COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. — An Idaho sheriff is seeing the humanitarian crisis unfolding at the US-Mexico border first-hand -- and pushing for the government to take action.
Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue is vice president of the National Sheriff's Association. He has made multiple trips to American border communities but this week he's in Cochise County, Arizona at the request of Florida governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, who's sent troops to the border.
The visit came as the immigration battle intensifies during the start of the GOP primary campaign.
DeSantis, Donahue and sheriffs from the southwestern U.S. and other regions took part in roundtable discussions on Wednesday.
“We are not winning this war; we are woefully behind," Donahue said. "And the war is with the cartels and the bad actors. And, again, it doesn't matter what political side you're on. The dope is still coming across, and they're still victimizing all these people."
Donahue warns that what happens at the border impacts us here at home. He says we should all care about issues playing out at the southern border, including the Mexican cartel's crimes against Americans and immigrants, human trafficking and the smuggling of drugs like fentanyl.
“They can average as high as nine or 10 high-speed pursuits a day in this county, with smugglers smuggling people. Not drugs, but people. Incredibly dangerous, numerous fatalities orchestrated and funded by the Mexican cartels - the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel," Donahue said. "That is truly the threat, simply right across this border. And that's what's affecting the people in the United States, especially where were you and I live in the Treasure Valley,”
The sheriffs toured the border Wednesday afternoon and watched crews repair the fence. Donahue said while they were there, the camera system caught people coming through onto the American side.
DeSantis and the sheriffs want southwestern border state officials to intensify their presence at the border to make up for what they see as inaction from the federal government.
Part of the meeting on Wednesday, Donahue said, focused on coming up with a strategy.
As KTVB reported Wednesday, Idaho Governor Brad Little recently traveled with multiple other governors to the Texas-Mexico border to fight the flow of fentanyl into Idaho.
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