While the Biden administration is mostly hiding the illegal immigration surge from the public, the nation’s sheriffs have decided to open up their view to reporters to draw attention to the “historic crisis” that they say is pushing drugs and death deep into America.
In a move that challenges the administration’s selective release of video and photos and restrictions on the media, border sheriffs today said they are eager for reporters to see what their deputies are encountering in the new surge of about 1,000 illegal immigrants a day.
The effort is being led by the National Sheriffs’ Association.
“Media can bring their cameras, notebooks and microphones, and in the spirit of transparency, sheriffs will provide access to media to see the border firsthand, areas of half-built border wall and tour sheriff facilities and their communities,” said the association, adding, “Media will see firsthand the current challenges confronting border communities during this crisis.”
Association Executive Director Jonathan Thompson and Cochise County, Arizona, Sheriff Mark Dannels, chairman of the NSA Border Security Committee, said they are committed to openness. “Sheriffs are committed to talking with our constituents, the American people, about this historic crisis,” they said.
And they added that there is an urgency for action from the administration.
In a joint statement shared with Secrets, they said, “The federal government’s border strategy is causing COVID-19 outbreaks, rampant human trafficking, cartel and gang violence, opioid and drug smuggling and countless deaths.”
Earlier, the association told Secrets that COVID infections have reached 50% among some groups of illegal immigrants.
What’s more, they suggested that it is quickly getting out of control. “The enormity of the situation is quickly moving from our border to communities in America,” they said.
The invitation comes as others are making the trip to the border, including administration officials and lawmakers.
At issue is the huge surge of migrants coming to cross illegally or to be apprehended by Border Patrol officials because they believe President Biden’s move to dismantle former President Donald Trump’s border tightening was an invitation to become citizens. Many have arrived wearing T-shirts reading, “Biden, Please Let Us In.”
Val Verde County, Texas, Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez told CNN that he wants Biden to come up with a fix fast. “We don’t know what the plan is. In my opinion, you know, the policymakers came in with a policy change, but they had no plan in place to implement that plan. So this is what we’re seeing. People are going to continue to come in mass numbers. People are going to die. But something has to be done quick,” he said.
The CNN video is remarkable in that it shows a group of migrants being guided to the U.S. through the Rio Grande, making the delivery and even throwing dry clothes to a Border Patrol agent, then turning back with a thumbs up.
