement officers that day were Hispanic. For him, the encounters remained off. “It was just weird.”