Texas border sheriffs said they need more resources if they are to assist with President-elect Donald Trump's plans for immigration and border security.
During his campaign, Trump suggested local law enforcement could be brought in to help enforce tougher restrictions along the U.S.-Mexico border and round up illegal immigrants as part of mass deportation plans.
Enforcing border security is supposed to be up to federal agencies, but in the thousands of square miles along the border, sheriffs and their deputies are often the ones detaining getaways or rescuing migrants in need.
"You can't just be a regular local or state law enforcement conducting your duties and not run into something which is border security related," Thaddeus Cleveland, Terrell County sheriff and former border patrol agent, told Newsweek on Tuesday.
"Our county compared to most of the border is a drop in the bucket. There's not a lot of infrastructure south of us or north of us to facilitate a large flow of people, but what the last four years have shown is that more people are willing to try to cross this portion of the border."
The sparsely populated county, covering roughly 600 miles of border, saw about 1,200 migrant arrests per year before 2021, the sheriff said. Since then, the number has surged to more than 5,000.
Over the past four years, a total of 42 migrants were found dead, when the yearly average used to be one.
"Three-quarters of our time is spent on the border security mission," Cleveland said, explaining that the border patrol needs local partners. "We allow them to stay out in the brush while we patrol the roadways."
Under plans for mass deportations, Cleveland said he expects to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by detaining migrants accused of crimes, ahead of their removal from the country.
Other border sheriffs are not as enthusiastic about helping the next administration in its mass deportation plan. Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez told NOTUS that he was not in favor of his officers being used to enforce the policy.
"I may have three to four deputies working on a particular shift, and that's to serve my citizens," he said. "First and foremost, I will take care of my community and my citizens. At the end of the day, that is ICE's and Border Patrol's responsibility."
Border sheriffs call for additional resources
Others have said that if their departments are expected to hold those facing deportation, they need additional resources. While ICE gives powers to local law enforcement to do this, under the 287(g) program, a large increase in deportee numbers could strain the mostly rural jails.
"We are outnumbered big time," Jose Duran, an Eagle Pass Police Department sergeant, also told NOTUS. "Our guys are overwhelmed with work, and a lot of times it seems like we're working as Border Patrol agents because these are the majority of the calls that we're getting."
According to the ICE website, "the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 added Section 287(g) to the Immigration and Nationality Act." It authorizes ICE to delegate to state and local law enforcement "to perform specified immigration officer functions under the agency's direction and oversight."
Cleveland, who has lived in the border county most of his life and started working for Customs and Border Protection under President Bill Clinton, said the past four years have hindered departments like his, as well as ICE and the border patrol.
He said that while local law enforcement might be brought in to help arrest and detain undocumented immigrants, the Trump administration needs to also provide resources to the border to facilitate legal immigration and stop illegal crossings.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team for comment via email on Tuesday.
"Having a president that lets the world know that you're not going to come to our country illegally will be that first step. [It] will definitely send a message and will deter many," Cleveland said, adding that Congress must push through reform.
"Under Trump's first presidency, we [Republicans] had the House and the Senate the first two years and nothing happened. I hope this time we can really see some real work on the border."
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