County governments in Texas, overwhelmed by a flood of illegal aliens and rapidly increasing border violence, want the federal government to come up with $10 million to help them pay for manpower increases, rising fuel bills and much-needed vehicles and equipment.

Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, a member of the Texas Border Sheriffs' Coalition, said the federal government's failure to control illegal immigration and to curtail the growing violence along the 1,200-mile Texas-Mexico border had forced county law-enforcement authorities into a "financial nightmare."

"We have tried everything we know to make the federal government aware of the problems at the border and how they have [affected] us," Sheriff Gonzalez told The Washington Times. "And while they say they are aware of the problems, they just leave it alone."

...Sheriff Gonzalez said he did not know what response to expect for the funding request. He noted that in July, when it invited President Bush, a former Texas governor, the state's two U.S. senators, six members of Congress who represent Texas' border areas, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico and other elected officials to a coalition meeting, only Rep. Henry Cuellar, Texas Democrat, attended.

A major concern to the coalition, Sheriff Gonzalez said, is the possibility that terrorists could be paying Mexican drug and immigrant smugglers for help in crossing the border. In the meantime, Sheriff Gonzalez said Texas border residents are terrorized by rising violence...