COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. (KGUN) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced apprehensions at the southern border are down 95 percent from the previous administration. Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels says the border county is seeing less activity from the border than in recent years.
"There's still human smuggling, there's still illicit crimes on the border, but to the magnitude we saw it over the last three or four years, has gone away," he said.
The sheriff says the number of cars fleeing from law enforcement has decreased. This would happen because drivers were avoiding law enforcement because they were smuggling illegal border crossers.
"This is something we're used to down here," Dannels said. "We have a manageable border right now."
The difference, he says, is that the federal government is more involved in what’s happening at the southern border.
"This is a President that ran on the will of the people and that he would secure this border and bring consequences back—no more catch and release," Dannels said. "The policies are very strict: You come across the border, you gotta do it legally, and that's what we encourage."
Policies that Dannels says were missing from the previous administration, even though he and other law enforcement agencies had asked for them.
"I’ve said this, and I'll continue to say it: state, local, and federal working together is the recipe for success for communities," he said.
The sheriff says human and drug smuggling won’t stop because it’s a lucrative business for those involved.
“You're dealing with a criminal element that has a very strong will [and] that made billions of dollars over the last three or four years," Dannels said. "They're not going to stop this. It's all about that dollar bill, greed, violence and fear. That's what their objectives are, and they're going to continue doing that.”
Although there’s been a change, Dannels says his department is continuing what they’ve been doing.
“We’re not going to play politics with it. We're going to play [by the] rule of law," he said. "So if you come to Cochise County, you break our rules, we're going to hold you accountable.”
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
