Spike in Illegal Immigration Overwhelms Sheriffs; Families Exposed to Gang, Drug Violence

Local law enforcement agencies nationwide are overwhelmed with criminal activity linked to a huge increase in illegal immigration and families are being exposed to violence associated with drug trafficking and transnational gangs, according to hundreds of sheriffs across the United States. In a letter to President Joe Biden, the law enforcement officials in more than two dozen states blast the administration’s “reckless and irresponsible” open border policies that are exposing innocent citizens to illegal alien violence. Titled, “Help America’s Sheriffs Keep Our Neighborhoods and Communities Safe by Halting Illegal Immigration,” the document asserts that the crisis began when Biden was vice president.

“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,” the sheriffs write. “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.” The law enforcement officials continue: “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.”

Among the letter’s signatories are sheriffs in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, and Texas to name a few. Even sheriffs, who are typically elected to head county law enforcement agencies, in states that broadly offer illegal immigrants sanctuary signed the letter. They include several in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Jersey, Illinois, Oregon, and Vermont. “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,” the cops write to the commander-in-chief. “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 officials continue by writing that Americans expect them to uphold and enforce the rule of law and assure that they will uphold the oath to do so. “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.” The Obama and Trump administrations “recognized the threats and dangers presented by illegal immigration,” the law enforcement officials write, adding that it is “critically important” that Biden see it as well.

The sheriff who wrote the letter, Thomas M. Hodgson in Bristol County, Massachusetts, sent it to his counterparts throughout the U.S. and 275 sheriffs in 39 states quickly signed it. Hodgson authored it after government figures revealed a record number of illegal immigrant minors entered the country from Mexico. Around the same time, the U.S. Border Patrol disclosed that it arrested more than twice as many criminal migrants in the first six months of fiscal year 2021 than it did in all of 2020. In the first half of this fiscal year, the Border Patrol apprehended 5,018 “criminal aliens” compared to 2,438 in all of fiscal year 2020. The agency defines criminal aliens as individuals who have been convicted of one or more crimes, whether in the U.S. or abroad, prior to interdiction by federal agents.