PHOENIX — On Wednesday, two Arizona sheriffs shared stories of how increased crimes along the border are impacting their communities.
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels and Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot presented to lawmakers the challenges they face daily in a joint special session.
“The whole goal is any information on what we deal with on a daily basis,” Sheriff Wilmot said.
Sheriff Dannels said authorities also seized 373,000 fentanyl pills in the county just last week. He also says the county is seeing an increasing number of cases involving smugglers.
Dannels said more than 2,800 people have been booked for border-related crimes into the county jail over the past two years, roughly 44% of all bookings.
“I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the uglier [..] this board after four decades and right now it’s the ugliest I’ve ever seen it,” Dannels said.
Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot urged lawmakers to pressure the federal government for asylum law reform and to increase reimbursement costs for jailing people illegally living in the area.
“The need for them to look at addressing it from a geographic perspective not just a broad brush stroke solution. Because there isn’t one,” Wilmot said.
During Lukeville’s port of entry closure and record migrant numbers in December, Governor Katie Hobbs sent the Arizona National Guard to help after the federal government did not issue an order.
Dannels said the National Guard helped in his jail and with surveillance cameras.
“We’ve asked that additional Guardsmen go back in our jail again to help us,” Dannels said.
The sheriffs said they’re grateful for state funding, including the proposed $16 million for border initiatives in Hobbs’ newly introduced budget.
Still, they say increasing funding for local law enforcement is a critical part of expanding their work.
“The more money we put toward it, the more effort we put toward it, the more lives we can save, so where is the price tag on that one?” Dannels said.
