Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels voiced his support for the Secure Our Border Act under consideration in the Arizona Legislature, telling NewsNation on Wednesday that such measures are necessary because the “federal government has abandoned” Arizona.
Dannels (pictured above) acknowledged he shares concerns cited by other Arizona sheriffs about funding for HCR 2060 but confirmed he supports the “spirit” and “intent” of the potential Arizona referendum that proposes making it a state crime to enter the United States illegally, make it a felony offense to submit false data to E-Verify and prevent illegal immigrants from accessing welfare programs.
Noting the legislation was temporarily stalled this week over the proposed exception for children brought to the United States illegally, Dannels explained, “I don’t know where it’s going to go, but the intent of the bill, the spirit of the bill, I support 100 percent.”
He said, “The reason we’re even discussing that at a state level, the reason we’re trying to intervene at a state level, is because the federal government has abandoned us. I hate to be so cold with that but it’s true.”
While confirming his support, the sheriff acknowledged he shares concerns about costs cited by other law enforcement.
“I don’t disagree, again, with the spirit, the intent of it,” he said. “How do we fund it?”
Dannels also added that the proposed referendum is “very, very similar” to legislation passed in Texas but noted the lack of support from Governor Katie Hobbs is a striking difference.
Asked about a rumored plan by the Biden administration to use executive powers in a bid to regulate the flow of migrants across the border, Dannels told NewsNation he would rather see the Biden administration work on border security.
“Something is better than nothing,” said Donnels.
He acknowledged, “I’ve heard this several months ago, that the president was going to do some executive changes on this, going to do some things to secure the border,” then warned the proposed policy changes seem to reference “how do we speed up the process, not stop the process and secure the border.”
Lawmakers originally estimated the Secure Our Border Act could be prepared for the November ballot as early as this week.
Watch Donnels’ full interview:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Arizona Capitol” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
