Monday, May 19, 2014

Sheriff Garrison statement on National Monument

I was just informed, that the President of the United States will sign a bill next week making over 500,000 thousand Acres in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, a National Monument, called the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument/Wilderness.  This is the bill, that I as the Sheriff of Dona Ana county have fought for over eight years now because I lack the confidence that we will be able to effectively do our job of protecting the public’s safety.  I have requested over and over to be included in the discussion related to these Bill’s written over the years by these Senators who continue to try to get them passed.  To this date I have not had the opportunity to be involved in any Law Enforcement discussion before any of these bill’s were written.  Why not?  And why is the President of the United States just going to sign this into existence when it has been fought so hard and so long?  

Everyone believes that Border patrol is going to do that job along the border and I can assure you local law enforcement supports Border Patrol in the job they do.  However, if a criminal, a drug or human smuggler, gets past border patrol (which they do all the time)and kills, rapes, or commits any kind of crime; all that now falls onto the backs of local law enforcement to take care of not Border Patrol.  This is the primary reason local law enforcement has fought this bill, as it stands now we have access to this area and can effectively patrol it.  If the Monument goes into affect there will be roads closed making it very difficult to effectively patrol even for the Border Patrol not impossible but very difficult.  We have asked in the past that this bill include language that will not hamper the ability of local law enforcement to effectively patrol it but nothing has been changed, nor has local law enforcement ever been allowed to sit at any table to discuss these bills.  We have been told, we will have access if there is a need to respond, please keep in mind this will not include the need to patrol and keep criminals away, only respond to the area to take care of something after it has already happened.

It is my belief as the current Sheriff of Doan Ana County, that the only people who will truly benefit from this monument/wilderness area, will be the criminals/cartels.  They will use them the same way they have used them in other states along the US/Mexico Border and these lands have not been protected the way legislatures said they would.  People need to Understand, only law abiding citizens obey laws, the criminal element will not.  It’s a shame, that we are so willing to give up the safety of this country in such a way as this, all in the name of protecting lands for the future use of our children.  I believe these kinds of Monument/Wilderness Border areas have clearly show us all, they do not protect the land as these Legislatures have promised they would; but clearly allow the land to be abused in such a way that our children will never be able to enjoy them. 

This country and its leaders are asleep at the wheel, or they are being bought off and paid for by the Cartels that will use these lands in such a way as to further erode the safety of our counties, or states and this Country that we have all sworn to protect.  I cannot believe people continue to sit by and let these things continue to happen.  Do they really believe all the things they are being told?  Are we really that naïve after all we have seen along our border?  Wake up before it’s too late and there is nothing left to protect.  All one has to do is a little research about Federal Designated lands along the US/Mexico Border if you want to know what will happen, look it up for yourself.  Don’t just believe it because someone from the Federal Government is telling you it’s the truth.  

I am asking that you please notify all law enforcement and ask them to stop this action before it happens and the President signs this into law.  Please have them reach out to all State and National representatives they work with all of which have sworn to protect this country.  Please keep in mind, this land is already being protected as a wilderness study survey area and with that comes great protections for the land as to how it can be used but it does not keep law enforcement off of it by closing all the existing roadways.  We are talking about over 500,000 acres of land in the middle of the desert.  Yes, there are some great areas within this proposed Monument/Wilderness that we need to protect, but to encompass all this land in one very large space will only create a pathway for the criminals to utilize and further their criminal activity, making it much more dangerous for the people that wish to enjoy these areas and for the reason it is being set aside for. 

I am not against Monuments or Wilderness, I just do not believe that this kind of thing along the Border of the US and Mexico, can work.  Please stand up and say something before it’s too late for this county and possibly for this country.  Remember, I have fought this issue for over eight years now, the only law enforcement this has been discussed with have been the Federal Agencies.  These Agencies say what they are told to say as they have for years regarding these kinds of issues, why, they want to keep their jobs!.  If you wish to know the truth about border related issues please ask a retired Border Patrolman.  It will not hurt to ask, unless you really do not wish to know the truth!

Thank you for your consideration in this very important matter.

Todd Garrison, Sheriff
Dona Ana County

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congressman Steve Pearce is using fellow Republican Sheriff Todd Garrison and the so-called "Southwestern Border Sheriff's Coalition to undermine the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument on the issue of border security. This group of Republican sheriffs represent border security alarmists.

JK Clayshulte said...

Anonymous my foot: Coward won't use a name, so who will listen to someone who won't take credit for his or her 1st Amendment right which Sheriff Garrison will protect with his life and the life of his men.

Anonymous said...

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Steven M. Anderson supports the Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument proposal with its enhanced border security. Sheriff Garrison is simply playing politics.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/202980-enhancing-border-security-and-protecting-a-national

DeWayne Meloy said...

@Anonymous, have you ever seen a smuggling dump? Google illegal immigrants, it's still illegal right? That's the legacy you will leave with your wilderness area. They leave trash everywhere, along with the panties of the girls they rape hanging from the mesquite. This is a huge land grab by the federal government. Isn't WSMR enough? How much do they need? You are ruining motorized access at the same time. Most of us Jeepers respect the land more than anyone who would sit at home anyway.

Myles Culbertson said...

'Anonymous' is either delusional or oblivious. This will prove disastrous over time. The very ecology and landscape they think they are protecting will suffer the same destruction as the monument in southern Arizona.

Anonymous said...

This is a great moment for Dona Ana County.

Gary Thurm said...

Thank you Sheriff Garrison for standing up for the rights of the local citizenry. This land is no bunkerville, but there are lives at stake here. I hope the President hears your message and understands the complexity North of I-10, west of Hwy 185, a major corridor of illegal activity. If monuments attract visitors, are they welcome here freely or are the not legal. Who is to say. What, add more enforcement? Who's paying for that? This president could protect the upper elevations of the Organ mountains. The majority of the land being protected is on the west side of the river, better known as the desert peaks complex. That area is already well managed agricultural lands with cattle operations dispersed. Easy area to patrol under the current management plan, not so easy with a 5 mile proposed buffer and an under enforced corridor. I applaud the sheriff for standing up for the people, the county and the State of New Mexico's rights. There needs to be an awakening. This land is our land! The president of the United States should stop and listen to what the people are saying out here!

Anonymous said...

The anti-wilderness and anti-government forces keep spreading their nonsense against a National Monument. Sheriff Todd Garrison is dead wrong. He should take a look at Great Bend in Texas it is on the border with Texas. There is NO drug smuggling problem. Instead It is a big tourist attraction! This is same sheriff that wants the notorious actor Steven Seagal to train the Dona Ana County deputies about border security. Maybe Mr. Seagal is advising Sheriff Garrison.