Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the U.S.-Mexico border near Douglas, Arizona, on Friday, and a local sheriff who will greet her at the airport revealed a message he will give her.
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, who has served in his role as a border town lawman since 2012, told DailyMail.com that his home has been ravaged by President Joe Biden and VP Harris’s border policies.
He described how the rural area has been swamped with deaths, tragedies and crime related to the border, and that the Biden-Harris agenda has caused irreparable damage.
And new U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) data obtained by DailyMail.com Friday shows over 600,000 migrants with criminal histories are loose within the country.
But Dannels hopes to mend the divide between the Republican-leaning area and the Democratic VP, saying he plans to give her a gift at the airport when she arrives.
Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris waves after being greeted by Senator Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., as she departs for the U.S.-Mexico border from D.C.
Your browser does not support iframes.
‘If we’re not engaging, we’re not talking, we can’t solve it,’ Dannels said of the issues plaguing the border. ‘So that’s why it’s good that she’s coming, it truly is.’
And the Republican fully understands the optics of and timing behind the anticipated trip.
‘I get the politics of it, tis’ the season,’ he joked.
Just last month Dannels accompanied former President Donald Trump to a trip to the border wall as well.
The ex-president gave a campaign speech and spoke about his plans to resume construction on the barrier – something the Biden-Harris administration halted within its first days in power – and how the U.S. has reeled from ‘migrant crime,’ his term for violations enacted by recently arrived immigrants.
Dannels spoke then about Trump’s robust plan for the border and returning security to south Arizona.
He appeared to be in agreement with the former president’s complaints that over ten of million illegal migrants have been encountered entering the U.S. under the current administration.
The trip comes the same day that shocking new data was released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement indicating that hordes off illegal immigrants convicted of crimes have been released into the interior of the U.S.
‘As of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICE’s national docket—13,099 criminally convicted MURDERS!’ Rep. Tony Gonzalez, R-Texas, posted on social media after obtaining the data.
Of those over 425,000 migrants convicted of crimes are roaming around not in detention, the data revealed.
ICE could hardly ignore the scary statistic.
‘ICE recognizes that some jurisdictions are concerned that cooperating with federal immigration officials will erode trust with immigrant communities and make it harder for local law enforcement to serve those populations. However, ‘sanctuary’ policies can end up shielding dangerous criminals, who often victimize those same communities,’ it said in a statement to Fox News.
Trump has pointed out throughout his campaign the dangers of sanctuary cities while Harris has previously embraced the policy that ICE is now blaming for illegal immigrant criminals being on the loose.
Now with Harris coming to town, Dannels is hedging his bets and hoping she can help.
Facebook pictures from Cochise County Sheriff’s Office – Mark J. Dannels Sheriff.
Trump speaks at a campaign event in Cochise County, Arizona in August. Sheriff Dannels can be seen in the above picture standing on the right wearing a hat
The sheriff was also pictured with U.S. Senate candidate for Arizona Kari Lake in 2022 when she ran in the state’s gubernatorial contest
‘Number one, she is still our sitting Vice President. Number two, if she is elected as president, hopefully this will be a foundation that she’ll remember, because I want to share our tragedies, I want to share our reality to her,’ he said.
‘I have a letter I’m going to give her when I meet her off she comes off the plane today,’ the sheriff told DailyMail.com.
‘But the reality is setting all that aside to meet with her. [If] she gets elected, and then she does nothing to fix it. She can’t say she didn’t know about it.’
He did say, however, that the damage caused by her policies is beyond repair.
Nothing within his or the vice president’s power can reverse the impacts from the past several years of the Biden-Harris border policies, he said.
‘Where we’ve been she can’t fix it. I can’t fix it. What’s already happened, those are some sad tragedies and stories and my heart goes out on all that.’
‘But where do we go from here? What is our plan? That’s the question.’
‘I will be meeting her at the airport. Spend some time with her, welcoming her, but also addressing our concerns.’
The sheriff confirmed his area, which is in Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, has seen an explosion in illegal immigrant encounters.
Migrants who crossed into Arizona illegally line up awaiting processing from Border Patrol
Migrants have been coming to Arizona from all over the world including from Africa and Asia
‘We’re close to 150,000 more encounters than any other sector on the border,’ he revealed, noting how the numbers are unreleased and still being finalized.
Having Harris come down to Arizona amid the huge numbers in illegal crossings has some local law enforcement officials split.
‘Opinions are mixed. There’s no doubt about it.’
‘When I see people die in my county, I see people dying throughout the country because the fentanyl is coming through Arizona in record numbers, American sheriffs and the White House and hopefully Congress has to come together to fix it.’
Though not all law enforcement officials are so optimistic about the trip.
Some Border Patrol officials are thinking Harris’s trip is coming ‘too little too late’ and shared that they believe the ‘issues we’ve had on our borders were caused by this administration,’ a source revealed to DailyMail.com.
Similarly, National Border Patrol Council Vice President Art Del Cueto told DailyMail.com he too was not thrilled about Harris’s election-year trip.
Cartel smugglers dressed in camo await the perfect time to sneak their human cargo across the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona last month
A human trafficker can be seen here using binoculars to spy on DailyMail.com during a trip to report on the holes in the border wall
National Border Patrol Council board member Art Del Cueto walks with U.S. Republican Presidential Candidate and former President Donald Trump along the U.S.-Mexico border on August 22, 2024 south of Sierra Vista, Arizona. Del Cueto told DailyMail.com Harris created the issues at the Arizona border
‘After years of not just ignoring the problem, but helping create it, Vice President Kamala Harris is finally headed down to the border,’ he said in a statement.
Del Cueto was similarly at the Trump Arizona border wall visit last month. He was formerly a Border Patrol agent in the Tucson Sector for years and still lives there.
‘This is nothing more than for her to check the box, but what it is in reality is a slap in the face towards the men and women that put their lives on the line every day, and also a slap in the face to the American public.’
‘Where has she been?’
