Opinion: Don't Sue Us, Help Us 'Plug the Hole' in the Border

(Aug. 4) -- It was with harsh words that the Obama administration condemned BP for its responsibility in the gulf oil spill, which thankfully has been stemmed for now. The president's subsequent demand for a moratorium on offshore oil drilling showed he took the environmental disaster seriously.

As the oil gushed out of the broken pipe in the bottom of the gulf, the public was outraged and all hands were on deck to "plug the hole." Why is it, then, that a similar flood, with national security implications, is met with such inaction by the federal government?

The breached safeguard in this case is the country's southern border, and law enforcement officers, like the Arizona sheriffs, work tirelessly to secure it from criminal activity, including illegally entering the country.

About half of all illegal immigrants come through Arizona. The porous border has drained our resources and harmed our citizens. Every day Arizona sheriffs and deputies fight against the destruction and crime that result from illegal border crossings, but we have received harsh words of criticism and little help from the federal government in response. Instead of supporting our efforts to enforce the laws that they don't, our own Justice Department sued us.

Those in Washington forget or ignore what's really happening on the ground, the danger Arizona sheriffs and their deputies face to protect their communities. Also ignored is the fact that our counties in Arizona are like the broken oil pipe, the gateway to a sea current that carries this problem to all corners of the country.

Like a giant oil slick, the illegal immigration flood has fanned out geographically. That's why northern Virginia law enforcement must deal with the brutal Central American gang MS-13 and why there are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants living in Washington state.

It is incredible that the Obama administration condemns Arizona Senate Bill 1070, another tool our law enforcement officers can use to combat the flood, but refuses to help in any meaningful way. They ignore the fact that the best way to stop the problem from creeping across the country is to cap the pipe at its source, i.e. Arizona and other border states.

But instead of trying to seal the border, the federal government is going after its own people to prevent us from doing our job. Even more outrageous is the American Civil Liberties Union stepping into the fray and naming individual sheriffs in its suit.

Moratoriums on offshore drilling? Sure, says the administration. Moratoriums on illegal immigration? Not even considered.

The administration claims to have stepped up efforts to combat illegal immigration, but the problem has grown so immense that it cannot be tackled without the help of state and local law enforcement. And yet, the administration haughtily declines our help, and instead dispatches lawyers from Washington to launch a legal assault. Arizona sheriffs are spending time trying to do the little we can at the border, but now we're forced into depositions and court hearings to fight our own government.

Let us do our job to protect and serve.

The recent ruling by a federal court means that SB 1070 faces an uncertain future. If there is a silver lining to the legal attack on our state, it's that the Obama administration can no longer shirk its responsibilities.

To use an unpolished expression, the feds must put up or shut up.

Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever and Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu are working together at BorderSheriffs.com on a legal defense of the current ACLU lawsuit against SB 1070. More information is at www.BorderSheriffs.com.