Tucson Standard

An Arizona sheriff with decades of experience on the border is publicly joining criticism of the Biden administration's policies.

Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot shared his thoughts on a recent episode of "The Jenny Beth Show" podcast. He told host Jenny Beth Martin the cartels had almost limitless access at all of their borders, and with all the border activity that occurs each day, “cartels control every bit of it from here to New York.”

“None of this is humane," Wilmot said in the podcast. "These policies are just diabolic that this administration thinks this is a humane thing. They’re endangering peoples lives each and every day with these policies. People are dying."

Wilmot has a long career in law enforcement, starting with the Yuma County Sheriff’s office as a deputy in 1987 after serving four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, according to his official biography. He followed up with several special assignments and promotions, including the Criminal Investigations Division, Public Safety Sergeant, Boating Safety and Enforcement Unit, Major Crimes Unit, Methamphetamine Enforcement Unit and the Southwest Border Alliance Unit. He retired from the deputy position in 2012, shortly after which he was elected for his first term as sheriff. He is currently serving his third term

“Nothing about the policies from this administration are humane when it comes to this border problem,” Wilmot said in the podcast. “It’s a crisis. The women are being raped. Children are being abused and molested along this trek.”

The U.S. Border Control "was never designed to do what they are doing now,” Wilmot added, according to the podcast. “ICE is actually the ones who are supposed to receive apprehension by border patrol. This administration has defunded ICE to the point where they hardly have any ICE agents to do immigration.”

Martin is the honorary chairman of Tea Party Patriots Action, which is headquartered in Cherokee County, Ga. She was named one of 2010’s “Most Influential Leaders” by Time Magazine. She attended Reinhardt University in Wales, Ga., as well as the University of Georgia, according to her Linkedin page.