Utah sheriffs say US government must 'do its job' after visits to southern border | News, Sports, Jobs

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald file photo

Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith recently traveled to the southern United States to observe first-hand conditions at the U.S.-Mexico border as immigration continues to increase. t be a hotly debated issue in the run-up to this year's elections.

Smith traveled to the border in Arizona with Kane County Sheriff Tracy Glover after receiving an invitation from the sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona. The two Utah sheriffs also met with U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy at the border.

The trip took place in late March, and Smith said that while immigration was a hot topic this election year, he wanted to see it “with my own eyes.”

Smith said he was first invited by the Cochise County sheriff to a roundtable with the Western States Sheriffs' Association, adding that the meeting took place the day before the State of President Joe Biden's Union.

“Hearing what's happening at the border, directly from the people who work at the border, and then the next night hearing a completely different story from our president is a little disheartening,” he said. he declares.

Ryan Aston, Standard Examiner

Smith said problems at the border “affect all of us,” regardless of Utah’s proximity to the border.

“This affects all over the United States. Utah is no exception and Utah County is no exception,” he said.

While in Arizona, Smith said he never saw any Border Patrol agents and described driving past a Border Patrol outpost in Arizona, saying it was fenced off by covered patrol cars of dust.

“It looked like a ghost town and, you know, the (Cochise County) sheriff and his deputies told us, 'We'll be shocked if you see an officer,'” he said.

During the trip, Smith said he learned from local law enforcement in Arizona what to look for regarding the “business side” of any trafficking or cartel operation.

While Smith said Utah, and the nation in general, could benefit from improvements in immigration enforcement, he said local law enforcement “works hard” to enforce the law and that there is a “false narrative” from some Utah political candidates that agents don’t do this. their work.

Rep. Phil Lyman, running for governor against Gov. Spencer Cox, repeated his claims that Utah is a “sanctuary state” as part of his criticism of the current governor, according to Utah News Dispatch.

U.S. Senate candidate Trent Staggs shared in October the release of a memo from the Salt Lake City field office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, nicknamed ICE, making a similar claim.

“If someone breaks the law and is an illegal immigrant, they will be arrested and prosecuted like anyone else, but with that, they have the same protections under the Constitution as anyone else,” he said. “This is our nation.”

Smith said the problem is that ICE is not communicating with local authorities and failing to resolve the problem. He also accused the agency of trying to “throw local officials under the bus” for its own “failed practices.”

“Do your job. This is what the American people pay you to do,” he said. “So do your job, and they (the federal government) fail.”

Looking at what can be done in Utah, Smith spoke in favor of legislation allowing local law enforcement officers to enforce immigration law, highlighting a bill passed in Texas that allows local authorities to arrest and deport people for immigration violations.

The law faces legal challenges from the federal government and is currently blocked from being enforced while a lawsuit proceeds in court, the Texas Tribune reported.

The U.S. Department of Justice also filed a lawsuit against Oklahoma last week after it passed a law making it a crime to enter the state without legal immigration status, according to Oklahoma Voice .

“If they're here illegally and they're not breaking any local laws, there's not much we can do,” Smith said. “And so I think we need help in that way.” And again, just like in Texas, if the federal government isn't going to step in and do its job, then someone has to.

Smith said he also supports legislation passed this year by Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, that requires federal agencies like ICE to notify the local sheriff's office and state attorney general if they plan to “liberate” undocumented immigrants in the state.

Shared concerns

Weber County Sheriff Ryan Arbon and Utah Rep. Ryan Wilcox took their own trip to Cochise County to better understand the situation on the southern border. On Friday, they joined Cache County Sheriff Chad Jensen and Utah Rep. Jeff Burton at the Weber County Sheriff's Office in Ogden for a roundtable discussion on immigration issues, moderated by the U.S. Senate candidate and former Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson.

Several other sheriffs — including Smith — participated virtually, along with Utah Sen. Ann Millner and others. Participants echoed criticisms of ICE and the federal government's border enforcement strategy in general.

“We are a nation of laws, and we have laws on the books that are not being followed,” Arbon said. “Policies have changed, which has disrupted the process at the border, and now that the federal government is not doing its job, it has become part of our responsibility to these other states and counties to make up for that backlog.” We shouldn't have to.

Arbon said Arizona officials are talking about two types of people crossing the border.

“There are the asylum seekers – or those who drop out – who are generally there to live a good life. They want a better lifestyle. They want to succeed,” Arbon said. “The others are considered those who don't want to be caught, and those are the ones who don't necessarily pass through the ports. They are the ones trying to sneak in and cross the border to enter.

“That’s where a lot of drugs come in.” This is where a large part of human trafficking occurs. These are criminals from other countries who do not want to be arrested or identified. These are the ones that concern me the most, and they are crossing the border by the thousands.

Wilcox added that Mexican cartels exploit asylum seekers and direct them en masse to agents at the border to divert their attention from other activities.

“We have been told repeatedly that the cartel has complete control over those who cross the border. And we observed them with our own eyes,” Wilcox said. “Because they are in control of the situation, they have flooded the officers where they can see them with the asylum seekers. They manage to get away with it, which allows them to push around the people we really don’t want in the country.”

Arbon noted that a few weeks ago, an average of 1,100 people were passing through the Tucson asylum processing center daily, citing information he said came from U.S. Border Patrol officials. He said these asylum seekers are only detained for a maximum of 72 hours, after which they are released to the public.

Meanwhile, Tucson International Airport reportedly receives 500 immigrants or asylum seekers daily — a number Arbon says he was able to verify — all of whom are on their way to different cities across the United States.

“The problem is we don’t know who they are. … To me, and in my experience, we are not doing the right thing to identify and address some of these concerns,” Arbon said. “Many residents here in Weber County welcome immigrants. But they have to do it the right way, and it has to be done well.

Participants also asserted a correlation between the situation at the border and the increased incidence of fentanyl drug seizures statewide. Washington County Sheriff Nate Brooksby said that in previous years his department might have found a few hundred fentanyl pills in a given year. However, in 2023, some 167,000 tablets have been recovered, he claims.

For his part, Wilson spoke out against the idea of ​​Utah being a sanctuary state and expressed his belief that the permitted influx of immigrants into the United States was politically motivated.

“Here’s the sad part – and no one says it – but I’m going to say it. I believe this is being done for political purposes,” Wilson said. “These illegal immigrants will be counted in the next census which will determine the distribution in Congress. And we have a lot of cities in this country and states where we want these illegal immigrants to be able to vote. These are not acceptable things.

Wilson called on the Biden administration to “enforce the laws as they were three years ago” and also advocated for a national voter ID requirement.

Standard-Examiner reporter Ryan Aston contributed to this report.

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