Border communities to Babeu: Tone it down
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu received a letter from some Arizona border communities asking him to tone down the rhetoric about border security.
The mayors of Nogalas, Douglas and San Luis all signed the letter, which asks Babeu to be more accurate about border security.
The letter claims the sheriff is cultivating a culture of fear in Arizona with his tales of drug runners and illegal immigrants coming through Pinal County.
Claiming Babeu’s “misinformation” is ruining the economies of the towns, the mayors point out that crime in their communities has dropped drastically since 2002.
“The facts prove otherwise,” Babeu told News-Talk 92.3 KTAR.
The mayors end the letter with the statement “Creating panic where only vigilance is warranted helps nobody.”
Babeu, though, said Pinal County is the number one pass through county for drug and human smuggling in the U.S.
“When we had 241,000 illegals that were apprehended this year, and another 400,000 that got a way, that’s a failing grade in anybody’s scorecard,” he told News-Talk 92.3 KTAR.
Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, whose region includes those the mayors are representing, says the part about causing panic made him laugh.
“I had this vision of Godzilla invading Douglas, Arizona, and all the people throwing up their hands and screaming and running around,” he said, “I haven’t seen any panic, I guess is what I’m saying.”
On the point of the border not being any safer, Babeu said he received confirmation from Homeland Security that there are between 75 and 100 locations in Pinal County being used by cartel scouts.
“How is that OK, and how have we arrived at a point in our country that this has become acceptable,” he asked.
Babeu went so far as to argue the assertion that the border is more secure than ever. Though he said he should not have to deal with border problems in Pinal County, something needs to be done.
“Yet, a day doesn’t go by that Janet Napalitano, we push replay, and she says the same darn thing over and over again,” he said. “We know the reality, we live here, we’re doing the enforcement here.
“We will not be quiet, we will not be brow-beaten into submission to somehow say we’re not going to defend and protect our country or the citizens that we’re sworn to protect.”
• You can read the letter the mayors sent to Sheriff Babeu here, and you can check out his response here
Harold
