Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hudson Valley This Morning with Ed Kowalski is the new
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Hi, this is Ed. I am so grateful for the
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Speaker 1 (00:17):
We'd love it if you tuned into Hudson Valley This
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through Friday on fourteen fifteen, thirteen seventy AM or ninety
eight five FM WKIP.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
And Welcome to WKIP Hudson Valley this Morning with Ed Kowalski.
We are very pleased to be welcoming to the microphone.
John Ladd, who is a fourth generation cattle rancher in
Arizona and the Lad ranch is right right across the
Mexican border. John's ranch for the past thirty years has
(00:54):
had over a half a million illegal aliens apprehended on
their property and the ranch actually spans ten and a
half miles of the border with Mexico. John, thank you
very much for joining us. I want to be able
to give our listeners here in New York's Hudson Valley,
the opportunity of hearing from someone like yourself who's experiencing
(01:15):
first hand the issues specific to what open borders means.
How are you doing down there? John? How has it
been for the past couple of years? Oh?
Speaker 3 (01:23):
It was, It's been terrible for the last four years
with Biden being the president, and then since Donald Trump
got reelected, all of a sudden, it's down to about
catching thirty a day now because they're afraid of Donald Trump,
they quick coming.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
No kidding, no kidding. I mean, at one point in time, John,
how many people were crossing your land on a daily basis?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Oh? Probably the Well, the record is seven hundred and
some apprehensions in one day, but it was typically for
four or five years, there was two or three hundred
a day that they were catching, and they you know,
they catch one out of five, one out of six.
So we've had a lot of people come across.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So and how scary has that been? I mean, I
know when I spoke to some of the ranchers who
I met in Washington, d C. A number of years ago,
Fred and Fred and Peggy Davis, and they were talking
a little bit about some of the things that they
were involved in. You know, they were telling me stories
that you know, they don't even leave their house without
(02:25):
being armed, you know, because of the because of the
danger that this this this trafficking was presenting. Is that
the case on your ranch.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
As well, Well, we've not necessarily wearing a gun, but
we always got a gun. And you know that we're
past the point of we have a concern, but we're
not afraid. But you can't live a normal life but
not knowing what's going to be at the house or
the barn, or the corral or on the ranch. And
(02:53):
you just don't know who these people are. So anyway,
that's how you make do with it. Biden's administration that
they weren't having the numbers, you know, they were catching
one hundred and fifty two hundred a day, but they
were everywhere. They were smaller groups. The groups of two
used to be a group of thirty. That with Biden's deal,
they're full camel wearing carpetes and had a cell phone
(03:16):
being guided and they didn't most military age male, they
don't want to get caught. They're not giving up, and
so you're dealing with some bad people that you're constantly
looking around to see what's around you now.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Now, John, One of the things too, that I remember
some of the ranchers talking to me about when I
was down in DC, the Mexican ranchers, the Mexican nationals
who own ranches across the border. They've actually told stories
of these individuals saying that the cartels have come to
the Mexican ranchers and said, listen, you may own your
(03:53):
ranch during the day, but we own it during the night.
I mean, that's literally what I heard. Is that what
you're hearing too, is that what.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
You oh, yeah, yeah, we have three Mexican neighbors, and
that they can't be on their ranch at night, and
you know, the lead or silver, lead bullet or silver
to pay them off. And most of the guys down,
most of the Mexican ranchers, they just keep their eyes and
ears and mouth shut. They just let it happen. And
(04:22):
they're dealing with a cartel, the Mexican Army. You know,
it's a corrupted deal on the south side.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I can imagine. I can imagine.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
John.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
I'm just curious, besides the aggravation of what you're going through,
is there damage being done to your ranch.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Oh absolutely, it cut fences, broken water lines, draining water
out of storage tanks. You know, you can't put a
dollar amount on it, but I spend fifty percent of
my time fixing stuff, fixing fans, fixing water. And then
the big deal is when you lose a story stank
(05:00):
full of water, it takes me three days to pump
it back up. And you know, you got four days
at two hundred head of cows if that one pastor
don't have water, so ends up. We just opened the
gate and let them go to a different pastor to
get water. But you know, if somebody wasn't here all
the time, you know, you you'd start losing livestock when
(05:22):
they drain your water tanks.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
For the most part, John, they're just passing through though,
I mean they're not stealing from from your buildings or
not stealing your vehicles. I mean, there's nothing like that
going on.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Is there.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Well, that used to be that way before Donald Trump's
first term in office. But yeah, I don't know how
much material we've lost. We've had seven cars, trucks been stolen. Tools.
We haven't had anybody break in because somebody's always at
the ranch, that's the bottom line with that. You can't
go anywhere without somebody being there.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Now, John, a couple of years back, you were actually
renting out portions of your ranch as a down area
for the contractors who were building the border fence.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Is that correct, yes, sir, Yeah, yeah. When Donald Trump's
thirty foot border wall, we had a contractor here for
two and a half years building.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
It, so they were good. Now Now, interestingly enough, I
saw on the news that the Biden administration is actually
selling the metal that has been sort of laying there
because the border wall has been they've stopped building the
border wall, and he's actually putting on government websites the
materials that are way that are that are that are
(06:34):
set up to be sold. And I heard from the
Attorney General of Texas yesterday saying that he went on
record to say, the state of Texas will buy all
of what the government is trying to sell right now,
and we will use it for the purposes of rebuilding
the wall. Have you have you heard that, John.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Yeah, I think that's true. I think that's a legitimate statement.
And we've got probably three and a half miles of
the panelized border wall sitting here that they were going
to go up and over a mountain when Biden shut
them down. But all that wall panels are still laying
(07:13):
down there, Tom.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
What do your neighbors, your your your fellow Arizonans feel,
you know, I mean when when before the election occurred,
before Donald Trump was re elected, so to speak, what
were your thoughts specific to what was happening to your
ranch and specific to what was happening to Arizona. Should
should Joe Biden or should Kamala Harris have won the election?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
We were scared to death that that could happen. But oh,
probably two months before the election. Uh, all the ranch
friends and even my friends that don't ranch, we we
all predicted Trump was going to win because of America.
And that's stupid, the elect Kamala or it just we
(08:01):
we were concerned, but then we were related when he won.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Mm hmm. What what do you feel? What? You know? Again,
it's you know, people in New York myself included as
I said to you yesterday when I called you to
set this interview up, and I do thank you for
participating with our audience today in the Hudson Valley. What
do you feel? What would you like to say to
people who have no frame of reference for what what
(08:24):
owning a ranch is like to be to to to
be living as a fourth generation rancher on the Mexican border.
What do you want to be able to tell people
because you're you're on the front lines right now and
your family has been on the front lines for a
long time. What is it you want to be able
to make sure people in the northeast, for example, understand
about what you've been through and what's going on.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Well, the first thing is is that you know, we
don't have asylum seekers down here in you know, the
southeast part of Arizona. There they don't want to get
caught and they're not giving up. They're all military age males.
They're in full camouflage coming in this country and nobody
knows who they are, where they're going. You don't see
(09:07):
that on the news very often. And they're not destitute
people trying to come to America to better their life.
There is some of that going on in the western
part of Arizona. Texas is you know, Texas is way
worse than we are, but these people are coming to
(09:27):
take advantage of America and they're going to change America
and they already have. They're living off of welfare, they're
taking some of the agriculture jobs. You know, we have
a legitimate work program and all you got to do
is sign up for it and you can get a
green car to work visa. But none of these people
(09:48):
are doing it. And you know, a lot of the
negative part of what Trump's going to do is, oh, well,
it's going to increase prices, and well, you know, America
are going to start doing the work or somebody that
has a legal work permit here and they're going to
be part of our society. But the majority of these
people are working under the shadows, and they're getting paid
(10:11):
under the table. They're taking advantage of healthcare, schools, anything
that has to do with your community, they're taking it
over well.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
And the other issue too, the other done to interrupt
on I apologize. The other issue too, is that there
has been literally there's been no vetting at all in
terms of who the who's crossing the border specific to
their criminal backgrounds. You know, we have seen tragedy after
tragedy after tragedy. We were very fortunate last week to
have interviewed Tom Homan. The income their borders are on
(10:42):
our show, and he was talking about how committed he
is to being able to stop the madness, to be
able to say, listen, you know, I'm going to be
looking for people who are public safety threats and national
security threats first, and then we're going to do what
do what we need to be able to do. And
(11:02):
from your perspective, how do you feel a about Tom
Holman's position on that and b when you listen to
politicians who were resisting him. I mean San Diego for example,
has just in Aft came out saying, hey, no, no,
we're a super sanctuary city. Now we're not going to
have our people cooperate with Ice. What what tell our
(11:22):
listeners how how that makes you feel as being somebody
who is on the front lines on the Mexican border
watching what's going on.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Well, then, number one, I met with Tom Holman last week.
He was down here and he is he's everywhere man
and he's the right man for the job.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
When you met with him, when you met with him,
just just tell our listeners what what that conversation if
you can share it with us, tell us what that
was like?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Well?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
What when when you met with him? What what is
he committing to do and and what did he say
to you?
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Well, he's committed the departing basically any and all of
the illegals that are here illegally that you know they
don't have any documentation or and you know he's following
the law. Right, that's the bottom line. There's no inns out.
If you're breaking the law, you're going to get deported.
(12:17):
And if you've got a felony in the US, you're
going to go to jail, right And what more can
you ask for? If you went to Mexico, even without
any criminal record, without proper paperwork, you'd be in jail.
America didn't do anything different than any other country wouldn't do.
But all of a sudden we got all that they
want these people here. Well, it's a deliberate plan to
(12:41):
change the demographics of America. These people are they think
they're going to vote Democrat by giving them everything, Well,
they probably will.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
It's amazing that to be speaking to someone like yourself, sir,
and to be able to listen to the common sense
in terms of what you've just outlined. We're talking about
enforcing the law, and people in some elected capacities, the
mayor of Denver, the mayor of Boston, the mayor of Chicago,
(13:09):
the governor of Illinois are basically saying, uh uh, we're
not going to cooperate with you. We're not going to
follow the law. It's infuriating. It's infuriating.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah, put them in jail two because that's a felony
that did not cooperate with federal authorities.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
And I think we're going to see borders our home
and do that because he made himself very clear in
terms of what he's going to do to the mayor
of Denver and certainly the mayor of Chicago, should they
not participate in his actions of being able to first
and foremost identify public safety threats, national security threats, and
do what needs to be done. And again, from your perspective,
(13:48):
you've lived this now for four generations, let me ask
you a question. You know, back in the day when
you were growing up on that ranch, when you were
a kid, you know, growing up on that ranch was
the problem as bad as a I mean, what was
it like back then.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Oh, we we're pretty close to a border town and
we always had guys that want to come day work.
And back then, it you know, you had a Brassero program.
It was a federal program where you would come to
America for up to six months work and then go home.
(14:25):
And and it worked good. And uh, these guys had
come in and they'd work, and oh, between the Mexican
government and the US government that that program got uh
disbanded and all that. But we've ended. We've sponsored three
guys to be citizens in my lifetime. And they wanted
(14:48):
to be Americans. They're proud of their heritage, but I
want to be an American. So you you provide them
work for a year, they take the citizenship class, and
you know, all of them have done real good and
they their kids are US citizens now. And everything worked
really good. But when it fell apart was when President
(15:09):
Reagan gave the amnesty. Yeah, and you know five what
was it five million, five and a half million?
Speaker 2 (15:17):
It was it was right, it was about that figure.
That's correct, and you know that.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
And I you know, Ronald Reagan was my hero. But
the deal was is that he'd give amnesty to that
many people and in the future. Uh. And we didn't
have some homeland security back then, but mart Patrol and
Ice and everybody else would enforce the law. Well, and
then you sabotaged him.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Well, and you know, and Ronald Reagan was on record.
I think he actually made a diary entry after he
signed that amnesty saying he was a bit uncertain in
regards to whether or not the enforcement mechanisms that were
promised in the passing of that amnesty would indeed be enforced.
And of course the architect of that amnesty was Senator
(16:06):
Ted Kennedy, you know, from Massachusetts. So even even Ronald
Reagan had some doubts and some questions in regards to
whether that was the right thing. But but but to
your point, you actually saw a change when when that
was when that legislation was signed.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Oh absolutely it, uh, you know, and well the thing,
we didn't have anybody going across the ranch. They'd come
right to the house to want a job. And you know,
as soon as it changed with the big group, you know,
I think the record group on the ranch is one
hundred and twenty in one group. But they they didn't
(16:46):
they don't want to work. They're they're going to other
parts of the US. And we always feed them, we
always give them water. And when my mother was still
alive and when it got over twenty and group she
quit feeding them. She said, what am I going to
feed them? Yeah? Yeah, you know a lot of times
she would you give him a loaf of bread and
(17:07):
some spam.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Yeah, And it's interesting. Freda and Peggy Davis told me
similar stories that, you know, people would show up at
the door and they were just looking for food and water,
and of course, of course they gave it to them.
And then of course the volume became so large and
so big that they couldn't do it anymore, and then
it became scary, and then it became scary in terms
(17:30):
of what was going on. What was the name, and
forgive me for not remembering it, but there was another
rancher who tragically lost his life when he went out there.
I think he was looking after an animal or something,
and he went out there and they found his body
a couple of days later. I forget that gentleman's name
rint Rob Krenz. That's correct, And I don't think they
(17:51):
ever apprehended whomever who never killed him, if I remember correctly,
that's right.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
It's it's still an open investigation. They'll never find who's
ever did it. He's probably dead by now because he
caused a lot of problems by killing Rob, but the
cartel took care of him, and that probably it's going
to be an outside chance if they're going to do
something to a rancher. But then you just never know.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
No, and and and John and John. Isn't there there's
a PostScript on the Rob Krantz murder. Didn't his wife
tragically lose her life too? Wasn't she wasn't she struck
in by by by a hitt and run? Was it?
Wasn't she involved a hit and run accident?
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Yeah, it didn't kill her, but it aren't sure affected
her well, brain, brain injuries and lots of broken bones.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I'm happy that that that that she that she didn't
pass away. I had I had some wrong information, but
I remember I remember Fred and Peg Peggy Davis talking
about how tragic because he was a truly loved figure
in your community, you know, from from from a rancher's perspective.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
So yeah, the last meeting that we were, you know,
the ranchers had a while. We still have a group
that we meet with Border Patrol. But one of Rob's
last comments was is that if you guys don't do something,
somebody's going to get killed and about two months later
it was rob that was the ironic or tragic statement.
(19:24):
That was one of the last things he said. The
border patrol.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
So with the expanse of area that you you front
on the border, border patrol is there all the time,
I would assume on.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Your ranch, well there, they're getting better. But for most
of Biden's administration, he had them in the at the
border patrol stations processing other illegals from different parts of Arizona,
and that we didn't have anybody on the border because
(19:57):
they were all and it was like you were saying earlier,
it was limited about how they vetted these people. They
were taking a fingerprint and ask them for their name,
and that was it. So we didn't have anybody patrol
in the border for about two and a half years.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
John, We asked Tom Holman this question, and I wanted
to ask you the same question because because I wanted
to find out what the morale of the border patrol
people are like now versus what it was like, you know,
before President elect Trump became you know, was elected again.
What what what when you're interfacing with the border patrol
over the last couple of years, what what was what
(20:37):
was in your opinion, What was morale like from for
those guys.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Oh, it's terrible. They were they had no hope and
what are we doing? But I will stick up for
Border Patrol is they still tried to do their job,
even though it was against what Biden's administration was telling them.
And since I got elected again, they're happy. They said,
(21:04):
now we could get back and the majority of them
are very much in favor of what Tom Holman's proposing.
And I'm proud of Border Patrol for still being here.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Good, good, good, Now, did you did Vice President Harris?
Did she may get down to Arizona when she visited
the wall for that fifteen minutes or where was she was?
He was not in Arizona.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
No, that was in Douglas, that's about thirty miles east
of US. And you're right, it was sixteen minutes. She
was on the border at the port of entry.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Sixteen minutes. There you go, yep.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
And then she had a press release and some building
down there. That was a joke. She had no clue
what she was doing.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
In the last couple of minutes that we have you
on the phone, John, and I thank you again for
giving us the time and giving us a little bit
of insight for our listeners to be fourth generation rancher,
to have ten and a half miles of of your ranch. Boy,
the kinds of things that you've experienced, What what what
is the what is the hope that you have for
(22:13):
for your ranch, for Arizona, for the state of where
the country is going? Tell us what you what you were?
What what is the next four years going to do?
What are you hoping for over the next four years?
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Well, uh, Trump's first four years, you know, he pretty
well shut the border down on our ranch just and
and the biggest thing, from my opinion, was the stay
in Mexico policy. Yeah, and you know he pretty well
told Mexico if they don't cooperate with him what he
was going to do with tariffs or however you want
(22:47):
to call it. But Mexico is a big trade part.
You know, there's money in politics involved in the whole border.
It's not about immigration, it's about smuggling, right And with
his he's already met with Mexico's president and I think
they're going to cooperate. But the Tom Homan project, I
(23:12):
am hoping that when he starts mass deportation that that's
going to send the messages don't even come because you'll
get departed.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Well, And as you've told our listeners earlier, and what
you're seeing now compared to what you saw two years,
a year ago, four years or so ago, you know, yeah,
you know during the you know you you you have
seen a lessening of what's crossing right now. And that
that I think is a message that I think has
already been interpreted and been heard.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Yeah, And well then I'll just go back. During Trump's
four years, they were probably catching ten a month on us,
ten illegals a month, and we rebuilt a bunch of
fins and thought, well, you know, Donald Trump's going to
have a second term and everything's going to be good.
(24:03):
And when Biden got elected, before he took office, the
next morning, we had five groups around the headquarters here
and we hadn't had a group around the house all
of Trump's four years. And got there and here they come.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
And that group was how big again, John?
Speaker 3 (24:22):
There were five different groups between six in the morning
and noon, and anywhere from six to twelve people in
each group. And when I was with well, I wasn't
with bord Crow, but I ended up talking to them
at one group and I said, well, what's going on
with this? And they said, well, they're telling us that
since Trump's gone and Joe Beiden wants to have us here.
(24:46):
That's how they say Biden in their Spanish, Joe Biden
wants us here. And two of them had t shirts
from oting Biden for president. There you go, So that
that's how blatant it was as far as what he
was doing behind the scenes, and you know, and he
promised eleven million people amnesty and in one of his
(25:07):
campaign speeches. Yeah, yeah, and that so I mean that
pretty well sums it up. But I think the oh,
the sanctuary cities. I don't know about what's going to
happen in California, but I think all these other ones.
People are waking up back East and saying this is
not a good thing that we have all of these
illegals in our communities.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
That's correct, That is correct. John. I can't thank you
enough for giving us and giving our listeners the time
that you have. We will certainly if it's okay. We
would very much like to keep in touch with you
as the new administration comes in. I'd love to be
able to get frontline reports from your ranch so our
listeners can really understand what's going on, what your family
(25:49):
has been through, and certainly what you're seeing from us
as the new administration you know, takes office. John, John Ladd,
thank you very very much for joining us on Hudson
Valley this morning with Ed Klewalski. We will be in
touch with you, sir, if that's okay.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Absolutely I looked forward to it.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
All right, John, thank you. Have a good day, sir,
good too.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Yep. Bye,
Hudson Valley This Morning with Ed Kowalski is the new
voice in the Hudson Valley.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hi, this is Ed. I am so grateful for the
support you've already given us. We are creating a platform
that gives you our listeners a voice. Together we can
build the best local community talk program in the Hudson Valley.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
We'd love it if you tuned into Hudson Valley This
Morning with Ed Kowalski from six to nine am Monday
through Friday on fourteen fifteen, thirteen seventy AM or ninety
eight five FM WKIP.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
And Welcome to WKIP Hudson Valley this Morning with Ed Kowalski.
We are very pleased to be welcoming to the microphone.
John Ladd, who is a fourth generation cattle rancher in
Arizona and the Lad ranch is right right across the
Mexican border. John's ranch for the past thirty years has
(00:54):
had over a half a million illegal aliens apprehended on
their property and the ranch actually spans ten and a
half miles of the border with Mexico. John, thank you
very much for joining us. I want to be able
to give our listeners here in New York's Hudson Valley,
the opportunity of hearing from someone like yourself who's experiencing
(01:15):
first hand the issues specific to what open borders means.
How are you doing down there? John? How has it
been for the past couple of years? Oh?
Speaker 3 (01:23):
It was, It's been terrible for the last four years
with Biden being the president, and then since Donald Trump
got reelected, all of a sudden, it's down to about
catching thirty a day now because they're afraid of Donald Trump,
they quick coming.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
No kidding, no kidding. I mean, at one point in time, John,
how many people were crossing your land on a daily basis?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Oh? Probably the Well, the record is seven hundred and
some apprehensions in one day, but it was typically for
four or five years, there was two or three hundred
a day that they were catching, and they you know,
they catch one out of five, one out of six.
So we've had a lot of people come across.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So and how scary has that been? I mean, I
know when I spoke to some of the ranchers who
I met in Washington, d C. A number of years ago,
Fred and Fred and Peggy Davis, and they were talking
a little bit about some of the things that they
were involved in. You know, they were telling me stories
that you know, they don't even leave their house without
(02:25):
being armed, you know, because of the because of the
danger that this this this trafficking was presenting. Is that
the case on your ranch.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
As well, Well, we've not necessarily wearing a gun, but
we always got a gun. And you know that we're
past the point of we have a concern, but we're
not afraid. But you can't live a normal life but
not knowing what's going to be at the house or
the barn, or the corral or on the ranch. And
(02:53):
you just don't know who these people are. So anyway,
that's how you make do with it. Biden's administration that
they weren't having the numbers, you know, they were catching
one hundred and fifty two hundred a day, but they
were everywhere. They were smaller groups. The groups of two
used to be a group of thirty. That with Biden's deal,
they're full camel wearing carpetes and had a cell phone
(03:16):
being guided and they didn't most military age male, they
don't want to get caught. They're not giving up, and
so you're dealing with some bad people that you're constantly
looking around to see what's around you now.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Now, John, One of the things too, that I remember
some of the ranchers talking to me about when I
was down in DC, the Mexican ranchers, the Mexican nationals
who own ranches across the border. They've actually told stories
of these individuals saying that the cartels have come to
the Mexican ranchers and said, listen, you may own your
(03:53):
ranch during the day, but we own it during the night.
I mean, that's literally what I heard. Is that what
you're hearing too, is that what.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
You oh, yeah, yeah, we have three Mexican neighbors, and
that they can't be on their ranch at night, and
you know, the lead or silver, lead bullet or silver
to pay them off. And most of the guys down,
most of the Mexican ranchers, they just keep their eyes and
ears and mouth shut. They just let it happen. And
(04:22):
they're dealing with a cartel, the Mexican Army. You know,
it's a corrupted deal on the south side.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I can imagine. I can imagine.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
John.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
I'm just curious, besides the aggravation of what you're going through,
is there damage being done to your ranch.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Oh absolutely, it cut fences, broken water lines, draining water
out of storage tanks. You know, you can't put a
dollar amount on it, but I spend fifty percent of
my time fixing stuff, fixing fans, fixing water. And then
the big deal is when you lose a story stank
(05:00):
full of water, it takes me three days to pump
it back up. And you know, you got four days
at two hundred head of cows if that one pastor
don't have water, so ends up. We just opened the
gate and let them go to a different pastor to
get water. But you know, if somebody wasn't here all
the time, you know, you you'd start losing livestock when
(05:22):
they drain your water tanks.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
For the most part, John, they're just passing through though,
I mean they're not stealing from from your buildings or
not stealing your vehicles. I mean, there's nothing like that
going on.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Is there.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Well, that used to be that way before Donald Trump's
first term in office. But yeah, I don't know how
much material we've lost. We've had seven cars, trucks been stolen. Tools.
We haven't had anybody break in because somebody's always at
the ranch, that's the bottom line with that. You can't
go anywhere without somebody being there.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Now, John, a couple of years back, you were actually
renting out portions of your ranch as a down area
for the contractors who were building the border fence.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Is that correct, yes, sir, Yeah, yeah. When Donald Trump's
thirty foot border wall, we had a contractor here for
two and a half years building.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
It, so they were good. Now Now, interestingly enough, I
saw on the news that the Biden administration is actually
selling the metal that has been sort of laying there
because the border wall has been they've stopped building the
border wall, and he's actually putting on government websites the
materials that are way that are that are that are
(06:34):
set up to be sold. And I heard from the
Attorney General of Texas yesterday saying that he went on
record to say, the state of Texas will buy all
of what the government is trying to sell right now,
and we will use it for the purposes of rebuilding
the wall. Have you have you heard that, John.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Yeah, I think that's true. I think that's a legitimate statement.
And we've got probably three and a half miles of
the panelized border wall sitting here that they were going
to go up and over a mountain when Biden shut
them down. But all that wall panels are still laying
(07:13):
down there, Tom.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
What do your neighbors, your your your fellow Arizonans feel,
you know, I mean when when before the election occurred,
before Donald Trump was re elected, so to speak, what
were your thoughts specific to what was happening to your
ranch and specific to what was happening to Arizona. Should
should Joe Biden or should Kamala Harris have won the election?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
We were scared to death that that could happen. But oh,
probably two months before the election. Uh, all the ranch
friends and even my friends that don't ranch, we we
all predicted Trump was going to win because of America.
And that's stupid, the elect Kamala or it just we
(08:01):
we were concerned, but then we were related when he won.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Mm hmm. What what do you feel? What? You know? Again,
it's you know, people in New York myself included as
I said to you yesterday when I called you to
set this interview up, and I do thank you for
participating with our audience today in the Hudson Valley. What
do you feel? What would you like to say to
people who have no frame of reference for what what
(08:24):
owning a ranch is like to be to to to
be living as a fourth generation rancher on the Mexican border.
What do you want to be able to tell people
because you're you're on the front lines right now and
your family has been on the front lines for a
long time. What is it you want to be able
to make sure people in the northeast, for example, understand
about what you've been through and what's going on.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Well, the first thing is is that you know, we
don't have asylum seekers down here in you know, the
southeast part of Arizona. There they don't want to get
caught and they're not giving up. They're all military age males.
They're in full camouflage coming in this country and nobody
knows who they are, where they're going. You don't see
(09:07):
that on the news very often. And they're not destitute
people trying to come to America to better their life.
There is some of that going on in the western
part of Arizona. Texas is you know, Texas is way
worse than we are, but these people are coming to
(09:27):
take advantage of America and they're going to change America
and they already have. They're living off of welfare, they're
taking some of the agriculture jobs. You know, we have
a legitimate work program and all you got to do
is sign up for it and you can get a
green car to work visa. But none of these people
(09:48):
are doing it. And you know, a lot of the
negative part of what Trump's going to do is, oh, well,
it's going to increase prices, and well, you know, America
are going to start doing the work or somebody that
has a legal work permit here and they're going to
be part of our society. But the majority of these
people are working under the shadows, and they're getting paid
(10:11):
under the table. They're taking advantage of healthcare, schools, anything
that has to do with your community, they're taking it
over well.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
And the other issue too, the other done to interrupt
on I apologize. The other issue too, is that there
has been literally there's been no vetting at all in
terms of who the who's crossing the border specific to
their criminal backgrounds. You know, we have seen tragedy after
tragedy after tragedy. We were very fortunate last week to
have interviewed Tom Homan. The income their borders are on
(10:42):
our show, and he was talking about how committed he
is to being able to stop the madness, to be
able to say, listen, you know, I'm going to be
looking for people who are public safety threats and national
security threats first, and then we're going to do what
do what we need to be able to do. And
(11:02):
from your perspective, how do you feel a about Tom
Holman's position on that and b when you listen to
politicians who were resisting him. I mean San Diego for example,
has just in Aft came out saying, hey, no, no,
we're a super sanctuary city. Now we're not going to
have our people cooperate with Ice. What what tell our
(11:22):
listeners how how that makes you feel as being somebody
who is on the front lines on the Mexican border
watching what's going on.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Well, then, number one, I met with Tom Holman last week.
He was down here and he is he's everywhere man
and he's the right man for the job.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
When you met with him, when you met with him,
just just tell our listeners what what that conversation if
you can share it with us, tell us what that
was like?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Well?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
What when when you met with him? What what is
he committing to do and and what did he say
to you?
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Well, he's committed the departing basically any and all of
the illegals that are here illegally that you know they
don't have any documentation or and you know he's following
the law. Right, that's the bottom line. There's no inns out.
If you're breaking the law, you're going to get deported.
(12:17):
And if you've got a felony in the US, you're
going to go to jail, right And what more can
you ask for? If you went to Mexico, even without
any criminal record, without proper paperwork, you'd be in jail.
America didn't do anything different than any other country wouldn't do.
But all of a sudden we got all that they
want these people here. Well, it's a deliberate plan to
(12:41):
change the demographics of America. These people are they think
they're going to vote Democrat by giving them everything, Well,
they probably will.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
It's amazing that to be speaking to someone like yourself, sir,
and to be able to listen to the common sense
in terms of what you've just outlined. We're talking about
enforcing the law, and people in some elected capacities, the
mayor of Denver, the mayor of Boston, the mayor of Chicago,
(13:09):
the governor of Illinois are basically saying, uh uh, we're
not going to cooperate with you. We're not going to
follow the law. It's infuriating. It's infuriating.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah, put them in jail two because that's a felony
that did not cooperate with federal authorities.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
And I think we're going to see borders our home
and do that because he made himself very clear in
terms of what he's going to do to the mayor
of Denver and certainly the mayor of Chicago, should they
not participate in his actions of being able to first
and foremost identify public safety threats, national security threats, and
do what needs to be done. And again, from your perspective,
(13:48):
you've lived this now for four generations, let me ask
you a question. You know, back in the day when
you were growing up on that ranch, when you were
a kid, you know, growing up on that ranch was
the problem as bad as a I mean, what was
it like back then.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Oh, we we're pretty close to a border town and
we always had guys that want to come day work.
And back then, it you know, you had a Brassero program.
It was a federal program where you would come to
America for up to six months work and then go home.
(14:25):
And and it worked good. And uh, these guys had
come in and they'd work, and oh, between the Mexican
government and the US government that that program got uh
disbanded and all that. But we've ended. We've sponsored three
guys to be citizens in my lifetime. And they wanted
(14:48):
to be Americans. They're proud of their heritage, but I
want to be an American. So you you provide them
work for a year, they take the citizenship class, and
you know, all of them have done real good and
they their kids are US citizens now. And everything worked
really good. But when it fell apart was when President
(15:09):
Reagan gave the amnesty. Yeah, and you know five what
was it five million, five and a half million?
Speaker 2 (15:17):
It was it was right, it was about that figure.
That's correct, and you know that.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
And I you know, Ronald Reagan was my hero. But
the deal was is that he'd give amnesty to that
many people and in the future. Uh. And we didn't
have some homeland security back then, but mart Patrol and
Ice and everybody else would enforce the law. Well, and
then you sabotaged him.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Well, and you know, and Ronald Reagan was on record.
I think he actually made a diary entry after he
signed that amnesty saying he was a bit uncertain in
regards to whether or not the enforcement mechanisms that were
promised in the passing of that amnesty would indeed be enforced.
And of course the architect of that amnesty was Senator
(16:06):
Ted Kennedy, you know, from Massachusetts. So even even Ronald
Reagan had some doubts and some questions in regards to
whether that was the right thing. But but but to
your point, you actually saw a change when when that
was when that legislation was signed.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Oh absolutely it, uh, you know, and well the thing,
we didn't have anybody going across the ranch. They'd come
right to the house to want a job. And you know,
as soon as it changed with the big group, you know,
I think the record group on the ranch is one
hundred and twenty in one group. But they they didn't
(16:46):
they don't want to work. They're they're going to other
parts of the US. And we always feed them, we
always give them water. And when my mother was still
alive and when it got over twenty and group she
quit feeding them. She said, what am I going to
feed them? Yeah? Yeah, you know a lot of times
she would you give him a loaf of bread and
(17:07):
some spam.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Yeah, And it's interesting. Freda and Peggy Davis told me
similar stories that, you know, people would show up at
the door and they were just looking for food and water,
and of course, of course they gave it to them.
And then of course the volume became so large and
so big that they couldn't do it anymore, and then
it became scary, and then it became scary in terms
(17:30):
of what was going on. What was the name, and
forgive me for not remembering it, but there was another
rancher who tragically lost his life when he went out there.
I think he was looking after an animal or something,
and he went out there and they found his body
a couple of days later. I forget that gentleman's name
rint Rob Krenz. That's correct, And I don't think they
(17:51):
ever apprehended whomever who never killed him, if I remember correctly,
that's right.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
It's it's still an open investigation. They'll never find who's
ever did it. He's probably dead by now because he
caused a lot of problems by killing Rob, but the
cartel took care of him, and that probably it's going
to be an outside chance if they're going to do
something to a rancher. But then you just never know.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
No, and and and John and John. Isn't there there's
a PostScript on the Rob Krantz murder. Didn't his wife
tragically lose her life too? Wasn't she wasn't she struck
in by by by a hitt and run? Was it?
Wasn't she involved a hit and run accident?
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Yeah, it didn't kill her, but it aren't sure affected
her well, brain, brain injuries and lots of broken bones.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I'm happy that that that that she that she didn't
pass away. I had I had some wrong information, but
I remember I remember Fred and Peg Peggy Davis talking
about how tragic because he was a truly loved figure
in your community, you know, from from from a rancher's perspective.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
So yeah, the last meeting that we were, you know,
the ranchers had a while. We still have a group
that we meet with Border Patrol. But one of Rob's
last comments was is that if you guys don't do something,
somebody's going to get killed and about two months later
it was rob that was the ironic or tragic statement.
(19:24):
That was one of the last things he said. The
border patrol.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
So with the expanse of area that you you front
on the border, border patrol is there all the time,
I would assume on.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Your ranch, well there, they're getting better. But for most
of Biden's administration, he had them in the at the
border patrol stations processing other illegals from different parts of Arizona,
and that we didn't have anybody on the border because
(19:57):
they were all and it was like you were saying earlier,
it was limited about how they vetted these people. They
were taking a fingerprint and ask them for their name,
and that was it. So we didn't have anybody patrol
in the border for about two and a half years.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
John, We asked Tom Holman this question, and I wanted
to ask you the same question because because I wanted
to find out what the morale of the border patrol
people are like now versus what it was like, you know,
before President elect Trump became you know, was elected again.
What what what when you're interfacing with the border patrol
over the last couple of years, what what was what
(20:37):
was in your opinion, What was morale like from for
those guys.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Oh, it's terrible. They were they had no hope and
what are we doing? But I will stick up for
Border Patrol is they still tried to do their job,
even though it was against what Biden's administration was telling them.
And since I got elected again, they're happy. They said,
(21:04):
now we could get back and the majority of them
are very much in favor of what Tom Holman's proposing.
And I'm proud of Border Patrol for still being here.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Good, good, good, Now, did you did Vice President Harris?
Did she may get down to Arizona when she visited
the wall for that fifteen minutes or where was she was?
He was not in Arizona.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
No, that was in Douglas, that's about thirty miles east
of US. And you're right, it was sixteen minutes. She
was on the border at the port of entry.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Sixteen minutes. There you go, yep.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
And then she had a press release and some building
down there. That was a joke. She had no clue
what she was doing.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
In the last couple of minutes that we have you
on the phone, John, and I thank you again for
giving us the time and giving us a little bit
of insight for our listeners to be fourth generation rancher,
to have ten and a half miles of of your ranch. Boy,
the kinds of things that you've experienced, What what what
is the what is the hope that you have for
(22:13):
for your ranch, for Arizona, for the state of where
the country is going? Tell us what you what you were?
What what is the next four years going to do?
What are you hoping for over the next four years?
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Well, uh, Trump's first four years, you know, he pretty
well shut the border down on our ranch just and
and the biggest thing, from my opinion, was the stay
in Mexico policy. Yeah, and you know he pretty well
told Mexico if they don't cooperate with him what he
was going to do with tariffs or however you want
(22:47):
to call it. But Mexico is a big trade part.
You know, there's money in politics involved in the whole border.
It's not about immigration, it's about smuggling, right And with
his he's already met with Mexico's president and I think
they're going to cooperate. But the Tom Homan project, I
(23:12):
am hoping that when he starts mass deportation that that's
going to send the messages don't even come because you'll
get departed.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Well, And as you've told our listeners earlier, and what
you're seeing now compared to what you saw two years,
a year ago, four years or so ago, you know, yeah,
you know during the you know you you you have
seen a lessening of what's crossing right now. And that
that I think is a message that I think has
already been interpreted and been heard.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Yeah, And well then I'll just go back. During Trump's
four years, they were probably catching ten a month on us,
ten illegals a month, and we rebuilt a bunch of
fins and thought, well, you know, Donald Trump's going to
have a second term and everything's going to be good.
(24:03):
And when Biden got elected, before he took office, the
next morning, we had five groups around the headquarters here
and we hadn't had a group around the house all
of Trump's four years. And got there and here they come.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
And that group was how big again, John?
Speaker 3 (24:22):
There were five different groups between six in the morning
and noon, and anywhere from six to twelve people in
each group. And when I was with well, I wasn't
with bord Crow, but I ended up talking to them
at one group and I said, well, what's going on
with this? And they said, well, they're telling us that
since Trump's gone and Joe Beiden wants to have us here.
(24:46):
That's how they say Biden in their Spanish, Joe Biden
wants us here. And two of them had t shirts
from oting Biden for president. There you go, So that
that's how blatant it was as far as what he
was doing behind the scenes, and you know, and he
promised eleven million people amnesty and in one of his
(25:07):
campaign speeches. Yeah, yeah, and that so I mean that
pretty well sums it up. But I think the oh,
the sanctuary cities. I don't know about what's going to
happen in California, but I think all these other ones.
People are waking up back East and saying this is
not a good thing that we have all of these
illegals in our communities.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
That's correct, That is correct. John. I can't thank you
enough for giving us and giving our listeners the time
that you have. We will certainly if it's okay. We
would very much like to keep in touch with you
as the new administration comes in. I'd love to be
able to get frontline reports from your ranch so our
listeners can really understand what's going on, what your family
(25:49):
has been through, and certainly what you're seeing from us
as the new administration you know, takes office. John, John Ladd,
thank you very very much for joining us on Hudson
Valley this morning with Ed Klewalski. We will be in
touch with you, sir, if that's okay.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Absolutely I looked forward to it.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
All right, John, thank you. Have a good day, sir,
good too.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Yep. Bye,
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