WASHINGTON – Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dunnells told a bitterly divided House committee Wednesday that drug trafficking and illegal immigration are worsening and affecting the safety of residents in his border county. .

Dunnells cites increased seizures of fentanyl, increased traffickers, increased encounters with smugglers who paid to transport immigrants from the border into the interior, and more dangerous conditions, all of which criticized the Biden administration. placed at the feet of

“I have personally experienced the good, the bad and the ugly of being a border county,” he said in testimony to the House Judiciary Committee. It’s the ugliest thing in the world.”

Dunnell’s testimony was part of the committee’s first hearing since Republicans took control of the House. all-day public hearing As for the “Biden border crisis,” I devoted myself to the sniping between Democrats and Republicans on the committee.

“Under President Trump, borders were safe. Under President Biden, there are no borders,” said Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, the new committee chair. “And Americans are paying the price.”

But Democrats accused Republicans of pushing an inaccurate account of borders that demonizes immigrants, including asylum seekers. Republicans don’t want to address the real issue of the need for comprehensive immigration reform, they said.

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“It’s intentional,” said D-Pa Rep. Madeleine Dean. “They want to scare Americans, they want to make us feel threatened, they want to create divisions because the ‘other’ makes them easier to abuse.

“Our borders are not invaded by dangerous criminals, but our immigration system is broken,” she said.

The hearing came in the midst of daunting challenges at the border.number of migrants arrested at the southern border reached a record 2.38 million in fiscal year 2022. That pace continued into his 2023 fiscal year, where in his first three months of the fiscal year he had over 700,000 encounters and plateaued at a record 251,487 in December.

Fentanyl Seizures Increased at Ports of Entry 200% or more Over the past two years, £14,699 has been seized in fiscal year 2022, according to Customs and Border Protection data.

These issues have led Republicans to call for the removal of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas. The call was repeated Wednesday by Republican Gilbert Rep. Andy Biggs.he introduced resolution Mallorca’s president called for impeachment for “reckless and deliberate attacks on America’s integrity, geography and borders”.

If Mallorcas supports the Biden administration’s border policies, he must be impeached because he is a public servant who has lost public trust and is an imminent and imminent threat to the United States. It was issued at a press conference backed by a handful of Republican congressmen, including Oro Valley freshman Rep. Eli Crane.

Republican Gilbert Rep. Andy Biggs speaks out on a resolution calling for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mallorcas. He is backed by other Republican congressmen, including Rep. Eli Crane, a bearded central R-Oro Valley representative. (photo courtesy Alexis Weiss/ Cronkite News)

In a statement emailed Wednesday, a DHS spokesperson dismissed threats of impeachment, saying the agency would “enforce laws and secure borders while building a safe, orderly and humane immigration system.” We will continue to work to do so,” he said.

“Instead of pointing fingers and trying to score political points, lawmakers who recklessly and baselessly pursue impeachment should work on legislative solutions to a broken system that hasn’t been updated in over 40 years.” A spokesperson writes.

But Dannels says those efforts aren’t working.

“I work with a lot of border agents, federal agents, and so far I haven’t heard anyone say it works. It’s a frustration we feel,” he testified. “We needed to step up our game.”

Dannells, who also heads the National Sheriff’s Association’s Board of Border Security, said local police have tried to contact federal officials, but the administration has largely turned them down.his prepared testimony It contained pages of statements from numerous sheriff organizations over the past two years, all the way down to Vice President Kamala Harris, expressing a lack of trust in border officials.

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Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California) said the federal government could hire more Border Patrol agents to deal with the problem.But the sheriff also agreed with Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, who said the policy change was a more effective way to help local law enforcement.

Rep. Ted Liu (D-California) called it a “false narrative” to hold the Biden administration fully responsible for America’s current immigration system. “‘Biden’s Border Crisis’ is … totally wrong,” he said of the hearing title.

“This was not a Biden border crisis, but a half-century-plus crisis from Nixon and every American president since him,” Liu said.

He said that no matter who is in the White House, only members of Congress can truly fix the immigration system, if a deal can be reached.

“And with the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the U.S. Senate on a bipartisan basis, we had the opportunity to do that,” Liu said. Masuka: House Republican.”

Mr Dunnells, who said he has testified before congressional committees probably five or six times, said he was not shaken by the partisan controversy and did not intend to give up.

“I represent a rural community on the border. My goal is to share the reality,” he said of his testimony. We will continue to do so until we see changes that improve quality.”