(The Center Square)
Sheriffs nationwide are calling on government leaders to urge President Joe Biden, members of Congress and other elected officials to do whatever it takes to “eliminate” two Mexican cartels responsible for pouring unprecedented amounts of fentanyl into the US: the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartels (JNGC).
The American Sheriffs Alliance consists of sheriffs represented by the National Sheriffs Association, Western States Sheriffs Association, Major County Sheriffs of America, Southwestern Border Sheriffs Association and Texas Border Sheriffs Association. He issued a statement “urging the public to use every available sanctioning and accountability tool by their elected officials to confront the atrocities committed against our country and its citizens.”
He did so as 22 attorney generals called on Biden to designate the two cartels as foreign terrorist organizations after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott did last September. Other governors are yet to follow his lead.
The sheriffs argue that cartels are responsible for the deaths of 35 times more Americans than were killed by terrorists on 9/11, citing more than 100,000 Americans who died from opioid poisoning, including fentanyl, in a one-year period. The opioid and fentanyl crisis, he argues, “caused more than 35 times the death toll of American citizens in one year than al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden inflicted on the US on September 11.”
“Despite the staggering number of deaths that can be directly attributed to the trafficking of illegal drugs into the United States by Mexican cartels, there is little call for action or change in foreign policy to address this alarming problem,” he said.
RELATED: Texas Sheriff Testifies to Record Number of Dead Bodies Recovered in His Rural County
The sheriffs argue that the Sinaloa and JNGC cartels “oversee sophisticated domestic criminal operations fueled by fear, terror, intimidation, extortion and murder” and are “directly responsible for an increase in deaths, human trafficking, sex trafficking and unprecedented violence in cities and counties across our nation.”
These cartels aren’t just operating along the southern border, the sheriffs argue, “and their influence can be felt along our northern border and maritime borders as they try to use all avenues to deliver deadly drugs and violent criminals into our communities.”
Support conservative voices!
Sign up to receive the latest Political news, insight and commentary delivered straight to your inbox.
President of the National Sheriffs Association, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff Greg Champagne said, “We will no longer allow these killers to terrorize our communities. Every American needs to join us in urging our government to focus on this crisis and take whatever steps are necessary to eliminate these criminal networks and operations.
“This is not a partisan issue. This is a life-or-death issue,” said Bill Brown, Santa Barbara County, California, sheriff and deputy chairman of the Major County Sheriffs of America.
Brown, like Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, argues that US foreign policy with Mexico must change. When Biden met with the Mexican president in January and got no response, he called on the president to hold the Mexican government accountable.
“The federal government must put more pressure on the Mexican government to take aggressive action to disrupt and destroy these illegal cartels,” Brown said. “The current situation is intolerable and cannot stand.”
Western States Sheriffs Association President and Grand County, Colorado, Sheriff Brett Schrotlin reiterated that the cartels are not only operating in Mexico – they are “operating in every part of our nation. It is not an urban, suburban or rural problem.
He points out that their network is so vast and well-financed that the cartels “kill, enslave and destroy families and communities” not only in Mexico but also in the US.
“The people of the United States must demand that our government commit the necessary resources to eliminate these organizations here and abroad, as they did following the horrific events of 9/11,” he said.
RELATED: Senators call on Mexico, China to do more to stop illegal fentanyl trafficking
Sheriff Eddie Guerra, president of the Southwestern Border Sheriffs’ Union in Hidalgo County, Texas, said fighting the cartels is not an immigration issue, it’s a “public safety and public health issue.”
“It’s not just violence and drugs, it’s sexual assault, human trafficking, slavery, and fear and terrorism that are destroying neighborhoods in the United States,” he said.
“Americans can save lives,” said Zavala County, Texas, Sheriff Eusevio Salinas, president of the Texas Border Sheriffs Association, calling on the president and members of Congress to demand “immediate, comprehensive action to identify and destroy these criminal operations. They may exist.”
“Until our elected officials stand up to fight this epidemic sweeping the nation, we will continue to set records for the number of loved ones we lose each year at the hands of these violent cartels.”
Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.