PHOENIX – Four of Arizona sheriffs are urging President Joe Biden to end the border crisis. Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, Greenlee County Sheriff Tim Sumner, and La Paz County Sheriff William Ponce joined over 270 sheriffs from 39 states in penning a letter to the president.
The sheriffs, representing a combined 19.82 million Americans, outlined their public safety concerns and allege that the administration is “encouraging and sanctioning lawlessness and the victimization of the people of the United States of America, all in the name of mass illegal immigration.”
“Here in Pinal County, some 60 miles north of the border, my deputies encounter car loads of Illegal Aliens almost on a nightly basis. And along our major corridors, trash and other evidence of drug and human smuggling litter the desert,” said Lamb. “These issues do not stay here in Pinal Co., they disperse into every corner of our country. The President’s policies have stretched our resources thin, placing our citizens’ safety at risk.”
“You must act now before our nation’s public safety resources are overwhelmed with the criminal side effects of unchecked illegal immigration, including transnational gangs, guns, dangerous drugs and human trafficking,” the sheriffs wrote in the letter. “America’s sheriffs urge you, Mr. President, to reverse course and help us protect our communities by securing the southern border. Both the Barack Obama and Donald Trump administrations recognized the threats and dangers presented by illegal immigration. It is critically important that you see it as well.”
Letter to President Joe Biden:
Dear Mr. President:
America’s Sheriffs are deeply troubled about the dangerous impacts your administration’s border policies are having on our citizens, legal residents and communities.
You must act now before our nation’s public safety resources are overwhelmed with the criminal side effects of unchecked illegal immigration, including transnational gangs, guns, dangerous drugs and human trafficking.
America’s Sheriffs urge you, Mr. President, to reverse course and help us protect our communities by securing the southern border. Both the Barack Obama and Donald Trump administrations recognized the threats and dangers presented by illegal immigration. It is critically important that you see it as well.
We, the undersigned sheriffs, like you, took oaths and made promises to the American people that we would uphold and enforce the rule of law. The crisis at the border is penetrating our neighborhoods throughout the interior of the United States, thus undermining our unyielding commitment to protect “We, the People.”
As this situation continues to evolve, more families will be exposed to the violence associated with drug trafficking and transnational gangs. More parents will suffer the loss of their children, not because they were irresponsible, but because of exposure to criminal illegal alien violence caused by the reckless and irresponsible policies of your administration.
America’s Sheriffs recognize that in order for democracy to flourish and remain healthy in our republic, we must uphold and enforce the rule of law. There is no place for injecting political agendas that diminish the safety and security of our nation. We cannot undermine the confidence and faith of the people in our basic precept of equal justice under the law. Our founders established the legislative branch of government to create and amend laws. Neither “We, the People” nor the founders ever intended for those elected officials chosen by the American people to represent their interests to circumvent the legislature and decide for themselves what special class of individuals will be excused from abiding by our existing laws.
In a myriad of ways, you and your administration are encouraging and sanctioning lawlessness and the victimization of the people of the United States of America, all in the name of mass illegal immigration.
What is most troubling to America’s Sheriffs is that you and your administration were well aware that this crisis would happen when you ceased construction of the border wall and changed border security policies. Sheriffs were talking with the Obama/Biden administration about these same concerns that we were experiencing at the time based on the lax policies then being implemented. In fact, America’s Sheriffs attended meetings in Washington with then-Undersecretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas, who is now your Secretary of Homeland Security. You and he are fully aware of what illegal immigration does to our citizens, legal residents and our communities.
You may imagine how violated America’s Sheriffs feel that you unleashed a predictable crisis upon our nation that puts those we promised to protect at risk of grave danger. America’s Sheriffs will not defy our oaths. We will not join with those who suggest that we ignore existing laws in collusion with those elected officials who arbitrarily feel that they should be excused from being accountable and required to follow our laws. To do so would violate the promise of America’s Sheriffs to those who bestowed upon us the honor and privilege to represent their safety and security concerns. The people of the United States of America expect us always to uphold and enforce the rule of law.
In the interests of ending the undermining of our laws and the increased risks to the safety and security of the people of the United States of America, we respectfully request that you immediately reverse course on your pro-illegal immigration policies, resume the border wall construction, and embrace the common-sense, public-safety-supporting border policies of the previous administration.
America’s Sheriffs believe that the citizens we serve have an absolute expectation that our efforts will be rooted in public service rather than political self-service. This fundamental distinction is the only path forward to a safer, more prosperous nation.
America’s Sheriffs stand ready to work with you and your administration if you are willing to move in the right direction. Until that time, all of us will continue to uphold our oaths, enforce our sovereign authorities, fight for public safety, and keep our promises to the American people who have placed their trust in us.
Sincerely,