Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the US-Mexico border near Douglas, Arizona, on Friday, and a local sheriff who will greet her at the airport revealed the message she will give her.
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, who has served as a lawman in the border town since 2012, told DailyMail.com that his home has been devastated by the border policies of President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris. .
He described how the rural area has been inundated with border-related deaths, tragedies and crimes, and that the Biden-Harris agenda has caused irreparable damage.
And new data from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) obtained by DailyMail.com on Friday shows that more than 600,000 immigrants with criminal records are at large within the country.
But Dannels hopes to mend the divide between the Republican-leaning area and the Democratic vice president, saying he plans to give her a gift at the airport when she arrives.
Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris waves after being greeted by Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., as she departs for the U.S.-Mexico border from DC.
“If we don’t engage, we don’t talk, we can’t solve it,” Dannels said of the problems plaguing the border. “That’s why it’s good that she’s coming, it really is.”
And the Republican perfectly understands the optics and timing behind the planned trip.
“I understand politics, ’tis the season,” he joked.
Last month, Dannels also accompanied former President Donald Trump on a trip to the border wall.
The former president gave a campaign speech and talked about his plans to resume construction of the barrier – something the Biden-Harris administration halted in its first days in power – and how the United States has been reeling from “immigration crime,” its term for rape. enacted by recently arrived immigrants.
Dannels then spoke about Trump’s strong plan for the border and the return of security to southern Arizona.
He seemed to agree with the former president’s complaints that more than ten million illegal immigrants have been found entering the United States under the current administration.
The trip comes the same day Immigration and Customs Enforcement released shocking new data indicating that hordes of illegal immigrants convicted of crimes have been released into the U.S. interior.
‘As of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 non-citizens with criminal records on ICE’s national file: 13,099 criminally convicted MURDERS!’ Rep. Tony Gonzalez, R-Texas, posted on social media after obtaining the data.
Of them, more than 425,000 immigrants convicted of crimes are roaming around without being detained, the data revealed.
ICE could hardly ignore the terrifying statistic.
‘ICE recognizes that some jurisdictions are concerned that cooperation with federal immigration officials will erode trust with immigrant communities and make it more difficult for local authorities to serve those populations. However, ‘sanctuary’ policies can end up protecting dangerous criminals, who often victimize those same communities,” he said in a statement to Fox News.
Trump has pointed out the dangers of sanctuary cities throughout his campaign, while Harris has previously embraced politics that now blames ICE for illegal immigrant criminals on the loose.
Now that Harris is coming to town, Dannels is hedging his bets and hoping he can help.
Cochise County Sheriff’s Office Facebook Images: Mark J. Dannels Sheriff.
Trump speaks at a campaign event in Cochise County, Arizona, in August. Sheriff Dannels can be seen in the image above standing on the right wearing a hat.
The sheriff was also photographed with Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake in 2022 as she ran in the state’s gubernatorial race.
‘Number one, she is still our acting vice president. “Number two, if she is elected president, I hope this is a foundation that she remembers, because I want to share our tragedies, I want to share our reality with her,” he said.
“I have a letter that I will give you when I find it when I get off the plane today,” the sheriff told DailyMail.com.
‘But the reality is putting all that aside to meet her. (If) she is elected and then does nothing to fix it. He can’t say he didn’t know.
He did say, however, that the damage caused by his policies cannot be repaired.
Nothing within his or the vice president’s power can reverse the impacts of recent years of Biden-Harris border policies, he said.
‘Where we’ve been she can’t fix it. I can’t fix it. What has already happened are some tragedies and sad stories and my heart is touched by all of that.’
‘But where do we go from now on? What is our plan? That’s the question.’
‘I’ll meet her at the airport. Spend some time with her, welcome her, but also address our concerns.’
The sheriff confirmed that his area, which is in the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, has seen an explosion in illegal immigrant encounters.
Migrants who crossed illegally into Arizona stand in line waiting to be processed by Border Patrol
Immigrants have come to Arizona from all over the world, including Africa and Asia.
“We have about 150,000 more encounters than any other sector on the border,” he revealed, noting that the figures have not been published and are still being finalized.
The fact that Harris came to Arizona amid the high number of illegal crossings has divided some local law enforcement officials.
‘The opinions are mixed. There’s no doubt about it.’
“When I see people dying in my county, I see people dying all over the country because fentanyl is coming through Arizona in record numbers, the American sheriffs and the White House and hopefully Congress has to come together to fix it.”
Although not all law enforcement officials are so optimistic about the trip.
Some Border Patrol officials think Harris’ trip comes “too little, too late” and shared that they believe the “problems we’ve had at our borders were caused by this administration,” a source revealed to DailyMail.com .
Similarly, National Border Patrol Council Vice President Art Del Cueto told DailyMail.com that he, too, was not enthusiastic about Harris’ election-year trip.
Camouflage-clad cartel smugglers wait for the perfect moment to sneak their human cargo across the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona last month.
Here you can see a human smuggler using binoculars to spy on DailyMail.com during a trip to report on holes in the border wall.
National Border Patrol Council board member Art Del Cueto walks with U.S. Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump along the U.S.-Mexico border August 22, 2024 south of Sierra View, Arizona. Del Cueto told DailyMail.com that Harris created the problems at the Arizona border.
“After years of not only ignoring the problem, but helping to create it, Vice President Kamala Harris is finally heading to the border,” he said in a statement.
Del Cueto was similarly at Trump’s visit to the Arizona border wall last month. He was a Border Patrol agent in the Tucson Sector for years and still lives there.
“This is nothing more than her checking the box, but what it really is is a slap in the face to the men and women who risk their lives every day, and also a slap in the face to Americans.” public.’
‘Where have you been?’