ALPINE, Texas (NewsNation Now) — Brewster County — the largest county in Texas — is home to 192 linear miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. It’s a hard stretch of land for local law enforcement and border patrol to monitor and patrol and it’s a treacherous one to cross.

“You can’t carry enough water on you to make it through here without some kind of aid,” Sheriff Ronny Dodson said.

For the past two decades, Dodson has been the sheriff of Brewster County. Geographically, the county is larger than the entire state of Connecticut, laying claim to more than 6,000 acres along the border. The mountains and more than 100 miles of the desert make it among the most dangerous stretches for migrant crossers.

Brewster County is struggling to keep up with the rising number of unauthorized border crossings that began to increase under President Joe Biden’s administration, Dodson said.

The Big Bend Sector that encompasses Brewster County is often thought to be the quietest along the south. But so far, migrant apprehensions are up 63%  in the 2022 fiscal year.

“This spot is busy,” Dodson said. “We’re busier than we’ve ever been.”

It’s at least a seven-day walk from the river to the nearest town through unforgiving terrain, but it hasn’t stopped people from trying. In December, officers apprehended 88 people who crossed the border in five vehicles, Dodson said.

It’s also not unheard of for local police to discover the bodies of those who couldn’t complete the trek through the desert.

Unlike other towns where law enforcement is eager to see the border wall completed, Dodson feels the barrier would only hurt the local economy.

“This county survives on tourism,” he said. “If you lock this area off from the people who live here, who make money here, it will devastate them.”

In June 2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot deployed the National Guard to help manage the influx of crossings, but their presence hasn’t been much help, according to the sheriff.

Like local police, the National Guard can’t detain someone based on their immigration status.  

“We do not have the authority to enforce immigration. … No one’s telling that story that local policemen, local sheriffs, we don’t have that authority. We have the authority to protect. Some laws have been made now that let us arrest smugglers that are furthering migrants into the country.”

Under a new anti-smuggling law that took effect in September, police no longer have to show that a person accepted money to help another cross the border.

The arrests send a strong message, Dodson said. But they’re also packing the county jail and occupying bed space that the county could profit from if they had the capacity to house a limited number of federal inmates.

What Dodson says he needs are more border patrol officers to man the long stretches of desert where migrants can easily camouflage themselves.

“It’s unbelievable,” Dodson said. “The border is not secured. I don’t know know how many times I can say that.”