Sheriff Smith Praises Cruz and Gohmert for Border-Related Efforts

TYLER – Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith says he sent a personal note of support Monday to U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz for what Smith terms their continuing efforts to secure the border and to fight granting amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. Smith said, The Cromnibus showdown in Washington, D.C., last week demonstrates who is really on the side of law enforcement. We’re proud Louie Gohmert and Ted Cruz are standing firm for the rule of law.

Smith stated, With the rampant spread of dangerous Mexican cartels and transnational gangs on our side of the border, every county in Texas is a border county. I strongly agree with Texas Department of Public Safety Executive Director Steven McCraw that the most significant public safety and homeland security vulnerability in Texas is an unsecured border with Mexico. Our wide-open southern border and the erosion of the rule of law, coupled with the federal government’s failed ‘catch and release’ program, have enabled the Mexican Cartels to become multi-billion dollar international crime syndicates that dominate the U.S. drug and human smuggling and trafficking markets. Multi-agency law enforcement reports have long warned that gang members and criminals associated with the Mexican Cartels are using increasingly aggressive tactics, including military grade weapons and training, as they seek to avoid and evade law enforcement.”

Smith continued, “An overwhelming majority of the men and women in local, state, and federal law enforcement simply want to do their jobs to protect the life, liberty and property of those they swore to serve; however, it is increasingly difficult to do so due to policies that undermine the rule of law and withhold resources needed to fight hardened criminals.”

Smith joins elected sheriffs across the nation calling on all levels of government to “put America, our citizens, our safety, and our security first because illegal immigrants should never come before American citizens.” He concluded, “Our entire criminal justice system and societal order is based on the rule of law – that means the laws will be enforced and applied consistently to everyone. Losing the rule of law is the end of America, the end of security, and the end of liberty. Period.”