Columnist Salena Zito recently took a trip to the Texas border and rode along with the Border Patrol. Through night vision goggles she got a taste of exactly what we're facing.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

This is not "Houston, we've got a problem"; this is a regional occurrence with a national impact.

Texas currently is a gateway for MS-13 into the United States, although their final destination is not always Texas. They are spread throughout the United States. Law enforcement has to deal with them in places like Virginia and our nation's capital. They follow a simple model -- migrate to where you already have a foothold.

Mara Salvatrucha is real and is a threat. They're the gang that likes to go around with machetes chopping peoples hands off.

Salena continues on regarding illegal aliens and Mexico.

[Mexican President Vicente] Fox's policy is "see you later." For Fox, immigration is economic development; the largest single source of income in his country comes from Mexicans living in the United States sending cash home. Illegal immigration exorcises his political demons -- abysmal poverty and a languishing market.

...

The threat to our national security and way of life is real and the threat is urgent. It is out there, somewhere in the heartland. What happens at the border never stays at the border. And it may very well be coming to a neighborhood near you.

Go read the whole thing.