DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - They want the nation to know it is a crisis, and they say it needs to be addressed immediately.
The Sheriffs' Association of Texas released a strongly-worded statement Tuesday, calling on Congress to act promptly in securing the nearly 2,000 miles of the nation's southern border and its ports of entry.
The immigration issue has been a hot one politically, with Congress recently voting to overturn President Trump's declaration of a national emergency declaration on the U.S.-Mexico border. The president last week vetoed that rebuke.
Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner is on the Sheriffs' Association board of directors. Of the statement, he said, "The first thing it does is that it illustrates the frustration that Texas sheriffs are feeling about the inability of our lawmakers to get together and address this problem. Like this statement said, it's pretty obvious that there's a lot of folks that are blinded by partisanship, and they can't get on the same page. Listen, this is a tsunami of people crossing into the United States illegally."
Skinner said the border crisis has a direct link to the drug issues seen by his department and others across North Texas. He said, "We interdict narcotics on the highways, and we see levels of drug seizures today that we've never seen before. These people operate with impunity. And, we're sick of it. That's the bottom line."
Skinner said Collin County has had 154 deaths from drug overdoses over the past two years. He hopes the latest message from Texas sheriffs will be heard in Washington. Skinner said, "Stop your bickering. Get together, and let's get something done."
Here is the text of the full statement from the Sheriffs' Association of Texas:
STATEMENT OF TEXAS SHERIFFS ON BORDER CRISIS
The Sheriffs' Association of Texas joins the Southwestern Border Sheriffs'
Coalition and the sheriffs of the State of North Carolina in announcing its support for,
and encouragement of, Congress to act promptly to secure the nearly 2,000 miles of the
nation's southern border and its ports of entry.
Congress can substantially improve public safety only by rationally updating
and coordinating national policy in several key areas, including policy on physical
security—the construction of stretches of a wall or other physical barriers in strategic
locations, drones and other technology, and manpower—on immigration, on law
enforcement, and on economic and trade relations. In addition to securing the border,
Congress's goals should include preserving and strengthening international relations,
the rule of law, and our long and rich friendship with Mexico and other nations.
Texas sheriffs recognize that the nation has several competing goals in the field
of border security and that it has limited resources. A broad-based and long-term
solution will be difficult and expensive. But outdated and uncoordinated public policies
are creating an increasing threat to public safety at home and abroad. How many more
hundreds of thousands of Americans must perish from drug overdoses before Congress
is willing to stop bickering and work together with the President of the United States in
a meaningful way to solve this crisis? Federal, state and local law enforcement on the
border and across Texas acknowledge that the flow of illegal immigration into the
United States is completely out of control. Yet, politicians blinded by partisanship, are
unwilling to concede that every level of law enforcement and the communities they live
in along our southern border are overwhelmed by a tsunami of asylum seekers who
make their dangerous journey knowing that untenable and outdated US immigration
policies won't allow them to be turned away and returned to their countries of origin.
Criminals on both sides of the border are exploiting this humanitarian crisis and
the lack of security on our border with Mexico. These same criminals are flooding our
nation with narcotics and dangerous drugs, the likes of which has never been seen
before. Texas sheriffs, therefore, add their voice to the growing expression of political
will for Congress to act promptly to secure the southern border.
