US/Mexico Border with Arizona Sheriff – What’s It Like Now?

a lot of this is new to you It’s good to
see you again Tet I remember this 2 and
a half years ago Cartel is there
dropping just waiting for the school bus
to pick them up That’s a Biden wall
That’s Biden Interesting How’s it been i
work with the United States Border
Patrol for 23 years What’s the inbound
from US to Mexico guns ammo money Yep
Looks like they’re filling the gap 140
countries crossing You’re getting the
world here This was one of our smuggling
routes that we were having a lot of
problems with Did you feel like you just
had no control of the border the cartels
were running the show What is that
technology up there on the pole each
tent was half a million dollars a day
taxpayer funded A lot of the stories
that aren’t told are the ones of the
school systems or the hospital systems
having to deal with this problem True
life update on what’s going on on our
border down here and our piece of
paradise
Chet welcome back
Round two Round number two I was looking
at the video we posted It was just over
two years Like two years and two months
ago A lot of changes that have happened
here lately Let me put on my seatelt We
wouldn’t want to break the law
The main thing is I don’t have people
dying in the desert right now Nobody’s
signing up there We haven’t had any
calls for people that were abandoned and
left in the desert or people that we’ve
had to go out and recover because they
died on that truck across the desert So
to me that’s a win-win And as a
refresher from last video 140 countries
crossing you’re getting the world here
Yuma sector is known for that Getting
Russians getting Middle Easterners Oh we
getting uh Indians We saw the Indians
last time on the desert
hospitals the family advocacy centers
the mission they were all impacted with
all of that So now their focus is turned
back to the community the folks that
need it here locally And the food 90% of
the leafy greens for the whole United
States comes from Yuma during the winter
Lettuce celery you name it Those
individuals were going into those fields
and defecating and the trash was being
left there as a farmer because of food
safety it’s now contaminated They just
have to plow it under That was the only
thing that got the farmer administration
to come down and actually do something
to protect the farmers and the food
because it’s all about food safety Okay
So that’s what it came down to So this
white looking wall that’s a Biden wall
That’s Biden Interesting That’s what a
lot of people don’t understand is like
yeah he put up fencing too Unfortunately
what I couldn’t figure out is we already
had the fencing laying there but instead
of utilizing what was already purchased
and laying on the ground they come up
with this different design cuz I’ve seen
them saw through these right well we saw
that last time Yeah But each one of
those is filled with concrete They can
cut the metal but they still have to
chip out the concrete which slows them
down Okay This would be a little bit
different and you just cut through it
with the salt The other side is the
Colorado River and then across the road
where all the houses are that’s uh
Mexico So a couple years ago these parts
of the fence were open The brown parts
were up and then you had these big open
sections And for those that want to see
the sheriff and I did one of my favorite
videos all time sheriff was with you was
it was awesome I’ll make sure I put that
link below uh this video But uh it was
chaotic It was wild It was We actually
had the sheriff I think it was up here
where you you chase someone back into
the river Yeah And Border Patrol
apprehended another one that was over
here in the farm field Right Right So
it’s first impression bit of a different
vibe this time Different vibe Fact is
you’ll see a lot more Border Patrol
agents compared to last time when we
were out here too
What’s up bud what are you doing living
the dream huh that’s right Pretty much I
was lost for words there for agree man
How you guys doing good Good This is
Peter Sounds a good guy Okay sir How are
things these days out here better Able
to be in the field Yeah Well you know
how it is Oh yeah All it takes is change
of administration to make things happen
So yeah You really didn’t need Congress
to act after all did they
I could say that Yeah I could say too
much more you know
I get it I get it That’s why I’m with
the sheriff not you No disrespect
These guys say everything Oh yeah You
guys have a good day You too buddy Stay
safe I know I’ve mentioned this in past
videos but the the beauty of American
law enforcement uh with the sheriff’s
departments is you guys can speak openly
And you were the spokespeople for this
whole situation during the last four
years Yeah You can’t get in with those
guys No you can’t get with any DHS guys
No there’s no police department you can
talk to No So there was a for some they
said a gag order on some departments
right yeah Basically it was a gag order
I mean they’re they’re told basically
that if you get any inquiries from the
media that you need to get it approved
first ascertain what the questions are
and then they will give you what your
response should be Right so see this all
this fencing was still sitting here when
the other administration built that new
section I don’t know how much that cost
but to have all this stuff just sitting
there at that time it would have made
more sense to me to use what you already
spent taxpayer money on Yeah And what
gets misrepresented at times with border
content is oh it’s an anti-immigrant
look at things The average American I’m
all over this
country most Americans are all for legal
immigration Absolutely I’m saying 90
plus% are all down with legal
immigration It was the chaotic illegal
immigration that flooded cities that
made it a huge problem here that made it
so women couldn’t go give birth at the
local hospital all the trickle down and
then the money involved obviously in
topics like agriculture where it’s like
this does not make sense It doesn’t this
is chaos This was not even humanitarian
much was happening I mean we were out
here trying to make sure people didn’t
die you know and they weren’t victimized
along the way and that was the messaging
that we was trying to get out is like no
don’t don’t make that track here because
you know your kids are going to be
violated You possibly could get violated
You’re going to be robbed The criminal
element is waiting to prey on them folks
We’re going to go up to that area where
the cartel was putting people under the
bridge But before we get there what’s
that situation obviously you’re not on
the Mexican side but they’re moving less
product as in people It It’s So are they
are they getting hit financially pretty
harder they’re getting hit financially
and they’re trying to do uh so like
Coochis County where they had uh they
were recruiting juveniles on social
media to come down pick up groups of
individuals They’d pay them a certain
amount of money I think it was minimum
of $500 per person to pick them up to
take them into the large cities We’re
we’re starting to see a little bit of
that here but fortunately with Border
Patrol now being out in the field
they’re able to catch them before we end
up with all the pursuits and stuff like
Coochis County was having So Border
Patrol sector just had that experience
here recently with a juvenile that went
down by the border was picking up a
group they ended up arresting that
juvenile Most of the time a US attorney
wouldn’t charge a juvenile for doing
that type of activity But now that the
policies have changed it doesn’t matter
whether you’re an adult or a juvenile If
you get caught smuggling people or
narcotics you’re going to get charged
We’re still getting the uh the smuggling
of individuals through the remote desert
And that’s kind of what we equated to
the gotaways last time that you and I
were out there was border patrol is so
tied up with dealing with the giveups
that they couldn’t go out and try to
track down the individuals being
smuggled through the uh remote part of
our desert and that’s where
unfortunately the people are dying So
now with Border Patrol out there they’re
actually intercepting those smugglers
and apprehending them and prosecuting
them as well Okay Yeah And so it is a
bit complicated for people that aren’t
down here dealing with this every day
right but you had the give ups They
would come across the border and be
processed by customs order protection
and absorbed into the interior of the
country Correct And so buses planes a
lot went to New York Chicago California
Wisconsin those places So what was
happening guys is the the migrants were
coming over and actually giving
themselves up wanting to be caught right
because they were in they all claimed
asylum right nobody knows for sure but
all the research I’ve done all the
people I know that know this topic very
well said one in 10 were legitimate
asylum claims And we’ve heard that from
not only the previous administration but
this one Okay So that that number is
confirmed One in 10 was legitimate right
so most were economic migrants saying “I
live in Honduras I’m making 6,000 a year
I can live in America and make $38,000 a
year Why am I not going to do this if I
just walk over the border they take me
in.” So is an incentive to come here And
then the
Godways are the ones that know they will
be sent back because they have a
criminal record right or they’re from
Mexico There was an other than Mexico
policy Mexicans couldn’t just come over
correct and absorb into the country They
were sent back They were sent back They
were repatriated Repatriated Yeah
There’s sort of two groups the Godways
and the Give Ups And now the giveups
that door has been closed The cartel
can’t set them up at a gap in the wall
up here and and send them over and we’re
going to take them in They’re getting
repatriated immediately Right Right Okay
It’s complicated And so like and it gets
pulled apart whatever side someone’s on
the information gets cherrypicked right
and then you make your case right and
the story we’re not getting today is the
migrant story Like I’m not we’re not
meeting up with a migrant And there’s a
perspective on on on that story too
right well you know all the ones that I
talked to whenever we would run into
them down here The majority of the folks
that were coming here when you talk to
them they weren’t fleeing violence They
wanted a better way of life and to be
able to make money to help their
families out back home And that is not a
legitimate asylum claim Yeah And that’s
what they wanted was to come here they
knew it was an open door because once
one person comes across if they’re able
to do that and they see there’s no
consequence and then you’re given a
plane ticket to go to wherever you want
to go in the US that word travels fast
Now if you were from Mexico and you were
caught you’d be sent back right away
That’s why we were picking up a lot of
the passports and the identification
cards last time is because those
individuals had already left the country
of violence and Mexico was allowing them
to live and work in Mexico
So if that individual no matter what
country they were from actually
possessed that
identification when they were a give up
here they would have been sent back into
Mexico as well because they’ve already
fled that country of violence and they
were allowed to live and work in Mexico
So that’s why they were given a
different name different date of birth
when they were a give up so that it
couldn’t be tracked down and be sent
back So a lot of it was financial There
are some down here that we did see you
know that had legitimate concerns and
those are the ones that needed to go to
the port of entry to do that paperwork
right then and there So we’re actually
meeting up up here a guy that was in
Customs Border Protection but retired
Yeah Hector is going to meet us right
here Remember we had the cover here the
dumpsters That’s right That’s all gone
now because there is no more really that
much
activity So yeah all this has changed
The foot traffic for giveups was right
here right so they’re just coming over
from Mexico Yep Through native lands And
so the natives they won’t allow a wall
to be built Is that what’s going on so
when you look at tribes you have to
understand that with tribal land it’s
sacred land to the to our our tribal
nations in Arizona and I’m sure
throughout the whole of the United
States and everywhere Cocoapa is a river
tribe So having access to that easily
okay is is part of that tribal nation’s
history So the federal government the
border patrol obviously works with the
tribe to try to stop some of this
activity because it impacts their lands
too The amount of litter and garbage
that was being dumped along the river is
not good for the tribe nor the wildlife
in this area Yeah it’s cleaned up a lot
here It has And a lot of it had to do
with
uh I would say pressure because we had
exposed what was going on here to media
outlets A lot of the nonprofits actually
came down here and cleaned up all the
trash But you also had all the litter
down here and all the pharmaceuticals
that were being dumped down here along
the riverway Well this is where a lot of
wildlife is So you don’t need
pharmaceuticals from all over the world
right being dumped on the ground Yeah
And look at this compared to last time
Last time there were all those IDs in
the dirt There was the money the euros
Oh yeah Money was blowing towards us And
I mentioned the fact that you know I had
not seen any money from Russia We had
two people one from back east and one
from California sent me Russian rubles
So thank you for for sending me some
Russian rubles to add to that Uh you
have a money collection Pretty big one
Yeah No kidding
So how does this make you feel as
someone that lives here you’ve been a
sheriff for a long time here What are
your feelings right now well it’s nice
to see that law enforcement can get back
to doing what they need to do for the to
improve the quality of life of the
people we serve and not have to try to
battle this problem as well along the
border which that’s not part of our
responsibility immigration That’s
federal government’s responsibility They
said it The judges have said it The
judges don’t even allow us to even
enforce any of that all the way up to
the United States Supreme Court says
anything to do with immigration federal
government’s responsibility not local
law enforcement you’re not allowed to do
it But but we had to curb the criminal
side of it So the rapes the robberies
the homicides the assaults not only on
individuals that were coming here but on
border patrol agents we would end up
taking those cases the deaths in the
desert those investigations working with
other countries to kind of get the
victim back to that family that’s back
there in whatever country that was where
they were from My county is 5,500 square
miles I’ve got 95 deputies to patrol
that right so when you add on this added
amount of work onto
whatever you’re already full case load
It strains your your law enforcement
When the new administration came in did
did it just change in one day or how was
that because of So you got to look at
the messaging and that’s something that
we talked about before is the messaging
vitally important So everybody cartels
everybody throughout the world was
hearing what Trump was saying was going
to happen if he got
elected Once he got elected and he said
he was going to secure the border and
there were going to be consequences it
stopped
Right it’s as simple as someone gets
across and they talk to their cousin
down in Honduras and be like “Here’s
here are the steps You got ABC You get
over It’s super easy It’s great here
Yeah I got a job day one getting some
free stuff too Healthcare is awesome And
then why wouldn’t you the incentive is
there Keep coming Is it super
frustrating for you that it was really
that easy like you guys had to endure
some some chaos for very frustrating
because it it’s hard for us in law
enforcement that we know what works and
what doesn’t work When I get asked all
the time about what’s the harm well how
many do you let across and what’s the
threshold yeah That this country can
afford I mean you looked at it the
numbers were they had spent in one year
roughly
$246 billion on welfare and assistance
to all the immigrants that they led
across in one year Now when you put it
on a local perspective for Yuma so
Border Patrol had to put up tents to be
able to house them Okay those tents had
to contain not only a place for them to
sleep but also had to have a laundry
facility It also had to have a cafeteria
so they could cook the food for
everybody And they also had to have
storage to be able to outfit them with
clothing So Border Patrol was spending
tax dollars buying anything from baby
food and diapers on up to clothing for
adults for them to wear Now when they
looked at the contract price just here
in Yuma we were one of seven locations
along the border that Border Patrol had
to have these tent facilities right
those tents each tent was half a million
dollars a day taxpayer funded for that
tent Wait how is a tent a half million
dollars a day because it’s through a
contractor and that contractor has to
provide the employees to be able to
maintain that tent and the facilities
within it as well as all the other
entrances How many people under a tent
yeah you’d have to ask Hector on that
Okay You know when you when you when you
think about it when they were
apprehending almost
1,500,500 individuals a day that tent
had to hold all those people and the
kids Now unaccompanied kids that’s even
worse because then you have to have them
out of sight and sound and held
separately from the adults right so half
a million dollars a day per tent They
had I believe five tents here in Yuma
sector So and because the electrical
grid at Border Patrol could not handle
the power that was needed to run those
they had to run that facility on
generators which was over $100,000 a
week in diesel fuel
So it doesn’t end So when you when you
when you look at all these numbers we
don’t spend that kind of money for our
veterans And why
not three years Well you didn’t get the
memo We’re We’re flushed with money
We’re doing so well with our budget that
we have excess funds to spend on
anything I don’t know We do line item
budgets every year I’ve not seen any of
that And for your listeners out there
cuz I know they’re probably wondering
why a sheriff is driving a Raptor Yeah I
saw a lot in the comments about that
Yeah So to give you the history behind
this when all this was started that
truck was donated to the sheriff’s
office for a program and he also donated
to Coochis County Sheriff’s Office Okay
because DHS back then this was under uh
the prior administration before Biden So
that was donated back in 2017
And DHS was actually bringing folks down
to the border to tour it to see what the
actuality was And these were people from
back east either sheriffs elected
officials So that truck was donated to
be able to do the what we called borders
in your backyard Okay and it was to
educate other sheriffs and and other
electeds on what the reality of the
border was so they could actually see it
in person and then take that back to
their communities throughout the
interior of the United States So the
sheriff’s office didn’t buy that It was
donated Okay that’s that’s good to
clarify Well because people are like a
$90,000 truck so you guys are flushed
with money Yeah Well actually the first
generation Raptors when they came out we
actually purchased some on a grant
because my guys are out in the desert
all the time Yeah And a regular
four-wheel drive gets tore up where
these don’t under state contract That
Raptor the first generations were only
$34,000 under state contract Okay We
can’t touch that now So you don’t you
don’t see any brand new Raptors at my
agency because they’re just out of out
of boundary for us But as you can tell
that one’s got 112,000 miles on it and
it’s been outdoing the borders in your
backyard Sheriff scale to one and 10 how
much do you love your Raptor that’s a 10
So
and that thing is we don’t ferously
spend money and it you can tell it’s got
desert pin striping all over it That
thing’s the boss though out in these
washboards and we just flew over them
like they were nothing Well here’s my
deal It’s like when I have to send my
troops out there and it’s 120° ambient
temperature and the ground is like 140°
I want my guys to be able to get out
there and also get back and I want
something that’s going to be reliable
for my personnel to go out there and do
that that job that they need to do So
there there is no amount of money that
you can put on the safety of people that
are going out there and serving that
that area You know this video is
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access Now back to the story
Get in the shot Oh you got to be in the
shot
I need the director to tell me when Oh
uh sheriff’s a pro at this He He is the
new director
Let’s see if he’ll do that Border Patrol
jump or is he going to walk around like
I did oh he’s going to Oh yeah He knows
what he’s saying Oh look at you That’s
how I got hurt actually once Oh is that
right
how you doing Hector how’s it going guys
yeah Thanks for meeting up Going to see
you It’s uh great meeting you What’s up
buddy it’s a It’s a very rare Well at
least for me I haven’t had any luck
getting through with uh Customs Border
Protection people Definitely not on the
job but you’re recently retired so you
can speak openly Is that what is that
what that is absolutely Okay cool Cool
Sheriff I I hate to do this to you but
I’m going to take the candy Unmike me
I’ll go in the background
Get a break from me Yeah Wh Why don’t we
We can walk this way Hector Does that
work cuz that’s in the shade It’s sort
of nice Absolutely Yeah All right
Sheriff will we come back in a couple
minutes is that cool you take your time
All right Yeah It’s been a while since
last time I was here I worked for 23
years Wow Started out in Texas Eagle
Pass station Uh shout out to my Eagle
Pass people And uh in
2005 I transferred here when uh started
getting really really uh busy down here
I retired in 2021 with 23 years My plan
was to go 25 Okay But uh I just couldn’t
do it I mean it took less than a year
for me to realize that I wasn’t being I
wasn’t doing what I was supposed to do I
wasn’t
uh fulfilling my obligations as you know
when I swore my oath and uh yeah we
started I mean I couldn’t take it I I I
mean truly I believe that we went from
being an enforcement agency to being
part of a smuggling organization Really
yeah I mean and I wasn’t going to be
part of it And I feel bad for the people
that didn’t have the opportunity to to
to leave like I did you know because
they still have years to go before they
can retire I would have been a lifer
They would have had to drag me from the
station at at 57 years old which I’m now
you know I ran a shift I was a a watch
commander when I first started I mean I
would put put 40 50 guys on the field
and then you know start going getting
smaller and smaller The amount of people
that I could put in and the height of
the mass migration that we saw we called
it a skeleton crew which was the bare
minimum I’m talking you know two people
here two people there just to say that
we have some type of coverage because
everybody was inside processing Okay
Yeah So all your resources went to
processing not to securing Mhm Okay So
watch commander say you have 50 guys How
many of those 50 do you think were for
the
policies of that time was anyone for
them none of them Nobody Nobody Oh no
Okay Oh no Nobody And that I mean and
that that brings another uh another
issue another subject You have 4 years
of guys not being properly trained in
field So that takes a toll on border
patrol operations and border patrol
culture You’re a trainee You have your
journeyman He takes you out He shows you
around He shows you how to work traffic
But when all you know as a border patrol
agent all you know is
to sit around at the station wait for
the next call of “Hey we have uh 100
people waiting down by uh in San Louis I
mean these people are not there to run
They’re not They’re just waiting to get
picked up.” Yeah Yeah I saw So I shot
that video a little over two years ago
here We were way out in the desert the
sheriff and I and uh there was this
Indian family out there looking like
they just got out of the shopping mall
because they probably did From my
understanding they flew Delhi Mexico
City Mexico City Mexicalei Cartel
arranged their ride to the gap in the
fence where there was a gap Sent them on
their way to the American side Gave him
a phone said “Call 911 when you get
there.” our customs border of protection
came in with the helicopter and all the
resources processed them Then a quarter
mile down or a half mile down is when
the dirty stuff goes through the sex
trafficking the fentanyl the the highly
illegal stuff that’s going to be sent
back right is that is that how that game
was played is that how you saw it yeah
that is how it’s played If they’re going
to give up why all the way out there in
the middle of nowhere because they want
to draw resources over to that site
Right Right Right You know so we were
way out in the middle of nowhere I saw
the video I remember it Oh yeah No I
remember I mean you guys were by
monument 198 you know that’s way out
there Yeah So draw resources from the
urban closer you know where it’s a quick
jump and they’re in the houses They
don’t want you close to that you know
they want you out there so you can’t
respond to what’s going on in the urban
areas Okay So did you guys when you were
working right before you retired did you
feel like you just had no control of the
border i mean definitely not Definitely
not You know cuz you’re supposed to
dictate the
operations Operations were being
dictated by the illegal aliens I’m the
watch commander I tell my guys you’re
going to be here here and here But I c I
couldn’t do that as a watch commander
because they would do their thing and
then you know like operations had to
move wherever they went So they were
dictating our operations which is crazy
and one of the big reasons why I said I
can’t do this anymore
During that time I got a call in from
the United Cajun Navy to go down to the
border in Texas And that was four years
ago Right Okay And I as your average
American I had no clue what was going on
at the border right or understanding of
the border at all Right So what’s the
why i’ll preface this real quickly here
I saw in Charoy Pennsylvania Mon Valley
a lot of Haitians there Mhm They’re
chicken I I think it was chicken It
might be chicken or something else They
need workers really bad South Florida
sugar big sugar needs cheap labor So I
it’s not just the types that are like we
need no borders in this world everyone
is human nations don’t mean anything
It’s actually big business interests too
So it’s coming from both sides from what
I’ve seen right why do you think that
the policy was the way it was for those
four years
uh I mean first of all I think that the
whole thing was done purposely Uh I
don’t think this was a fluke or
incompetence of Mr Mayor They’re not
that stupid right no they’re not I’m
sorry You know like you don’t get to
that those positions by being stupid
This was a concerted effort My opinion
not Border Patrol I don’t even work for
Border Patrol anymore but um it was a
concerted effort to do I mean the the
candidate when he was candidate
President Biden said it you know this is
what I want you know and it happened you
know and it’s uh as far as the uh you
mentioned the American people I have to
apologize to the American people on
behalf of I mean Border Patrol when I
was in there
because when I saw your video with the
sheriff uh two years ago I remember him
talking about the possible things that
could happen I remember him saying
something specifically like this is
going to your town Yeah And then you
have the lake and Riley’s and then you
have all this all this crime And I hate
when I when I hear people well not all
illegal aliens are you know most crime
is committed by US citizens Okay I
understand that But we have US citizens
committing crime Do we need to import
more i mean is that even does that make
sense right Right So any type of
crime committed by a person that
shouldn’t be here in the first place is
outrageous Yeah Especially when he was
like “Go.” Yeah You know it’s it’s it’s
it’s criminal in so many ways You You
know I would like to say though the vast
majority of people are coming here
They’re getting into restaurants
landscaping Yes Oh no Absolutely House
cleaning And they’re good people that
want a better life Like the mass
majority But when you hit such scale
when you put millions of when I have
millions of people watching a video
you’re getting all types I can be called
everything Even though the vast majority
love the video 99% say “Great video That
was awesome I learned something.” 1% of
a million is a lot of people 1% of 10
million Wow Now we’re talking numbers
Right Exactly And so I think that gets
misrepresented too Like yeah the average
person wants a better life Okay got it
But at scale you’re getting a lot of
riff raff in And that’s just the way it
is Unfortunately that’s just the way it
is It’s the nature of the beast One of
the most beautiful things that I I
remember seeing when I was in in you
know in the field was whenever I worked
midnights in San Louis Arizona We have
that port of entry there And every
morning at 4 in the 4:00 a.m during uh
crop
season it was droves and throws of
people coming in legally to come work It
can be done Yeah You know they come in
legally They they work and kudos to them
I mean I I I love that they can come in
and do that Yeah It is just that when
it’s uncontrolled unfettered like that
you can’t control who comes in and who
you know you can’t weed out the bad
element That’s that’s it Yeah I think 95
plus percentage of Americans are pro
immigration right and I always want to
pe see people thrive Most immigrants
love America more than a lot lot of
Americans Some abuse it but some really
love it And you want those A players
that really love it No matter if they’re
in kitchens or mowing lawns or the top
brains of whatever field you want to
take the best right from around the
world That’s the luxury we have as
America cuz it’s a nice place to be
Absolutely I just don’t understand if
most Americans are on board with that
why the federal government wouldn’t set
up a system for more work visas more
path to citizenship but that’s with
solid vetting And that’s a carrots and
sticks approach you commit a crime in
the country then well we don’t want you
here You know if it’s like a violent
crime on an old lady you’re you know
bashing her head on the streets or
something like we don’t want those
people here if they’re not citizens yet
But most Americans would be so on board
with Yeah more immigrants We have to
figure out a number That’s the t that’s
the sticky part How much do we want to
immigrate a year but vet everyone
properly right and it also gives the
immigrants security knowing that they’re
here legally Mhm And also they’re not
paying off a cartel The cartel right a
lot of these people what what people
didn’t get and if if for some of you
that didn’t see my earlier videos on the
border no one just gets over the border
right how much were they paying to get
here from say Honduras back in the day
thousands I mean I was like 6,000 I
remember when I was here 6,000 And they
enforce that You know you try to come in
without going through them you’re in
trouble I mean you’re you’re going to
get robbed You’re going to get I mean
you’re going to get killed Yeah You know
by the cartels you know So they control
the border They have what they call the
plazas and each plaza has a plaza boss
and they they set the What’s the plaza
territory Plaza is a territory Yeah So
Yuma sector how many plazas i don’t know
Plazas are subdivisions of whoever you
know whatever cartel is the one dominant
on the Mexican side And the plazas are
little subdivisions of that main cartel
All right So illegal crossings are down
93% What do you think the cartel is now
doing for money i don’t know I think
they’re going to have you know they they
have to go back to old drugs You know
we’ll start seeing attempts again to do
the remember the the the tunnels and you
know into the chicken place into that
KFC and uh straight out of Breaking Bad
There’s always games that they play You
still got the drones that they deal with
that are bringing in the narcotics
They’re GPS control They can drop all
that stuff at a certain location So
you’re still going to fight those fights
but you’re not having to deal with the
humanitarian aspect of it here and all
the stuff that Border Patrol agents had
to deal with that was not part of their
training at all They didn’t sign up for
it No Well they their their law
enforcement is like I would equate it to
a sheriff saying to the city police “I’m
not going to hold your people in my jail
no more You’re going to have to hold
them in your police station and put them
through the process.” Right that’s what
they did with law enforcement for border
patrols Like they took them from being
cops out on the street to being jailers
and housing Someone comes in
from Liberia Africa right mhm They have
no ID identification when they come over
They get processed in Mhm There’s no
background check happening They can only
take what they tell them verbally is
their name and their date of birth Yeah
They can only try to do fingerprints but
if that country doesn’t share their
criminal history database or
fingerprints there is they’re going to
come up clean because that country won’t
share that information with with our law
enforcement anymore right so Venezuela
and the US don’t have tight
relationships politically So you
wouldn’t think that that information
would be going back quickly And so when
we were told that everyone was being
vetted when they were coming in that was
BS right yeah Totally Yes cuz we saw the
IDs in the dirt over there Yeah IDs were
here I’ve heard different takes on this
but I thought say you’re coming from
Haiti right and you go through Mexico
first Isn’t it the first country you
step foot in that’s you’re supposed to
claim asylum in for a valid asylum claim
for a valid asylum claim Yeah Yeah So
obviously they want to come to us not
Mexico No it was never in their mind The
whole asylum thing is just gaming the
system to make it all the way here And
they’re coached They’re coached by the
cartels They’re coached by people that
have been let in on what the process is
what’s faster what’s not faster during
that whole period of time So they were
gaming the system to get in and the
administration was allowing that to
happen Even though those boots on the
ground were saying “Stop this.” We were
still concerned like we were under Obama
about the kids How do you really know
that that kid belongs to that person
who’s portraying themselves as family
unit right and under Obama they actually
started doing DNA rapid right there at
Border Patrol with that star Thanks for
bringing that up Hundreds of thousands
of kids with no family were were lost
unaccompanied kids and they were getting
them here too and they would have to
have to deal with that absorbed in the
interior all parts of the country They
can’t find them They don’t know where
they went There was no actual tracking
that happened So whether it’s 300
whether it’s 10 it really doesn’t matter
You lost that kid You lost the kid is
being victimized somewhere And this
turned totally political So depending on
what media someone watches or reads
they’re not going to get any of that
information And I made these videos cuz
look every American should know this
It’s a problem and it shouldn’t even
have a political stripe to it It should
be like people are dying Well you know
when we talked with Holman the sheriff’s
dude because we were concerned all right
what’s your plan what’s going to happen
and Holman met with us down there in
Coochis County And he mapped it out He
goes “Look we have already 1.5 million
people that have gone through the system
through the courts The courts have had
told them they are to be removed from
the country They didn’t have a
legitimate asylum claim Mayorcas during
that period of time didn’t deport them
So Homeman’s first thing was he had 1.5
million people that have already been
ordered to leave that are still here 300
kids that thousand kids that he’s got to
try to find That’s that’s a beast in and
of itself with the limited manpower that
they have to try to catch up So they’re
tied up already trying to deal with that
And plus now you’re dealing with the TDA
which is a beast I mean we’ve dealt with
the MS-13 Mexican mafia
here over the years forever Mhm TDA was
a whole different ballgame Why because
they’re they were actually born in a
prison and they took over that prison in
Venezuela So TDA they’re they’re all
about violence extortion rape robbery
They don’t care They don’t value human
life at all How many TDA guys do we have
in the country or no way of knowing i
have no clue I haven’t seen a number on
it And they all go towards your major
metropolitan areas because why it’s
easier to hide
A good guy He’s down to earth solid and
he doesn’t have an agenda It’s all about
doing what’s right You have to be
fortunate to be in your branch of law
enforcement where Yeah you could do your
job the whole time even though you were
stretched thin and put out on this stuff
Yeah We we can uh we we don’t have
somebody pushing political ideologies
into public safety as far as the sheriff
goes Sheriffs are a constitutionally
elected position And the whole idea
behind it was that that is the chief law
enforcement officer for that county that
speaks for the people as one
voice And that’s why like the Arizona
Sheriff’s Association we are the one
united voice representing the people of
the state When people are mad at the
elected officials that are in Washington
DC or even at the state level we’re the
one that’s usually in the community all
the time that the people run into and
they tend to grab us by the throat to
pass along their message that they’re
not real happy with the electeds either
in the state or the the federal level on
what they’re doing I can never be
elected back in Washington DC There’s no
way you know because there’s just too
much political ideologies that are put
into there and then there’s too much
deal making going on back there Well if
you don’t support my bill then I’m not
going to support yours and all this
gamesmanship It’s like look you were
there to represent the people of your
community and do what’s right not what
you personally feel right i mean I
personally don’t think they should have
made marijuana legal right just as an
example Okay But it is legal and it’s
recreational now
So okay even though I don’t like it it’s
the law and that’s what we’re supposed
to enforce And they lose focus of that
because they get into office and then
they want to push a bill or push
something that uh gets their name on a
bill makes it look like they’re doing
something But in reality that law that
they’re trying to push they never
consulted with anybody that’s going to
be impacted by that certain law Right
There’s a disconnect between what’s
going on on the ground Huge disconnect
Yeah That’s And then we end up wasting
our time fighting them that this is
wrong You’re going to create a whole
different issue for everybody by doing
that
So even though we’re on the Mexican side
of the wall now we’re still in the US
right but Mexico is way over yonder Okay
But it’s easy to walk over to here Oh
yeah You can walk right across right
here right the only reason why this was
put here is because anything on the
right side of this levey is in the flood
plane Okay And we have had those
100red-year floods where excess water
they’ve had to release from Morales dam
down this way and the river could come
up to this level Gotcha That’s why
you’ll see fencing put in different
areas even though this is the
US When you look at the heritage right
of the
Hispanic it’s all about hard work
dedication to the family right that’s
what their main focus is When you hear
about democracy right a lot of that I’m
told anyway from some folks they assume
that democracy Watch your mirror Okay
I’m here because I believe in democracy
and hard work and and taking care of
family then it should be a
Democrat A the old Democratic regime is
now being pushed out by liberal thought
right you got this new everything for
free type thing and you don’t have to
earn it They should just give it to you
The government should take care of you
That was in response to it was off
camera but you said Yuma County
traditionally was very blue and now it’s
gone red Gone red and it’s very Latinod
driven here right oh absolutely So the
Latinos here sort of like Star County
Texas I think that was
95 don’t quote me on this but 94
96% Hispanic Hispanic Yeah One heavily
red
And I think it’s because of what you’re
saying right they they most of them want
to work hard take care of their family
be left alone Well especially the Cubans
came from a system where the state
controlled everything and they want the
opposite of that right i think they’re
looking at the new policies in the
direction of the the party is not the
direction that they truly believe in
They think it should be the other way
And unfortunately those electeds aren’t
listening Yeah It’s interesting how the
parties have changed in so many ways
Yeah And don’t get me wrong I mean I
don’t vote party Me neither I’ve always
been an independent I vote for policies
I I vote for policies It’s like the
former sheriffs that hired me they were
both Democrat You know I’ve always been
a Republican Okay But you know in my
line of work it’s not about party It’s
about character of the person I can care
less about race
religion any of that What we care about
is the character of the person that’s
out there doing what we do each and
every day And I think Martin Luther King
is the one that actually put that in his
speech Right When I went to the FBI
National Academy I don’t know if you’ve
had a chance to read his
speech Wow That guy was a
visionary and you listen to I mean the
media used to talk to his niece and then
they slowly because it didn’t meet their
narrative the media started walking away
You notice that it’s a shame
Well there’s this battle between color
blindness which is the MLK vision
content of character not color of skin
right exactly And then there’s identity
politics on the other side which it’s
all about the color of your skin and
your identity And you have to identify
with your group And we have to pit
groups against one another you know and
it’s used as division And I’m sure
there’s a lot of people that are in the
major metropolitan areas but rural
communities we all work together
right yeah Yeah We we we’re with each
other all the time We don’t care about
the color of your skin We care about
doing what’s right and get and making
things happen Yeah Like the sweet little
lady working for you in your office Yeah
That you said she was unbelievable
Couldn’t imagine working without her Oh
yeah Honor Yeah Oh my gosh Yeah I mean
she runs that jail and I put 100% faith
in her Yeah Because of her work ethic
Yeah and she believes in honor integrity
and honesty You know what I mean
okay So where were we last time Sheriff
that road was closed But we were out
there Yeah On the corner I’m going to
take you down that way Okay Okay Cool
I remember this 2 and 1/2 years ago
We’re on the other side of the fence
here But uh you were saying the cartel
was letting migrants out under that
bridge right mhm Yeah And they were
doing it right up to the last day Right
up to the last day right up to when uh
the election happened and they named who
the uh who the new president of the
United States would be and then it
stopped And then over here there was a
tent There’s a cover where that blue
barrel is Remember there used to be a
shade structure there and that’s where
they would all pile up to be processed
and then transported from here to Border
Patrol’s headquarters Right And then I
remember the buses There were all these
school buses coming down up and down
this road to transport everyone in Yeah
processing This gate was actually used
most of the time to bring in the bus
load it up and then take it back out and
close the gate And I remember just
having this weird uh this weird visceral
feeling of something’s really wrong
about this cartel is there dropping
coming over just waiting for the school
bus to pick them up Oh yeah And then
they’re off to interior wherever in
America Well and the ones that would
come around the corner down here if you
remember the cartel guys were actually
videotaping the people getting across
and then going to border patrol right
because that was their proof because it
was like a travel agent right sending
that video to the family members going
“Hey I got your family member into the
United States so now you need to pay.” I
mean that’s how bad it was down here And
so yeah it it was all contrary to the
rule of law you know and I remember you
saying like you know you feel sympathy
for these people And I also remember I
said “Don’t litter here cuz there’s
litter on the ground.” I said “We’re in
America now Don’t just throw your trash
on the ground.” Right Yeah Oh wow Well
interesting to see that development It
was a week after the election I just
happened to ask the deputy chief I said
“So how many you know what’s the impact
now?” They said “I think we got nine in
custody Versus they’d have two three
four up to 1500 a day They were down to
nine apprehensions Yeah that’s quite the
drop That’s huge Yeah And that
water set up there is for the workers
out here on that road right not for
migration They still do get a few that
come across Okay They still do get a few
Okay So you don’t want to stop that you
know Right You don’t want people getting
hurt or How’s it
been pretty quiet
I’m sorry It’s all right That’s all
right I’mma blow right by you when I
leave Sure How are you how are you he’s
good Peter Santanelo when you don’t have
to worry
Yeah She couldn’t talk on camera but
saying “Well when you better nobody’s
coming over.” You know like uh like he
was telling you it’s going to take a
while for Border Patrol to get back to
Border Patrol Most of them started under
the last administration So she was
scared of saying anything that might
mess with their career One thing you say
bad could impact your future
That’s your mortgage raising your family
your pension You got to take care of the
family first You know that’s why you do
what you do But I Okay I do to be
devil’s advocate I do understand
policies that say “Hey don’t just talk
to anyone that shows up with a camera
There are people with bad intention I
can cut this a million different ways
make make her look terrible Mhm When
she’s just a sweet woman doing her job
So Oh and that’s what they worried about
too Yeah I get that It’s like you know
and then they see me down here and I
take anybody It doesn’t matter what
media outlet they want to see it I don’t
mind taking them if I have that time Y
to go out there and show it to them and
then explain the impacts to us It’s not
a narrative that you know it it’s just
the facts Yeah I’m not trying to spin
anything anywhere for anybody you know
So these are new these shade structures
for the trucks No they were there There
were just no truck There were no trucks
Yeah that’s right That’s why it doesn’t
stick out compared to now All this was
all here They just didn’t have anybody
that they could put out here to Manny
You said the cartel had a tunnel going
under into the chicken restaurant right
that’s on the first video That’s a major
undertaking to build a tunnel underneath
all this Right That would come out into
the kitchen Now they’re building a brand
new port of entry here They’re widening
it Oh right here And making it larger
There’s all kinds of activity down here
And what do cartels like they like to
basically
clone the construction companies trucks
and everything else to try to make it
look like they’re part of that Are you
serious to get their Oh yeah All that
border patrol They’ve cloned border
patrol trucks over in California and all
that stuff This is a busy port of entry
Fair to say Oh yes This place is always
busy This is San Louis Arizona right
here And that’s San Louis Mexico right
there People coming over for the day
working families on both sides that sort
of thing Yeah So I’ve heard that a lot
of Americans lower on resources and
finances go over the border for dental
work and things like that Oh yeah That’s
common place huh that’s common retirees
Okay Yuma 200,000 roughly full-time Okay
During the winter we end up with another
100,000 in Yuma between agriculture and
winter visitors So we get folks that
come from Washington Oregon Canada all
coming to Yuma to stay for the winter
down here and then they go into
Algadonas for the most part to get
medical issues addressed get their
prescriptions have dental work done And
you got to remember too there are 800
kids that cross that border every day to
go to school here and then they go back
every night cuz one parent lives here
because the kid was actually a US
citizen and they were born here Okay So
they’re entitled to that education A
pregnant woman can come into the country
and then have their kid and their kid is
going to be an American citizen and and
like many people across the world will
do that I met a a girl from Taiwan and
her mom flew in before pre pregnancy to
make sure right that she got American
citizenship Well that’s what inundated
our
hospital That was all part of the game
right especially with all the
Haitians Every one of those women were
obviously almost at the end of their
term And that’s what impacted the
hospital It was $24 million in a
sixmonth period impact on a nonprofit
hospital We only have one We’re going
there today too Yeah you’re going to
you’re going to be able to talk to them
and ask them about you know what was the
impacts to the neonatal ward what was
the impacts to the budget of the
hospital you know because anybody that
was hurt coming across too was impacted
by that And a lot of folks from
different countries you would run into
individuals that had health issues that
would have to go to the hospital If they
were brought there by border patrol then
obviously the federal government paid
that bill But if like some of them they
just walked to the hospital from the
border because there were no agents then
the community ends up fussing the bill
because they don’t have any money Right
Right So that’s where when you find out
that you pay that absorbent amount when
you go to the hospital that’s because
they have to stay in business and
somebody’s got to pay the bill Yeah
So that is Mexican highway 2 on the
other side of the fence That is the main
highway that goes from one end of Mexico
to the other What is that technology up
there on that pole so that pole has
cameras on it that border patrol
monitors and all along this area right
here are sensors in the ground that will
detect any kind of
activity So a lot of this is new to you
A lot of building over there huh yeah
So close but yet so far Yeah We would
get called by the Mexican authorities to
go down and dive to recover a victim of
a drowning over there in Mexico So we
would go down there off and on and we’d
be hosted by the fire department down
there cuz that’s who we were helping To
be quite honest with you the families
over there treated us better than we get
treated here doing that same service So
give you an instance we spent two days
diving over there in Algadonas for a
victim that had drowned Okay that whole
time the family was there and they were
cooking lunch for us and
everything You don’t get that here you
know so that’s what I say It’s it’s the
character of the people They’re
hardworking familyoriented people and
they were so appreciative you know So
and you got to look at border
communities okay most of my employees
have family and friends that live right
over here in Mexico They go back and
forth all the time Yeah So they don’t
want this in their backyard anymore than
we do They were having to deal with the
same conflicts from all these other
countries in their backyard just like we
had to deal with it You know that’s
because the cartels were running the
show So do you think their neighborhoods
have gotten safer across the border now
that the cartels aren’t pushing us
through as many people as far as that
goes there’s less of an impact on their
community I would assume But yeah the
cartel impacts have not stopped over
there Yeah For them it’s all about
control right so here we start two walls
right this is where it was uh changed
when Biden came in Okay When Biden came
in what happened it all stopped
Are they going to get back to building
it or No I know that they were supposed
to be addressing some of the gate
openings cuz there’s a checkpoint right
here It’s where the National Guard and
all them are at or the Mexican
military Yep Looks like they’re
finishing putting up the fill in the gap
Oh cool
That was a whole gap that we had right
here Remember right So that’s good to
see that they’re actually coming down
here to finish all that
up The other gap where you had the
monument you could actually walk to it
Yeah we had that in the video right
that’s all changed Oh yeah Yeah You
could just walk up here before
Yeah this is an interesting part of the
border guys because you can see so much
What are we looking at 30 m that way
It’s 20 m to San Louise from right here
And then how far to those mountains it’s
another 20 m to the mountains up there
So okay this is that stretch that I took
you on before where about 10 miles we
ran into that group from India That’s
right that was abandoned by the cartels
back in here This was one of our
smuggling routes that we were having a
lot of problems with He had a pathway
Yep That came up because the cartel and
you’re right there at Highway 2 in
Mexico So the cartels would all sit down
there in those buildings during the day
and then at night they would bring them
up and then walk up cuz this was all
open But now they’ve changed it So
that’s right the border marker I have it
in the last video and I went right up to
it Yeah Okay But you said this is Biden
wall Yeah Biden put this part up I
understood what you said earlier Biden
put it up near the agriculture because
it was posing a problem with the farmers
But he actually was putting up wall in
the middle of nowhere too Right here
Okay So why did why did we not hear
anything about that i don’t know
So they were caring a bit about the
border Fair to say a bit Yeah A bit
because we exposed this
is part of it And when you’re talking
about cartels exploiting a weakness and
then people dying that’s not a good
message Okay So that’s a story that’s
new to me today is that Biden was
putting up wall Yeah And so it turned so
political that for his party it would
have been looked at as a weakness maybe
And then the Republicans wouldn’t want
to show it because it would show well
he’s actually putting up wall and that’s
what we want to do So that’s not good
for us Part of your politics Yeah You
know Okay But you know when you got what
I tell you in 2022 there was 70 in one
year that died out here 70 70 22 and
then over 35 in 2023
Yeah In that Indian family that just got
off the plane that just looked like they
got out of the mall Yeah They weren’t
going to make the night out there in the
clothes they had They didn’t have
anything on there cuz it was cold at
that time And you’re talking 3540 miles
to go from here up to
anything where civilization would be And
you’re going right through a bombing
range So you got military This is all
Brym Goldwater bombing range So the
military’s out here training all the
time So you got troops on the ground
They’re doing live fire You’ve got
aircraft doing live fire The cartel
doesn’t care They got their money Here
you go You’re in the US Go that way Yeah
And you don’t need a gallon on water
You’ll be okay Is it good to have TV
back it’s good to see you again Tvette
You couldn’t have done it without me
Couldn’t have Well you know here’s the
deal is like it’s like I told you about
that truck It was donated for the
borders in your backyard for not only
sheriffs but other media outlets to come
out here I’ve taken them all out here
I’ve done the same thing with you that I
did with them But apparently they they
didn’t put the messaging out there
because obviously they changed it to
meet their narrative And that’s the
problem with media nowadays is they have
to push a narrative So they have to spin
whatever you
say And I’ve seen it many of times
myself where I’ve said something and
they take that little snippet of it but
when you take the whole context of the
conversation out of that little snippet
it makes it sound bad You said off
camera you brought a New York Times
journalist out here Yeah And spent a
full day and she didn’t write anything
really about what you guys We spent till
late at night and we were out here in
the middle of the desert at night Uhhuh
with her and she got to see a lot of
this stuff that kind of like what you
saw Yeah And it’s like okay you know
that ought to be an interesting article
We spent a lot of time I did it Sheriff
Danos did it with Coochis County down in
his county Same thing And we were kind
of okay let’s see what comes out of this
And it was just a small little paragraph
in a whole huge article about down here
on the border but it really didn’t cover
all the impacts that we discussed on the
hospital the the family advocacy center
the mission the on law enforcement you
know it didn’t cover any of that And
then she calls back later after they
wrote that article and wanted more info
was like I’m not going to invest any
more time that I’m never going to get
back you know for for what you’re doing
because you’re just spinning an article
for a political narrative And I think we
talked about that when we were out there
in the middle of the desert when you
found that that that radio system Yeah
It’s like you know get your personal and
political ideologies out of public
safety Period
The first time that we met Mayorcus the
sheriff’s when Mayorcus was sworn in and
we gave him a 16point plan of success A
year later we asked him why haven’t you
implemented any of this and then his
response was “Did you give me
something?” He didn’t even remember our
conversation and he had actually removed
Sheriff Dan who was supported by
national sheriffs western state sheriffs
Arizona sheriffs southwest border
sheriffs to sit on the Homeland Security
Council back then And when he came on he
he he wrote Mark Donald’s letter saying
“We no longer need your services
sheriff.” He was the only sheriff or law
enforcement person on that Homeland
Security Council Period That was it He
removed that when Mayorcus came down
here In fact his one of our board of
supervisor even called him out because
we were trying to get him to understand
the the complexities of what we were
dealing with here And he lied to
Jonathan Lines our our board of
supervisor who Jonathan Lines even
testified when they had a hearing here
how Mayorca said he was going to take
care of this and he was going to fix all
the problems that we had down here And
Jonathan Lion said he didn’t do [ __ ] And
I was testifying too at that field
hearing and basically explained to him
that he wasn’t doing anything And the
second time I met my Orcus I told him
he’s full
of cuz he didn’t do anything that he
said he was going to do You said those
exact words Yeah What’d he say he just
Well Sheriff Well do your job Why are
you creating these issues you haven’t
fixed any of these problems that we’ve
showed you And he was at a round table
He was with NOS’s with the hospital with
the farmers I mean he sat there and
listened to every one of them and didn’t
do nothing So yeah I told him he was
full of he didn’t follow through on
anything that he said he was going to do
He just did the narrative that his
bosses told him to
do So there’s that
They’re the
Federalis Do you know any of those guys
over there
so the Mexican government I’ve heard has
stepped up with protecting the border
also
So the Mexican president actually sent
law enforcement and the military to the
border Okay For us here you didn’t see
any military did you no No US military
yeah Or Mexican Or Mexican Yeah You see
them
no They’re working the ports Okay So the
Mexican military is actually doing the
inbound stuff from the US into Mexico
What’s the inbound from US to Mexico
guns Guns ammo money
So all these years they’ve been
complaining about guns being smuggled
into Mexico from the US right why
weren’t they doing that before
you see what I’m saying well there’s
no but you couldn’t do it before But
you’re working on the US for smuggling
guns into your country making life
miserable for the people
Why weren’t you doing inbound border
checks back then why because the cartels
would probably threaten their life It’s
a whole different ballgame in Mexico The
cartels control the
officials and everything else over there
because if you don’t they kill you It’s
pretty easy
So wild Just the rules of the game 10 ft
away over in that dirt Night and day
night and day God bless the the honest
cops over there there are some but they
they they live dayto day They really do
Okay So when you talk about law
enforcement and corruption Mhm humans
are human There’s a certain percentage
that are going to try to get away with
whatever they can get away with But what
would you say nobody knows this What
percentage of law enforcement in the
United States is corrupt
that’s a tough one I mean there are bad
cops Obviously whenever you put
thousands of people Yeah under one label
you’re going to get some bad apples
You’re going to get bad apples anywhere
Yes It’s easier for us here to call that
out right is there any cartel on the
Yuma side that controls anything or not
really it’s just all underground So it
you look at the cartel people Yeah They
probably live in the US versus living in
Mexico
some of the the higher ranking ones or
their family lives in the US so they
don’t have to worry about any kind of
retaliation from the rival gangs on
their family over there in Mexico Right
So you’re right anywhere you go I mean
everybody has experienced bad apples
Yeah In their agencies The thing is
though is you know we police ourselves
especially here I can say that for my
agency that anytime anybody has done
something that’s out outside of what we
should be doing my own troops call them
out And we have not ever hesitated to
hold those people accountable because
like I’ve always said I don’t care who
you are or how big you are you’ll still
fit in my jail
And we put our own in jail Honor
integrity and ethics You can never
compromise any of that because once you
do you’ll never get it back You won’t
And Americans that if they haven’t been
in law enforcement or seen what you guys
deal with on a
dayto-day they haven’t lived abroad or
been to a place like Mexico right though
it’s not
perfect it’s amazingly good with law
enforcement I can never pay off a cop
hey here’s 20 bucks Nope Let me go No
Right And I’m sure there are a few
examples out there but for the most part
for the most part that is a true
blessing That is to have your basic
day-to-day interaction not laced in
corruption Yeah And that’s where there’s
certain politicians that like to bring
that part into well those people that
are here illegally are going to lose
trust and they’re not going to want to
go to them to report a crime You know
I’ve been doing this almost 40 years now
There are routes that law enforcement
and those folks know that if we have a
victim even if they’re in the country
illegally we can get them a B visa to
stay in the United States so we can
address that assault that rape that
robbery that homicide that domestic
whatever the case may be So those cops
are bought in that country They’re
already scared of law enforcement as it
is So it doesn’t help for a politician
in the United States of America trying
to push that agenda off on us when they
know well that that’s not how we operate
that we’re there to serve the people no
matter where they’re from So that part
kind of pisses you off too because
they’re trying to spin another narrative
That’s
false Anyway there’s another ramp I like
it Hey it’s the place for it long form
video I’m not cutting it all up So well
that’s it’s gonna be a long one So this
was YMC but is now on Vita Medical
Center This is where you’ll get a chance
to talk about the impacts that we were
experiencing here Do you know how to
parallel park here oh yeah You’re pro I
have a commercial driver’s license I can
drive a semitr Where do you want me to
park it and I don’t rely on that
There you go You got the sheriff with
you so you know where to go Yeah you can
you can pick him out of a group He’s got
it How are you dear good I couldn’t just
meet you I know Pleasure Sorry about
that You have another hand There we go
All right Cool How are you come out of
this Let’s do that So we just just walk
beside me and All right So the average
American doesn’t understand you know we
we heard a few things about the border
They’re not thinking about like the
second third fourth order effects of
like how it affects schools or hospitals
right and I just wanted to get your
guys’ perspective because I tried to get
it last time I had too little time in
town to to get it but you guys because
of the policies on the border it
affected your operations here Can you
walk us through that what that was like
it does Um I I think the biggest thing
to remember I think for most people um
this where we are geographically located
we’re the only hospital for 180 mi
radius or a 3-hour drive So we’re it for
our community and we’re it for anybody
who comes into our door Okay In 2022 we
were seeing you know sometimes 900
people to where we are today The last 6
months we’ve seen about 76 patients in a
six-month period coming over the border
that over the border and and um I think
the difference today than what we saw
before is most of those 76 patients all
of them but four came in with border
patrol or like an ICE or government
agency Okay Our entire focus throughout
this has been to make sure we provide
the same level of care for every person
Okay and as a hospital that’s regardless
of their ability to pay but that left a
bolus of $26 million unpaid in charges
in 2022
um today if they’re coming because
they’re coming in border patrol we will
get reimbursed It takes a while but we
get reimbursed for a portion of that the
emergency care Okay so somebody comes in
and h delivers a baby we get paid for
those government rates for the delivery
Okay But the care after that so the care
of the mom if the baby has to go to the
NICU it’s not an emergency anymore Okay
We would still be we would still have
that You have to pay for that We would
still have to pay for that Yes which
means other patients pay for it in the
long run Right Right All of us with
commercial insurance those people in the
community would pay for that But that is
that’s really the function of a
nonprofit hospital You are here to
provide for the needs of whoever
presents to our to our door Okay So I
heard last time I was here of a woman
who was going to give birth but there
was just no room here so she had to go
fe to Phoenix to do it Was there much of
that going on i think in the very peak
of those times and it wouldn’t be that
we would be transferring to people to
Phoenix but they might have had to wait
So if you have a delivery that’s a
scheduled delivery they might be asked
to say come in at 1:00 they might come
in tomorrow at 8 or so I think some of
those things were happening You know
when you have a large bolus of people
come in and they come on their own So in
22 they were coming on their own and
they had no resources So by the time
they’ve made whatever journey they’ve
made they didn’t have any resources If
you know if they were delivering a baby
they didn’t have anything for the baby
They didn’t have car seats They didn’t
have the means to care for a baby So all
of those things we needed to do If we
had an orthopedic patient who needed to
leave maybe they needed crutches or some
kind of medical equipment we would need
to make sure they had that before they
left So a safe discharge is our
requirement as a hospital If you came a
patient here we would want to make sure
you had a safe discharge you make sure
you had all the resources you needed to
do that or your and your follow-up care
You need dialysis you need some
something followup after your surgery I
think the difference of what we see
today and what was there is those
patients then um and you have a language
barrier many times too But the patients
today because our patients now that you
know the large percentage of them are
leaving with under border patrol or ICE
custody Yeah That next step of
coordinated care we make sure that
they’re discharged to them They’re not
going to a hotel or we don’t need to
find them a hotel You had to find them a
hotel We were finding hotels We were
coordinating Who was paying for the
hotels uh we were in the beginning Yes
Because I mean a hotel is much less
expensive than a hospital bed right jeez
All right Um and you know for a mom who
delivers a baby if the baby’s in the
NICU and they have nowhere to go putting
them in a hotel allows that connection
with the baby and to make sure that the
mom is able to see the baby and Okay
feed the baby and all of those kinds of
things Let me get on the other side I’m
putting your eyes in the sun there I can
take Yeah Yeah that’s better I got a lid
Okay So what I I think a lot of people
don’t understand definitely overseas My
audience is worldwide right but everyone
gets healthare in America Absolutely If
I have zero health insurance and I come
in here stumbling with a broken leg
right you guys aren’t going to send me
on my way You’re going to take care of
it the emergency room And that is also
for migrants coming over the border
Anybody who comes in that any border and
you’re going to go to the most acute
care right first right the most severe
severely injured are going to go first
Okay if you were in there and you were
there with your broken toe and somebody
comes in with a broken arm even if they
can’t pay or even if they are not a US
citizen they are going I mean that that
care will be goes first Okay So did that
anger some of the locals here if their
care was pushed down sure I think I
think it certainly created a voice of
concern across our community and that
was frustrating for you guys Yeah And I
it’s hard for it’s hard for clinical
care providers too because a like I said
a nurse to a nurse when a patient’s in a
bed they are patient Y is a human on the
other side And so you don’t want to be
No you’re right Right Which is what you
would want right when you come in you
don’t want us to say “Well wait a minute
How about this guy?” Like “How much how
much money does he have first?” And so
our job is to make sure that you’re
getting the best level of care for your
particular needs at that time Okay
Either that or I’m going to trade you
shoes and we’re going to do this You
want to trade okay You won’t be as
styling as you are now So you’re feeling
good about the policies here now yeah I
think we’re in um a better position It’s
like we can’t continue to foot the bill
for particularly a large group of
patients like that in numbers and
volumes It’s just not sustainable for
our organization for a long period of
time It’s just not sustainable So to pay
your nurses keep everything going keep
the lights on you need to have certain
profits And if you’re paying out that
much amount of money that risk the
operation let’s say Correct Yeah Okay
Gotcha And the sheriff gets along with
everyone Fair to say of course he does
He’s loved here huh yes he does Yes he
is loved here Do you know where I can
find some security around here
he’s She’s the one Yeah I recognized you
Oh you did oh thank you Walk I’m like
that looks like Peter I heard you and
I’m like “Wow that nice What’s your name
nice to meet you My name’s Carolina.”
Carolina Oh thank you Great job Carolina
Like this when she walked by Yeah cuz I
was telling my So you saw the first
video I did with the sheriff Okay What
did you think of that it was great and
really insightful I loved it It was
great Okay And were you here nursing at
that time a few years back i wasn’t Oh
you weren’t new to the community So I
felt like it kind of gave me an
introduction to the city So you didn’t
have to deal with like the the huge
influx here no No Okay Well thank you
cuz without nurses we’d all be suffering
cuz I wouldn’t want to rely on the
sheriff when it comes to my fixing my
Not for that Not for that He brings a
lot of skills Anything else you want to
say Michelle so the last six months
um we’ve incurred in those costs I
talked about with those 76 patients the
build charges for those are about 1.5
million So far we received like 56,000
We project that we’ll probably get
181,000 from those but at least we’re
getting reimbursement for the patients
right and not getting zero So so that
comes from the federal government that
comes from the federal government
through but that’s because they’re
coming into the border patrol They are
typically in custody okay when they come
in The migrant story has been told many
times but a lot of the stories that
aren’t told are the ones of the school
systems or the hospital systems having
to deal with this problem And there
they’re stories that need to be heard
because we all pay for it right of
course And it’s only through messy
chaotic policies that we got to this
point Right If it was done more orderly
then we wouldn’t be in this position
Right Right So right If I can bring
light to that cool Absolutely You are
great Thank you I’m gonna take this Yes
please Give me that What does that say
dead cat It’s called a dead kitty Scary
cat It’s a dead kitty
I know Well now he’s going to wire me
back up again Well you got a cool
community I like it here in Yuma Thank
you All right Sheriff We’ll uh finish up
at the station Yeah Yeah
That’s an awesome looking badge isn’t it
that is That is all right Sheriff
anything else covered a lot today We did
And uh hopefully your viewers I mean I
understand you’re here because they all
wanted an update They wanted an update
And hopefully we we gave them a true
life update on what’s going on on our
border down here in the our piece of
paradise Yeah No it’s cool to see I
didn’t TET didn’t find me any money this
time So it’s sad Walker Texas Ranger for
those uh from the ‘9s When was that that
that was on air in the ‘9s 80s and 90s
on your walker on TV Yeah you’re um
hopefully we don’t need to do an update
anytime soon Well but if things change
dramatically let me know Oh absolutely
I’ll come back I appreciate you uh
keeping a pulse on what’s going on It’s
a good thing now It’s like you’ve heard
from I mean for your listeners I think
it’s great that you actually got to sit
down with a recently retired Border
Patrol agent and to actually talk to
somebody from the hospital Yeah All too
often I can talk about you know the
farmers and the impacts there and the
family advocacy but for your listeners
to be able to and your viewers to be
able to hear it straight from them Yeah
I think kind of adds to the validity of
your your journalism and thank you for
doing what you do I appreciate it
Because to get the message out it’s got
to be where they make that decision on
what’s right and what’s wrong not us
Yeah Yep Someone can like this they can
dislike it but they’ll learn something
definitely on this journey Well and
there there’s no politics involved in
this It’s public safety Yeah And like I
said before the first time get your
politics out of public safety Let us do
our job You know if you don’t like the
law change it Otherwise we have to do
what we have to do Well Sheriff all
right we’ll do fist pumps cuz I got my
wrist taken out And thanks guys for
coming on that journey Until the next
one