Tucson Standard

Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels (R) said in a new documentary that the situation at the Arizona-Mexico border is the "ugliest it's ever been."

“In my 40 years of working this border, watching this border, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly," Dannels told told League of American Workers (LAW) President Steve Cortes in the new documentary, What's Behind the Biden Border Crisis? Cortes Investigates. "This is the ugliest it’s ever been."

"Whether it’s been deaths on the border from migrants dying on U.S. soil from coming across illegally, whether it’s fentanyl coming across the border, these are record numbers," Dannels said. "I mean, for example, in Arizona, last year we had 111 million fentanyl pills seized in Arizona; so almost 52% of all the fentanyl seized in the country was seized right here in our state."

Dannels has represented Cochise County as sheriff since 2012, previously working as a deputy in the office. He holds a Master's degree in Criminal Justice Management from Aspen University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. 

Cortes and Dannels also discussed the issue of "gotaways," which refer to illegal aliens who are detected by law enforcment but who successfully evade capture and enter the United States illegally. These individuals are typically detected through various means such as cameras, sensors, or visual sightings but manage to avoid apprehension. 

"A lot of them are aggravated deportees, which means they’re felons or from countries of interest, serious threats to the United States," said Dannels. "Whatever it is, they can’t run up and give up to a border patrol like you see in so many places."

"They fight and flight here, so this is the worst we’ve seen it," he said. "Violence towards law enforcement."

There have been 406,441 total illegal alien encounters in the Tucson Sector during fiscal year 2024, with 225,725 of these encounters being from citizens of Mexico, 75,610 from Guatemala, 3,096 from Honduras, 2,892 from El Salvador, and 99,118 from citizens from other countries, reported Tucson Standard. 

During fiscal year 2024 to date, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has arrested 35,178 illegal aliens who have previous criminal convictions or who are wanted by law enforcement.

13.828 of these arrests have been made by the U.S. Border Patrol, and 21,350 of these arrests have been made by the CBP’s Office of Field Operations. The CBP’s 2024 fiscal year runs from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.

Released May 30, the LAW documentary features interviews conducted by Cortes during his April visit to the Arizona border. The movie can be found on X, Rumble, and Facebook.

Founded in 2022 by Cortes, LAW conducts research and develops proposals on public policies impacting American workers and the economy.

Cortes is a political advisor and commentator. He previously traded global currencies and interest rates for 25 years for large international hedge funds. He has been an on-air broadcaster for CNBC, Fox News, and CNN. Cortes founded LAW in 2022 to conduct research and develops proposals on public policies impacting American workers and the economy.