A border sheriff in Texas is requesting other sheriffs across the state and elsewhere to aid him in securing his county against an unprecedented wave of illegal immigration.
Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe sent a letter to other sheriffs across several states, according to NewsNation reporter Ali Bradley. Coe thanked the sheriffs of Galveston and Goliath counties for assistance already provided, but said that his county’s resources are at a “breaking point.”
“The safety and security of our county has been constantly under threat since early 2021 by those who have no desire to seek asylum through lawful means,” Coe wrote. “Our homes are being broken into in the middle of the night. The local school district has been forced to erect military barricades around campus to protect students from smugglers evading law enforcement. Walking outside on our own property after dark is no longer safe.”
“The residents of Kinney County no longer enjoy the comfort and safety of their own home. Words cannot adequately describe the conditions on the ground and the daily threats we have been forced to contend with,” he continued.
Coe said that his officers patrol roadways and local ranches, as well as serve on a “brush team” that works to intercept and arrest aliens criminally trespassing on local ranches.
“Under normal circumstances, our county would not support a large or robust law enforcement presence. However, these are extraordinary times,” Coe said.
“By sending this letter, I am requesting any aide that your county may be able to provide in this border crisis, whether it be manpower, equipment, or operators. This crisis has made all counties a border county. It is imperative that we stand ready here at the border in order to protect and serve the people of our great state,” the sheriff concluded.
TX: Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe sends letter to sheriffs in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas asking for help at the border.
“I am requesting any aide that your county may be able to provide in this border crisis, whether it be manpower, equipment, or operators…” pic.twitter.com/cO33y82Cdo
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) January 20, 2023
In April 2021, Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan issued a disaster declaration over the illegal immigration crisis that had been growing for months. Over a year later in July 2022, Shahan stood beside officials from Goliad, Uvalde, and Terrell counties to declare the surge in illegal immigration an “invasion.”
“We’re being invaded. The facts are there,” Shahan said at a press conference in Brackettville, Texas. “This is real. We want America to know this is real. America doesn’t know what’s happening here.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ramped up his own rhetoric around the border crisis, describing the situation as an “invasion” in recent months and dedicating more and more state resources to patrolling and securing communities along Texas’ southern border with Mexico.
“Until Congress acts or the Biden Administration does its constitutionally required job, Texas Guardsmen and Troopers must bear the burden of securing the border,” Abbott said in a letter to Texas safety officials in November. “You must continue to keep Texans and Americans safe and protect against an invasion of the southern border. I order you to use all resources and tools available to repel immigrants from attempting to cross illegally, arrest those who cross illegally and return them to the border, and arrest criminals who violate Texas law.”
Abbott launched Operation Lone Star to attempt to secure the southern border amid the crisis, dispatching Texas state troopers and National Guard members to communities along the border. The border town of El Paso received 500 National Guard troops in December when officials feared the end of Title 42.