Vice President Kamala Harris’ team has sought advice from a top border sheriff on how to “do better” on immigration policy.
Mark J. Dannels, sheriff of Cochise County in Arizona and chair of the National Sheriffs Association’s border security committee, said the campaign made the overture after he shepherded Ms. Harris around his territory late last month on her first border visit in more than three years.
Sheriff Dannels said he hoped the outreach was a signal that Ms. Harris is serious about changing the direction of illegal immigration under President Biden.
“We can only go up from here. We cannot get worse,” he told The Washington Times in an exclusive interview discussing the candidates and their approaches to the border and immigration.
This year, he has welcomed Ms. Harris, former President Donald Trump and former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his county in southeastern Arizona. He gave them a close-up look at the border breakdown over the past few years and a lawman’s suggestions for improvements.
He said Mr. Trump made more border visits during his tenure than his contemporaries, oversaw a massive wall-building effort and tightened policy.
SEE ALSO: Trump wins support of the union that represents Border Patrol agents
“He was probably the most knowledgeable about it,” Sheriff Dannels said. “We talked. It was not like he didn’t have an idea what was going on.”
He said Mr. Kennedy “didn’t understand the border very well” but praised him for his willingness to come and learn.
He said he expressed to Ms. Harris that the Biden administration had let the situation get out of hand. He told her that included sidelining the local communities and law enforcement on the front lines.
“I said her visit comes with mixed emotions and reviews,” Sheriff Dannels said. “America’s sheriffs — not just me, but America’s sheriffs — felt this administration, the White House, has abandoned us.
“She committed to me, like she was when she was [California] attorney general, she would work with us when she was elected.”
The visit started a back-and-forth that involved the sheriff sending a letter and email pressing Ms. Harris for better cooperation.
The vice president’s team responded last week by asking for ideas on “what this administration needs to do better on the border.”
Sheriff Dannels said he would tell Ms. Harris that the key to developing a better relationship is respect, which has to start with the federal government.
“This is probably the most separated, divorced relationship we’ve ever had with the White House. And America’s sheriffs, that’s where the frustration lies,” he said. “This is the first president never to meet with America’s sheriffs.”
The Times has reached out to Ms. Harris’ campaign for this report.
Cochise County has been at the center of border issues for 25 years, with surges and occasional respites.
A Border Patrol hiring spree under the Bush administration significantly improved manpower. Illegal immigration numbers tumbled in the middle of the Obama years and benefited from the wall-building campaign under Mr. Trump. Under Mr. Biden, progress collapsed.
Mr. Biden’s halt to wall construction left holes in the border wall, which smugglers promptly exploited, and his changes to border and interior enforcement further enticed the record surge in illegal immigration.
In recent months, Mr. Biden has embraced a tougher immigration policy. He has even revived some Trump-era approaches, such as curtailing asylum claims. He also has devised programs to funnel would-be illegal immigrants beyond the border. They are still coming without legal visas, but they are no longer overwhelming the Border Patrol agents.
Ms. Harris has said she would push for Congress to approve the failed Senate border bill, defeated in bipartisan filibusters earlier this year.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has promised to revive many of his border policies.
Unlike Ms. Harris, Mr. Trump has said he would whittle down the number of illegal immigrants already in the U.S.
His plans include a mass round of deportations, starting with illegal immigrants with criminal records, and tighter job enforcement to dry up work and press other illegal immigrants to return home on their own.
Sheriff Dannels said Mr. Trump needs to make sure his deportation plans “fall under the rule of law.”
“You’ve got to do due process to remove them,” he said.
As for Ms. Harris’ backing of the Senate bill, he said that legislation needs to be reviewed by communities and local law enforcement to ensure its provisions are sufficient.
“Get some more input on that,” the sheriff said.
The National Sheriffs Association asked the Trump and Harris campaigns to detail their approaches to major public safety issues, including youth crime, fentanyl, law enforcement recruitment and the border situation.
Ms. Harris’ team replied with a four-page letter pointing to Ms. Harris’ tiebreaking vote in the Senate on pandemic assistance, which included a record cash infusion for local governments. Many of them spent the money to combat a COVID-era crime surge.
“On the other hand, Donald Trump tried to defund the police in every single one of his budgets and president and J.D. Vance has point-blank said, ‘I hate the police,’” Ms. Harris’ campaign chair and campaign manager said in their response.
They called Mr. Trump “a threat to our democracy” for his behavior surrounding the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump’s campaign, in its response to the sheriffs, cast him as a champion for police and the one who can gain control over the border.
“President Trump will allow law enforcement to do their jobs,” the campaign said.
It said Mr. Trump would ask Congress to approve the death penalty for drug smugglers, sign a “record investment” in law enforcement hiring and retention, and deploy U.S. special operations forces to make war on Mexico’s smuggling cartels.
“President Trump will get full cooperation of neighboring governments to dismantle the cartels, or else fully expose the bribes and corruption that protect these criminal networks,” Mr. Trump’s campaign promised.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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