'America is suffering,' sheriffs call on Washington to act on border security concerns

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(TND) — The nation's sheriffs are calling on Washington to find bipartisan solutions to a border security situation they say is unsustainable and endangers Americans.

The American Sheriff Alliance released a position statement last week on immigration and border security, urging lawmakers to devote the financial resources and make the policy changes they say are needed to properly address a national security threat.

The alliance represents over 3,000 sheriff offices nationwide and includes the National Sheriffs’ Association, Major County Sheriffs of America, Western States Sheriffs’ Association, Southwestern Border Sheriffs’ Coalition, and the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition.

Sheriff Kieran Donahue of Canyon County, Idaho, is the president of the National Sheriffs' Association and said they formed the alliance with the other sheriff’s groups about three years ago.

The alliance meets a couple of times a year somewhere along the southern border, and the sheriffs in the alliance were tired of not having their concerns heard by policymakers.

“We're sheriffs, we deal with it in every jurisdiction, whether we're the interior or whether we're on a southern or northern border,” Donahue said Monday. “And so, they asked that we put this together to show some of the numbers and some of the urgency, especially when you look at known suspected terrorists, you look at people who have been released that have terrorist ties to countries that are not favorable to the United States. And that was the impetus behind the statement. We are still struggling as jurisdictions no matter where we are, and we are all facing the same problems and issues."

Illegal border crossings are down from record-breaking levels but remain exceedingly high and a threat to public safety, the alliance said.

There have been more than 10 million illegal entry encounters nationwide since the beginning of fiscal 2021, up from about 3 million between fiscal 2017 and 2020.

There are an estimated 2 million “got-aways” who have evaded Customs and Border Protection and are now somewhere in the U.S., the group said.

The influx of immigrants costs taxpayers and strains local resources, with as hospitals and transportation, the group said.

Nearly 70% of Americans in a recent survey conducted for the National Sheriffs’ Association said they think migrants crossing the border is a problem for their community. That’s up from 50% that a May 2023 poll found.

And almost 400 illegal immigrants from 36 different countries have entered the country since early 2021 who appear on the government’s Terrorist Screening Database.

Most people come to the U.S. seeking a better way of life for themselves and their families, the sheriff alliance said. Those migrants are fleeing oppression, violence and economic issues in their own countries.

“I don't know that there's a sheriff in United States that blames those people for trying to find a better life for themselves and their children,” Donahue said.

But the sheriff alliance warned that there "are also criminals and members of terrorist organizations who have the intent of harming Americans and destroying our way of life.”

The people coming in for “nefarious reasons” are walking alongside the well-meaning migrants, who are also being victimized and extorted by the cartels, Donahue said.

“As you see these people come in, we don't know whose friend or foe,” he said.

Donahue said he was in Yuma, Arizona, just a couple of weeks ago and walked through a migrant processing center with the CBP sector chief who told him the migrants will be kept there for up to 10 days before boarding a bus or plane to someplace else in the U.S.

Authorities can’t adequately track the people released within the country pending court dates years down the line, he said.

Meanwhile, Washington is playing political games with border security, he said.

“What have you done? Whose feet have you held to the fire with the people across the aisle in a bipartisan approach to truly help?” Donahue said.

The sheriff alliance said it wants the White House and Congress to work on bipartisan solutions that would help stem the tide and secure our borders while also creating a legitimate and streamlined pathway to citizenship.

The alliance said issues at the border are complex and deserve genuine attention by our policymakers, but the policy statement decried those who use “border visits for social media purposes only.”

The sheriffs want Washington to complete the border wall, end blanket asylum cooperation agreements, cease widespread catch-and-release practices, and expand the number of CBP and Drug Enforcement Administration personnel assigned to border security and drug interdiction. They also said sheriffs across the country need more federal support to hire more deputies and officers, and to obtain the technology that will better equip them to keep our communities safe.

“It doesn't matter, again, what side of the aisle you sit on,” Donahue said. “This is America, and America is suffering. And it's going to suffer more until we can get a handle on this thing.”

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