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:
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.
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.
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
@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.
'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.
This is a great moment for Dona Ana County.
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!
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.
Post a Comment