“This issue has brought us together—the farmers, the ranchers and the people on the river,” Brand said. “We’re like the Boy Scouts.”
Othal E. Brand Jr. is a man in control, and as such, when drug cartels began exploiting the stretch of river at the water pump station he runs, he built a Border Patrol-friendly boat ramp, watchtower and helicopter pad to beef security there.
In the Rio Grande Valley, Brand wields more power than most—he’s the elected president of Hidalgo County Water Improvement District 3 and his father was mayor of McAllen, Texas, for 20 years—but to hear him tell it, his actions speak more to a layman protecting his property than a show of might for the sake of it.
“It bothers me when I hear, ‘It’s the federal government’s job’ [to secure the border],” said Brand, giving a tour of this riverfront pump facility from behind the wheel of his massive black Cadillac. “Or when people say, ‘Oh, that’s Border Patrol’s job.’ Nah. You live here. Citizens can help, too.”
Partly by Brand and the water district’s doing, this pumping facility might be the most secure section along the 1,896-mile Rio Grande.
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