Border security is emerging as a prominent topic in the 2024 presidential contest.
TMJ4’s Chief Political Reporter, Charles Benson, spoke with Arizona County Sheriff Mark Dannels about how the issue is more than just a border state dilemma.
Milwaukee is roughly 2000 miles from a part of the United States-Mexico border south of Tucson in Cochise County, but Sheriff Mark Dannels says the impact of the border issue can be felt on any street in Wisconsin.
“Whether it’s through illicit drugs for the poisonings, sex trafficking, human trafficking, or whatever it is, it’s not going to stay in my community,” Sheriff Dannels stated. It spreads to towns across the United States.”
Sheriff Dannels was in Brookfield over the weekend to deliver a Lincoln Day dinner speech.
According to border patrol, unlawful crossings increased to a record number of arrests on the southern border in December, with roughly 250,000 migrants apprehended.
This week, FBI Director Chris Wray told a Senate subcommittee that his agency had collected enough fentanyl to kill 270 million people over the course of two years.
Sadly, Sheriff Dannels believes that despite law enforcement’s best efforts, 90% of drugs are still entering the country.
“Then you consider the thousands upon thousands of communities, families, and children in our country that are being impacted, killed, and poisoned. Sheriff Dannels stated, “We need to talk about that.”
Dannels claims that the cartels have established what he calls modern-day slavery’ by charging people thousands of dollars to cross the border.
“They don’t have that money, so they become slaves to the cartels, whether it’s sex trafficking, narcotics, enforcement, gangs, or whatever it is. It’s not the American Dream that everyone talks about.”
The Republican-elected sheriff believes the solution is more than just erecting a wall or increasing resources for customs and border patrol agents.
He believes it begins with enforcing the law.
“No more asylum claims; simply uphold the rule of law. If you do not pass through the port of entry or enter illegally, you will be rejected and removed immediately. “That is the law.”
According to a February Marquette Law School nationwide poll, Americans preferred former President Donald Trump to President Biden on immigration and border security problems by a margin of 53% to 25%.
To see the poll, click here.