National Sheriffs' group hears concerns of local ranchersDEREK JORDAN | HERALD/REVIEW
Sun, 04/26/2015 - 6:32pm
SIERRA VISTA: Desperate for decisive action to stop the
ever-present incursions across their lands by smugglers and illegal immigrants coming north, more than a dozen ranchers and residents from along Cochise County's border with Mexico spoke to representatives of a national sheriff's group on Saturday.
Invited to the area by Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, two leading members of the National Sheriffs' Association visited with locals at the Turquoise Valley Golf Course in Naco to better understand the origin of an issue that has had a national impact.
"This is really where it starts. The sheriffs along the border, whether it's Arizona, Texas, New Mexico or California, it doesn't matter, they're the ones that catch the brunt of it. They're the ones that get the call from the citizens, like those ranchers we heard from. But, when those people get here, get across our border uncontested, then it becomes a national problem," said Harold Eavenson, the third vice president of the National Sheriffs' Association and sheriff of Rockwall County, Texas.
Decades of repairing broken fences, burglaries, home invasions and other crimes associated with smuggling activities have left many border residents disillusioned with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol enforcement, which they see as ineffective, and with elected officials in Washington who are either unaware of the problem or do not consider it a priority.
"The border can be secured, we've proved it in a lot of different areas where the Border Patrol has shut it down, but they've diverted them farther and farther out into the country, into these peoples' backyards. It can be secured, but they have to have a desire to do it, and they have to actually have some directions on how to do it," said Gary Thrasher, a large animal veterinarian who has worked with the ranching community in Cochise County for years.
Rancher Fred Davis lamented what he called a lack of innovation in Border Patrol efforts in Cochise County.
"They never try anything new here, they just pound their head against the wall, the same way they've done it forever," Davis said.
The source of the issue extends to the nation?s capitol, however.
"The main thing is, there's no will in Washington to shut down the border, and that?s our main problem," he said.
Many of the local ranchers spoke up in support of the efforts of the Cochise County Sheriff's Office, and called on federal leaders to work more closely with local law enforcement.
"What we really need is more involvement with local police and local sheriffs, in directing how to do it in their area, and they can specifically shut down those areas," Thrasher said.
When local agencies work closely with their federal partners, they produce results, said Sheriff Mark Dannels.
An example provided by the sheriff was the early success of a joint task force, the Southeastern Arizona Border Region Enforcement team, established in 2013 and made up of deputies and federal agents from the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"The first six-to-eight weeks they were in operation, they took down 30 people. This is a collaborative effort," Dannels said. "What we're doing at the local level are solutions."
A number of other sheriffs from across Arizona were also present at Saturday?s meeting and spoke on the impacts that poor border security was having in their communities.
"The best way to explain it is,
it's like a wave. It hits here, five hours later, it's hitting up there," said K. C. Clark, sheriff of Navajo County. "We have illegals going through there. We get into pursuits with them. They wreck cars, or drive them through communities."
Earlier this month, Pinal County Sheriff's Deputies pursued a man going over 100 m.p.h. on the interstate carrying a load of illegal immigrants. The driver, once caught, was found to have been departed from the country 20 times.
"We've got to enforce the law. There's got to be real consequences," said Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.
Leaders in Washington need to take what is known to work and apply it on the border before a catastrophe occurs, he said.
"The culture of Mexico and Central America, they fear their military, and they all realize and know the American military is the most powerful in the world. Keep in mind they want to go without detection into the United States. So we have all these things working for us. We need to deploy armed soldiers, for a period of two years, not to militarize the border, but to gain control of the border, all nine sectors of the US. Border Patrol," Babeu said.
The National Sheriffs' Association can do more and will do more to get the message heard from local ranchers out to national leaders, Eaverson said.
"Someone made the point that, if you're going to fix the problem, you need to talk to the people that deal with it on a day-to-day basis, and you need to get them involved in the process, and he?s exactly right," he said. "It starts here, but it doesn't end here."
http://www.svherald.com/content/sierra-vista-news/2015/04/26/395733
