A letter signed by 275 sheriffs from all across the United States was sent to President Joe Biden on April 7 imploring him to secure the nation’s borders and end the illegal migration crisis raging at our southern border. The sheriffs, representing 39 states, expressed their grave concerns about the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border and laid the blame squarely on the president’s policies.
“America’s Sheriffs are deeply troubled about the dangerous impacts your administration’s border policies are having on our citizens, legal residents and communities,” they wrote. The elected law enforcement officials, from both political parties, demanded that the Biden administration take immediate action to restore order at the border. “You must act now before our nation’s public safety resources are overwhelmed with the criminal side effects of unchecked illegal immigration, including transnational gangs, guns, dangerous drugs and human trafficking,” they warned.
Mark Morgan, a Senior Fellow at the Federation for American Immigration Reform and former chief of the U.S. Border Patrol and former acting director of Customs and Border Protection reaffirmed the urgency of the sheriffs’ demand for action. “I have just returned from the southern border. What I witnessed was nothing short of an unprecedented humanitarian disaster, and a national security and public health crisis – one which was created by this administration beginning the day President Biden took office.
“The president’s open border policies are directly responsible for the abuse and death of children at the hands of criminal cartels, and an invitation to criminals and terrorists to prey on the American people. Hundreds of sheriffs and other law enforcement professionals, as well as local government officials in affected communities are telling the president it is time for immediate action, not words, to end the crisis he created.”
Dan Stein, president of FAIR, concurred with the sheriffs’ assessment of the dangers of the Biden immigration policies. “These local law enforcement officials have been dealing with the impact of unsecured borders for decades, as criminal cartels have taken root in their communities. Every day, as the Biden administration releases people we know nothing about, into communities all across the nation, the threats to public safety and public health grow evermore grave. President Biden has the obligation and the ability to restore policies that were in place when he took office that had checked the flow of migrants crossing our borders. He has a moral and constitutional obligation to do so immediately.”
The full text of the sheriffs’ letter and signatories can be found here.
Contact: Matthew Tragesser, 202-328-7004 or [email protected]
ABOUT FAIR
Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country’s largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.
