The Jenny Beth Show

Sheriff Leon Wilmot Part 2: Yuma County AZ

Episode Summary

Jenny Beth continues her conversation in Yuma County, Arizona with Sheriff Leon Wilmot about what his county faces every day from the border crisis.

Episode Notes

Jenny Beth traveled to Yuma County, Arizona to interview Sheriff Leon Wilmot about what his county faces every day from the border crisis. Sheriff Wilmot has been in law enforcement in Yuma for nearly 40 years and has seen it all. If you think the border problems only exist in the border counties, be prepared for this episode to open your eyes.

https://www.yumacountysheriff.org/about-wilmot.htm

Twitter:
@YumaSheriff  @JennyBethM

Episode Transcription

Leon Wilmot (00:00):

51% of the Fentanyl poisoning that's going on in this country. 51% of the fentanyl across the whole of the United States, unfortunately, has come to the state of Arizona because Mayor Orcus won't secure the border. Are we getting to the point now that drug dealers are gonna be unlicensed? Pharmacist? Is that where we're going here?

Narrator (00:23):

Keeping our republic is on the line, and it requires Patriots with great passion, dedication, and eternal vigilance to preserve our freedoms. Jenny Beth Martin is the co-founder of Tea Party Patriots. She's an author of filmmaker and one of time magazine's most influential people in the world. But the title she is most proud of is Mom To Her Boy, girl Twins. She has been at the forefront fighting to protect America's core principles for more than a decade. Welcome to the Jenny Beth Show.

Jenny Beth Martin (00:54):

Today I continue my conversation with Sheriff Leon Wilmot of Yuma County, Arizona. If you miss the first episode of this conversation, be sure to go back and listen to it on whatever platform you are listening. Sheriff Wilmot, thank you so much for, for opening your office and spending so much time with us. You've been very generous with your time.

Leon Wilmot (01:14):

Hey, it's three 10 time to go to Yema, right? .

Jenny Beth Martin (01:17):

That's right. . That's right.

Leon Wilmot (01:21):

Well, welcome. Welcome back to our little piece of Paradise, Dan

Jenny Beth Martin (01:24):

. Well, thank you. Um, in the last episode, we, we were closing as you were talking about how other people wind up in these cities like, like Chicago or, or other parts. And, and some of the elected officials there are upset because, um, some of the governors have, have bused or flown people to those, those countries. But you said they're going there anyway, or not countries, but going to those cities or states. How do you know for sure that that's where they're gonna wind up?

Leon Wilmot (01:54):

Well, you can, you can just go down to the border and ask them. I mean, as for your listener, I don't know if you can advertise somebody's YouTube channel. Sure. But I took, uh, Peter sent out four hours down on the, the border and he got to see it firsthand. He actually, I told him, I said, go over there, ask 'em where they're from and where they're going. It's not scripted. They're going to Chicago .

Jenny Beth Martin (02:22):

And how, how are they picking Chicago? How are they picking the places where they're going?

Leon Wilmot (02:26):

Well, some are picking them because they have friends that have already come through and established with a sponsor in those states. Okay. Others are being told by the cartel, this is where you need to go because you need to work off your debt. So that's, the Carolinas have experienced that. North Carolina, South Carolina, those areas, Virginia. So, and you, you can Google a number of different things throughout the whole of the US where our federal partners have actually followed some of these folks and busted these indentured servitude businesses where these people are working off their debt. They're doing lawn care, yard care, whatever the case may be, that they dictate, they do construction. So it's a lot of, lot of different businesses that you can pay people onto the table. But yeah, they charge them for everything that they get. So if they're putting 'em up into place, they charge 'em for that.

(03:28):

They're, they need money for food, they charge 'em more than more, it's gonna cost. So these people have to pay off their debt and they just string 'em along. Others have actual family or friends. Others said, come here. So, like I said, I, I picked up slips of paper down there where one family was going to Wisconsin. We had, we were doing a search here last month out in our desert because an individual had been abandoned because he was going through a medical episode. So now it probably did, because they didn't notify us until they got to where they were going in the us And these are people that are getaways, so they don't want to get caught to begin with. So we were out there doing a search and we asked for border patrol's help cuz they have air assets. And while they were flying, they ran across three juveniles that had been left out in the desert 20 miles from civilization.

(04:21):

Oldest one being 11 years old, that's on the Border patrol's website. They can go to Thema sector, border patrol website and look up weekly what they encounter down here. It's, it's a matter of border patrol here puts out that information. It's open to the public. I would encourage them to look at it throughout the whole of the US because that, that's the reality of what we deal with. I get those weekly reports too. I mean, we work with our border patrol partners each and every day, but they're going to all, all everywhere. That's a sanctuary city where it is been advertised. Portland, Oregon, Sacramento, la, San Francisco, San Francisco. That's where some Russians are going to by the way's, trying to figure out where the Chinese are trying to get to that. I haven't found that out yet from 'em. But yeah, it's just interesting is like, okay, where are these people from and where are they going? It's like we talked about last time, I mean, I ran into people from Venezuela and Cuba. Uh, these are educated people and those are the ones out they're trying to send back. Cuba, Venezuela, those are, those are the ones this administration wants to send back. But yet these are like educated degree holding doctors, lawyers, teachers, I mean professionals that are trying to come here as well. Unfortunately, they're doing it the wrong way and coming in illegally, but they're trying to beat the end of Title 42.

Jenny Beth Martin (05:59):

And so we're, we're not talking about just people who have no education at all, and all they are good for is to do jobs that no one in America wants. Because sometimes we hear that as an excuse for why the, the border laws don't need to be enforced.

Leon Wilmot (06:20):

, anybody's gonna come up with an excuse to try to cover their belief. The bottom line is what's the threshold? Taxpayers have to fund every bit of this. You're spending millions of dollars on tents alone. Just in my county. Here's four tenths here at four and a half to six and a half million dollars a month, 16 million a week for HHS to handle all the, uh, unaccompanied juveniles. Which by the way, they've lost a lot as far as I understand it, looking at the media, they can't account for what, 80,000 unaccompanied minors.

Jenny Beth Martin (06:59):

Yeah.

Leon Wilmot (07:00):

But yet this is your Homeland security policies that have put that into effect. That doesn't give you much faith in our Secretary of Homeland Security and all to do is job. It is kinda scary.

Jenny Beth Martin (07:16):

No, and as a mom, I don't want to, it's not that I don't wanna think it, I, it, it, it's really troublesome to think that they're 80,000 minors children, juveniles young people who are under 18 years old who are, we don't even know where they are. Which means maybe they just got lost in the bureaucracy, which happens because the bureaucrats are not always the most competent, whether paperwork. Um, and maybe it's because something really bad nefarious is going on in their life.

Leon Wilmot (07:54):

Well, you as a mother probably wouldn't let your children 11, 9, 8, and six hand them over to a smuggler either to get them into the United States, would you?

Jenny Beth Martin (08:07):

No.

Leon Wilmot (08:08):

But yet I don't see this administration charging those parents for a criminal act of abandoning and endangering the lives of those kids. Because I got news for you. If I found out who the mother was or the father, they'd be in my jail. Because that's what needs to happen. And you don't see none of that being done by this administration as holding people accountable for breaking a law just to come in the community, but also for breaking a major law like that. You're in danger in the lives of kids. They, they've been abandoned. Right. You don't just hand your kids over juveniles to a stranger and then pay them to do that and put 'em in jeopardy. But this is what we encounter out, out in our desert, just in my little part of the world.

Jenny Beth Martin (09:02):

You're right. We would not do that. Mm-hmm. . And if we just abandon our child, even if it is an abandonment, if you forget that your child is sitting in the backseat of the car, you can be charged with a crime in Yeah. In some parts of this country. Um, and that is, I I it's dream forgetfulness, but, but this is much more deliberate. Oh, yeah. And, um, I, there, I've rented a few cars lately. Every time I get outta the car, it's beeping. Make sure you're checking the backseat. You know, like we have that kind of safeguards in place in this country, and yet you've got people who are coming across, um, or just sending their children across and, and they're just getting lost. It,

Leon Wilmot (09:46):

It's all part of marketing. Because what did Mayorca say?

Jenny Beth Martin (09:51):

Which thing did he say?

Leon Wilmot (09:54):

Unaccompanied kids. Right, right. Well, they we're gonna reunite, reunify. So it's a marketing strategy that he just gave the cartels send the kids across. They'll be in with hhs. They'll put 'em wherever they are in the United States. What Virginia? Is that where they're going?

Jenny Beth Martin (10:13):

I I I don't know where they're all going.

Leon Wilmot (10:15):

Well, they're, they're not here. And I mean, what they told you the number today, there was what, 40 unaccompanied juveniles that were apprehended by border patrol here last week. So there's 40 kids unaccompanied sent across by a family. What's gonna happen next? The parents will come across because they were promised that they would get reun reunified with their children. Good job. You, you just made the cartel more money. None of this is humane. These policies are just, it's diabolical that this administration thinks what they're doing is a humane thing. They're endangering people's lives each and every day with these policies. People are dying and un you know, un unfortunate for me, but fortunate for the rest of the country. They don't have to see what we see.

Jenny Beth Martin (11:08):

What kind of things do you see?

Leon Wilmot (11:10):

You know, when, when you have to, as an investigator, go out and process 14 people who succumb to the, the heat in a desert in one day because a smuggler abandoned them. And the other smuggler took all their money and their water and then fled back, telling them that they were gonna go get more water and more food. Now you're talking 50 miles away from civilization. 14 people died in my county. Had to go in a single day. I had to in one day. One group was abandoned by the smugglers. I had to process that crime scene during the middle of the summer. I was out there. I know what it's like to see a kid who's just maybe 18, who died digging in a wash, trying to get water where his hands were just gone. Where people are laying under bushes that aren't very tall, but they were trying to eat a Saguaro cactus to try to get food.

(12:19):

That's what we see down on the, the border. What part of that is humane? None of that is, so when people back in Washington, DC tell me what the border is, because they've been here once and now they're a border expert, they're full of shit. Can you say that? Yes, you can say that because it's the truth. It's the truth. They don't, they don't have any concept of what we deal with here. AOC and them. They've never had to be out here. They've never had to be out here and deal with this. We have to deal with it because they won't grow a spine and enforce the rule of law. Those laws were put on the books for a reason to deter people from dying, to deter people from wanting to break the law. We're the ones that are enforcing it. You look at what, 14 you mentioned 2014. Yes. We were dealing with these issues. Right? I had 250 people booked into my jail because they were smuggling marijuana into this country. Marijuana, no big deal now, right? It was then these are 250 people that were smuggling in marijuana to poison people in the United States. These were 250 people that the US attorney, it didn't meet their threshold for the amount of narcotics.

(13:38):

Had it not been for us doing what we did and say, you know what? Border patrol, I'm gonna deputize you, you can take that to our court. You can put 'em in my jail. Every one of 'em had enough marijuana to get two and a half years in prison. A hundred percent prosecutable cases. And now you look at what we're dealing with because of the US attorney not having a spine to charge people for doing what they're doing. And what are you dealing with? You got over a hundred Arizona now, 51% of the fentanyl poisoning that's going on in this country, 51% of the fentanyl across the whole of the United States, unfortunately, has come through the state of Arizona because Mayorca won't secure the border.

(14:27):

Last two years, every year's been over a hundred thousand people that have died from this poisoning from the cartels. They're the ones that are doing this. Repeat that number. How many have died from over a hundred thousand people? United States citizens have been poisoned by the cartels who are coordinating all of this fentanyl to be smuggled into the United States while patrol is being tied up with processing people down on the border. Because Mayorkas won't put the border patrolman down on the border to secure the border and put ice and fund them appropriately to do their job. Think about that. How many people died in nine 11? And we went to war with that country, did we not? Yes. For doing that. But yet we can allow the cartels to kill a hundred thousand people. That's over 200,000 people in the last two years under this administration in Arizona, unfortunately, is one of those states that's so porous because the lack of border security that the fentanyl's being, there's 191 pounds that was seized by border patrol that to checkpoint last week.

(15:41):

Fentanyl. You could kill 48 million people with 191 pounds of fentanyl. You, you got, you've got officers that are accidentally touching this stuff because they're out there doing their job and they're almost dying if it wasn't for Narcan and officers carrying that stuff. But here's the deal. Now the cartels are actually lacing it with z I can't pronounce the name of it. . I'm not a, I'm not a pharmacist, but a Z Phil. It, it's like a narcotic for, or it's a drug for equines. They're lacent fentanyl with this stuff. Narcan it. If you inges this fentanyl now that has that in it, Narcan ain't gonna bring you back. You're gonna die.

Jenny Beth Martin (16:27):

Why would they lace it with that?

Leon Wilmot (16:30):

It's a way to cut it. They don't value life. It's all about commodity. It's about money till the cartels. Oh, commercial break. . But that, that's why, and we're dealing with two cartel factions here. I mean, they're, they're the most violent. I mean, everybody knows El Chappo, right? And what he's capable of. There's not a day that doesn't go by. No.

Jenny Beth Martin (16:57):

Hold on. Maybe everyone doesn't know. What is El Chapo capable

Leon Wilmot (17:01):

Of? He, he basically, the, the head of the, the Senate law cartel, he ran it for years. And now he's in the US and he is been charged and found guilty. And he is in prison. Now. He's whining because he's not getting as much attention as he thinks he should get. But he is been the one that pretty much put a lot of people to death. And now his sons are running that same cartel, old chapo's sons. And they're the ones that are causing the death. If you're a cop over in Mexico and you don't work with the cartel, you're gonna die. If you don't pay the cartel and you're a business owner down there for protection, bad things are gonna happen. I mean, you, you look at the 143 that was in that slo cartel. They control it. They kidnapped those people. And unfortunately, we've seen, uh, cartel factions that are fighting each other down there right now in their sister city of San Luis, Mexico, where it used to be pretty friendly.

(18:10):

And like I said, we're a border community. People that work here, even at the sheriff's office, have family that live in Mexico. They've immigrated, they've done it the legal way. They go back and forth each and every day. It's kinda scary when you think about it. Cause if they find out you're a cop, Lord knows what'll happen. So now you have to deal with worrying about the cartels. And a lot of the sicarios, these are the hit men. They actually live in the United States. It's safer for 'em. And they go into Mexico and do their dirty dets and then come back into the us. So there's a lot of cross border stuff that goes on each and every day. Cartels control every bit of it from here all the way to New York. You've got cartel factions that are up there. You've got a cartel that are operating at a Yavapai County up by Prescott. When you start doing financial crimes investigations. It's amazing. How many people in your community are funneling money for the cartels? We're doing that now.

Jenny Beth Martin (19:17):

And, uh, Yavapai, it's about five, six hours from here. Right? It's

Leon Wilmot (19:20):

A four hour drive, four hour drive north, north of me. But they're also a Haida County as well. High intensity drug trafficking area. Because if you've got a highway or an interstate in your county, you're probably a Haida County. You should sit down and talk with, uh, sheriff Kirin Donahue up in Idaho. He, he deals with cartel stuff up there as well. That's in Idaho. Cook or Cook County. I'll get you his info. But you sit in a, and unfortunately, he, he lost a family member to an illegal, an immigrant that was here illegally. Yeah. Car crash killed a family member because of no consequences.

Jenny Beth Martin (20:08):

It, um, I think that sometimes people initially think when they hear that, that it was a car crash, they think, uh, well, car crashes happen it, and, and they kind of just maybe blow it off a little bit as if it's not a big deal. I, um, met a man the very first time. This was, wow. It must have been in,

(20:36):

In 2004. Yeah, I think it was 2004. I was going door to door for a local candidate, and I knocked on this person's door, and his wife was in a wheelchair, and his car, um, his van was handicapped and he had stickers, um, promoting legal immigration and against illegal immigration. And, um, I started talking to him and I was just doing like voter. Id get out the, the vote type. He was on my list of people who I was supposed to talk to you that day. Well, as it turned out, his, his wife and son were in a car crash. His son was killed. His wife was injured permanently in a wheelchair. And he became a huge advocate for legal immigration. And that was the first time. And, and it stands out to me like it was such a, a moment in time meeting him and seeing that van and being exposed to, wait, what ha You know, I just wasn't aware of just how bad the issue was at that point.

(21:37):

And then since then, I've met several people who it, some of it is car crashes. Um, some of it is, is assault, violent crime and assault. But even with the car crashes, those, those family members would still be alive had we enforced the law right here in this county or in other parts of the border. They didn't have to die. Had we just been enforcing our laws. Hmm. And, and we can't see, they would've still been alive at the moment that I, I met their family member. I have no idea what would've happened in their life. You can't change the time. But it is wrong that we're not enforcing the law. That we're, we're acting lawlessly in this country. And these are the consequences that, that happen. Mm-hmm. . And it is not humane. It's not compassionate. Mm-hmm. Watching that family, meeting those families, like you just mentioned with Sheriff Donahue mm-hmm. , um, I, it, it breaks my heart. I hear the, the stories of it. And I, um, it, it's heartbreaking.

Leon Wilmot (22:41):

Well, you're a mother. Imagine you're, you're a kid being exposed to fentanyl and dying. You know, and, and that's what we're dealing with now is the, the impact on families a year, hundred thousand each year, last two years is astronomical. The, the amount of people I've never heard of that many people ever being poisoned and not being held accountable for that. I mean, we in local law enforcement, if we identify a dealer through being able to use the labs to be able to see if that's the same stuff that they were in position with, that was used, then we can charge 'em. But had we done border security the way it's supposed to be done, we might not have to be dealing with this stuff. But unfortunately, you have also some of these states who enacted no bail laws. You, you have, you have our lawmakers actually wanting to get more people outta of prison instead of putting 'em in prison for commanding crimes.

(23:45):

I don't, I don't get this mentality. Obviously, we have not been addressing mental health issues in this country for quite a while now. Because now we're dealing with the repercussions of that. Who in their right mind would want to release dangerous criminals out in, into the street from a prison, let alone put no bail laws on anybody so they can just get outta jail free. Look at California. There's so many people fleeing those. And I know people over there, so I'm not speaking outta turn. Same with the Oregon, because of these policies that have put in place, hamstringing law enforcement to actually doing their job. You got businesses that are shutting down. Large department stores are leaving those areas because there's no law and no people are being held accountable for committing those crimes.

Jenny Beth Martin (24:37):

You're a sheriff and you're sworn to uphold the law and sworn to uphold the constitution stepping back away from the border itself. What, what is, what does that mean? What is your job in a job of someone like you across the country normally entail

Leon Wilmot (24:54):

Improving the quality of life of the people that we serve. Getting out into those communities, doing proactive enforcement. You know, if this, and every county has the same situation that we do, every part of your county has geographic needs. And that's what you're there to address, is those needs of those communities putting officers in the schools. You know, that's what we're about. We're community based policing. The various highest of it. Every sheriff out there. But I talked to my, my, my fellow sheriffs in California and they're just, I out there with end about lawmakers just openly changing the laws and, and making it more beneficial for criminals to do what they do versus taking care of the people that they serve.

Jenny Beth Martin (25:44):

And, and the laws take care of the people that you serve, right?

Leon Wilmot (25:48):

Well, they're supposed to. But when you got lawmakers that dilute it and allow the criminals to go free and not be held accountable for committing crimes, and they put the thresholds so high that you can't even put 'em into jail. I mean, it, it just, I, I would not want to have to be in their shoes in that state number of states because of what those lawmakers have done. They're by the various of, God, I'm in Arizona. You know what I mean? We enforce a rule of law. We hold people accountable. If you commit a crime, you're gonna do the time period. Especially in my county. I don't care where you're from. Any country you commit a crime, you're going to jail and you're gonna, you're gonna reap it. , you made that conscious decision to do what you did. Contrary to obey the law. That's why I have actually, I'm one of the few sheriffs that actually cross deputized dea, border patrol, ICE and customs. Because I believe in consequence delivery. If the US attorney will not charge a case that those agents bring in front of that US attorney, I have told them to book 'em into my jail, do it under my cross deputization and take it to the county attorney to charge 'em. It cost me about a million a year, if not more, to house in individuals who've entered this country illegally and committed a state crime. And the Feds reimbursed me 5 cents on the dollar. I wish I could do that with the irs.

Jenny Beth Martin (27:30):

I think we all do ,

Leon Wilmot (27:32):

But yeah, they think it's okay to only gimme 5 cents on the dollar. What have I, what I've had to spend and that I'm just one little corner of the country. You think about all the sheriffs throughout the whole of the United States that are doing the same thing. And they're lucky to get reimbursed as well. And that doesn't, and they have had so scap state criminal alien apprehension program, that's where the feds are supposed to reimburse us a hundred percent of the cost. But they changed it to the point where anybody that's in our jail that's entered the country illegally, has committed a state crime, has had to have at least two prior misdemeanors on one felony conviction and be in our jail for more than three days for me to even try to count them to get reimbursed

Jenny Beth Martin (28:18):

And be in your jail. How many days?

Leon Wilmot (28:20):

At least three.

Jenny Beth Martin (28:21):

So two, two misdemeanors and a prior felony conviction

Leon Wilmot (28:26):

For a felony

Jenny Beth Martin (28:27):

Four . So they have to have victimized at least three other people. Maybe some of them may not have been too.

Leon Wilmot (28:38):

Yeah. Whether it's white collar or crime or Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, you have to have those to be able to count and to get reimbursed. And then, I mean, you look at a million dollars, what do you think I got back? 56,000 maybe. Maybe if I'm lucky, right? This is what I get back from the feds. But yet they don't mind spending all this money on all this other frivolous stuff.

Jenny Beth Martin (29:01):

How much do you think the NGOs are getting to bust people around

Leon Wilmot (29:04):

You? Imagine? A lot of money. A lot of money. And thank God, because the NGO here has save this community. I mean, you look at, even during covid, because that NGO was actually a medical nonprofit, they were able to address the covid issue because, so your

Jenny Beth Martin (29:24):

Local hospitals didn't have to deal as much. So your local citizens were having to pay as much.

Leon Wilmot (29:29):

The local hospital was dealing more with the neonatal issue and diabetics and dealing with all of that major health concerns that individuals were found out that had never been addressed in their countries.

Jenny Beth Martin (29:43):

So your local hospital still is dealing with Oh yeah. Medical issues with people who enter the country illegally.

Leon Wilmot (29:50):

Last year, I think it was 26 million impact on our local hospital that's gonna get passed on to the consumer because the feds aren't reimbursing for that. Because those, those are the ones that actually called 9 1 1 when they got to the border and were transported to the hospital. Or they made it to the hospital via an Uber or a taxi and went into the hospital without border patrol. So they're here at illegally. The hospital can't refuse to serve. So that was it. It overflowed the neonatal ward.

Jenny Beth Martin (30:25):

Well, well what happened to your citizens who might have needed services that would've used the neonatal

Leon Wilmot (30:29):

Award? Well, if you had an appointment, your appointment was changed. Yeah. That's the impact. That's the reality of things. And dialysis, I can tell you, I had an individual that was in here, illegal in the country, illegally committed a crime. He needed dialysis three times a week during the whole time he was here. Everest length of stay for a a US citizen. And a jail typically is like 20 some odd days going through the process. Right. Unless they can bail out and there's bail available. Not so with individuals that have a hold on them from ice. They're gonna be in here for, I've had 'em up to here 180 days in my jail. It's a long time. Yeah. But we end up eating that bill and we also have to take care of the medical and feed them and clothe them till we're a hundred dollars a day for jail operation. Just because of medical cost. We don't get reimbursed for that at all by the feds. It's not even counted in the refund, but yet immigration's their responsibility and they're supposed to take care of that. They're not doing their job. No. And the citizens are having to pay that bill.

Jenny Beth Martin (31:45):

The they're not doing their job. And the citizens locally are having to pay that bill. Mm-hmm. and, and maybe lose care otherwise. Mm-hmm. . But they're, they're paying the, the bill through taxes. They're paying the bill through increased mm-hmm. medical cost. Um, the insurance companies have to pay it because it's increasing medical costs, which means that p who buy insurance across the entire country, their insurance costs go up. Mm-hmm. and then, um, the federal government for whatever they are paying, especially to the NGOs. Well that money's coming from taxpayers or from borrowed money, which we'll have a lot more borrowed money over the next few years. But, um, so we're all of us citizens are paying Yeah. For, for

Leon Wilmot (32:29):

All of, well, I was supposed to say, say there's not a sheriff out there now that it isn't the border sheriff. Cuz what goes on in my my yard now is gonna be in backyard tomorrow.

Jenny Beth Martin (32:40):

If, if they're going to, um, the local hospital in metro Atlanta or in Yeah. In Denver or wherever else it might be. It's the same thing's happening

Leon Wilmot (32:50):

There. And your schools are gonna have to retrofit. They're gonna have to address these issues. Your hospitals are gonna have to do it. Your law enforcement's gonna have to deal with it too. And hope to God that it isn't somebody that slipped through the cracks and is gonna commit a major crime in, in your, your community because of the lack of the ability or the time that was needed to adequately vet these hundred. There are 310,000 last year and then 145,000 this year just outta Yuma. Like I said, 95% of 'em are staying because those countries won't take 'em back. So when you hear Mayor Orka telling you that we're sending them back left and right, uhm no. You, you might be only to about three or four, maybe eight countries that will take the people back. You gotta look at the whole picture here. You're getting fed a false narrative by this administration, , that you're the people really are. It's not the truth, Ruth. And now people are starting to see it because now it's right up there in their face. If you live in Chicago and you walk to a police station, they're living in that lobby. How bad is that? Look at New York .

(34:07):

Right? New York has been a sanctuary city for how long they've been advertising it. Did you not think that they would not see that in those other countries? Now you're seeing it. You gotta pay the bill. You were elected under that premise. Those people in that community, they need to pony up because they voted that person in.

Jenny Beth Martin (34:28):

Yeah. They created the magnet. Yeah. Those, those voters helped create the magnet because they thought that ru a, a candidate running on those policies is who they wanted to represent them. Yeah.

Leon Wilmot (34:39):

So if that's what you elected, then that's what you need to pay for. Not me. Right. Our community didn't ask for any of this. We're not a sanctuary county. We don't promote anything but the rule of law. So if you live in a sanctuary city, you promoted that ideology, now you gotta pay the bill. Don't get mad . You asked for it, you're gonna get it. Yeah. It's like the old analogy. If you billed it, they will come. Well, if you advertise it and they did predominantly through the media, now they're there. They're not staying in Yuma County, .

Jenny Beth Martin (35:17):

And, and those citizens who live there, I've seen footage of parents who are very upset because their kid, their schools are getting overwhelmed in Chicago. Mm-hmm. as an example. Mm-hmm. . Okay, then quit voting for people who are doing this. Stop

Leon Wilmot (35:30):

The, yeah.

Jenny Beth Martin (35:31):

They don't care about you any more than they care about the people who are coming across the border. They care about themselves getting a position of power. Mm-hmm. and the citizens there need to wake up to what's going on. And it's not power

Leon Wilmot (35:42):

And control.

Jenny Beth Martin (35:42):

Stop voting for it.

Leon Wilmot (35:43):

Yeah. It's power and control. That's what it's all about.

Jenny Beth Martin (35:48):

What do you think the solutions are? If you could wave a magic wand and, and get Washington to listen, which really would be a magic w like that to make that happen. Yeah. But

Leon Wilmot (35:59):

If enforce the rule law a hundred percent. I mean, it's like we had operations streamlined. Mayor is the one that helped develop that under Obama.

Jenny Beth Martin (36:07):

And there haven't been new laws. No,

Leon Wilmot (36:10):

There's nothing that's been done. All the, all the electeds back in DC have always said, I'm gonna address this. I'm gonna do this. We need to do that. But they haven't done it. And I'll be the first to tell you amongst many other sheriffs, the 20 year old immigration law is exactly that. It's old. It needs to be updated. There is no doubt. But it has to be done with the rule law mind. And you have to enforce the rule of law to begin with for it to even work. They always promise all this stuff. You've seen it with the Bracero deal. And it's happened again under, I think it was Reagan when he changed it so that certain things could happen. And there was a guarantee by those that voted on that, that the law would be enforced.

Jenny Beth Martin (36:53):

Yeah.

Leon Wilmot (36:54):

It's not being done. So you gotta have people in there that have a spine. You gotta have people in there that don't interject politics into public safety and enforce the rule of law until such time as the lawmakers change it. You need to enforce it. You happen to under operation, streamline, enter this country illegally between the port of entry. You're gonna get sent back and you're not gonna be allowed to go into the United States. You'll never be allowed to work here or live here. That pretty much is the curb

Jenny Beth Martin (37:29):

And that,

Leon Wilmot (37:30):

And we're not gonna fund you through assistance programs. You're not gonna get free medical. You're not not gonna get free dental. Your kids ain't gonna be able to go to school because you entered illegally. Go through the port of entry, prove you're asylum case. If it's legit, you have be, be allowed to stay. That's the way it needs to be. I get it. People don't like the law , they won't change it. But until then, enforce it. They'd be like, me, son. You know what? I don't, I don't think it's bad for people to drink and drive. Okay. So there might be a couple that get killed in the meantime, but we're not gonna enforce D UI anymore. Are we getting to the point now that drug dealers are gonna be unlicensed pharmacist? Is that where we're going here? Cuz it's killing people.

(38:19):

That's what's happening under these policies. And that's what's happening. If you, you stopped enforcing rule law, people are gonna die. And it's happening. And we warned Mayor Arcus in the very beginning, cuz we've seen it. We know what policies are good and what policies are bad. I warn him face to face, you do this, people are gonna die. People are gonna be violated. You're gonna end up with servitude, you're gonna end up with juveniles that are being victimized, that are gonna go through, it's gonna impact the hospitals. Every bit of that was mapped out to him because we've seen it. We've been there, we've done it. We know what works. We know what doesn't. They don't care. It's their personal and political ideologies. And when he sits there and lies to Congress, when he is testifying, you know, in our line of work, you lie.

(39:14):

You die. You can't sacrifice your word. Your I I mean I I'm speechless when it comes to seeing that man sit there and testify that the border's secure. And I know it's a blatant line cuz it's not. And if it wasn't for my guys out there rescuing over 809 1 1 calls through our agency alone to respond to you, let alone the 355 that border patrol agents just responded to last week where people were calling for help. Yeah. Porter's not secure. And you know, you can't sacrifice your integrity or your once you do that, when you three minute warning , you know, you can't sacrifice your integrity. Once you lose that, you never get it back. He, there's not a sheriff out there that believes in anything that he says. And yet we get all this stuff from DHS under his leadership about we need to do this, we need to do that.

(40:25):

How can you even want to be part of that when you know that it's all false? Uh, as, as somebody that's been in law enforcement as long as me, it, it, it's, it's a hard pill to swallow. It really is. Why would I think of anything coming from DHS right now as being legitimate ? That's terrible. And I shouldn't feel that way. But I feel bad for the Border patrol agents cuz I'm down there every day with them. I was down there today. You know, they live in our community. They're a part of our community. Their kids go to our schools. They, they go out after work and they try to help with doing baseball or football being, being coaches, being engaged in the community. I back up our federal partners a hundred percent each and every day because they live here and they're part of this community. And I hate to see them . And I tell 'em, I said, you know, you know, years ago I might have, should have been a federal officer, but no, I'm glad I chose the one I chose because the, the, they can't do their job. They're being hamstrung by the policies and it's driving them nuts. It really is.

Jenny Beth Martin (41:41):

Because they want a safe border and a secure border and they want safe communities where they live Just like all the rest of your citizens.

Leon Wilmot (41:47):

You Exactly. Yeah. But then again, you got people 2000 miles away that live in Lala land that ain't got a clue about reality. Not a clue.

Jenny Beth Martin (41:58):

No, they don't. No. And they don't, they don't care. No. They, they don't care what people like you and me and other people who live in the heartland of this country, think if they did, they wouldn't treat us with such disdain. And, and, and you see it from, from both parties. Oh yeah. Um,

Leon Wilmot (42:16):

I blame 'em all.

Jenny Beth Martin (42:17):

Yeah. .

Leon Wilmot (42:18):

I do. I mean I, I've seen this rhetoric going on for years, you know, and thank God, you know, obviously you have to run to be a sheriff, but I don't care what party you are, I care about the character of the person. Does that make sense?

Jenny Beth Martin (42:37):

Yes.

Leon Wilmot (42:38):

Y when you swear an oath, you swear an oath and you by God ought live by that. You know, I I come from the days of a handshake is a contract. You know what I'm saying? Right. But you know, the bottom line is that, uh, you, that's why I got no respect for Mayorca as a secretary or the vice president or the president for that matter, unfortunately. And that's sad cuz I was in the Marine Corps. I mean, the president is the, is to be held in the highest regard. He doesn't like law enforcement and he doesn't like sheriffs. And we know that. And you can see it. He doesn't promote public safety at all. Actually. He is contrary to it. And that's a shame. That's not what America is.

Jenny Beth Martin (43:23):

No. Would one of the things that sets our country apart is that we, uh, wrote the law down and every citizen could read what the law is and understand how they were supposed to live. And that's important because when it's just a whims of a man, um, if, if they're happy with you, they could say one thing. If you never know, maybe they woke up on the wrong side of the bed or they're, they tripped over their dog in the morning and they just change, change things up. And you don't, you don't even know how you're supposed to be living. That's what happens when you get away from Lawfulness and you get to lawlessness. And right now you don't, you don't know what's gonna happen from one day to the next. Mm-hmm. . And, and if the, the House of Representatives recently voted on and passed the, the most secure border bill that, that we've seen in decades apparently. And that is a, a good thing. And if it were to become law, that would be I think an improvement over the system we have right now. As long as it actually is upheld mm-hmm. . But if, if you pass it and it's not even worth the paper it's written on Yeah. Then, then it's meaningless. Yeah. And we're seeing so much from this administration especially, um, where what is written as law is, is meaningless.

Leon Wilmot (44:46):

Yeah. Well it's all about power. You can see it. Mm-hmm. , I mean, and everything that's done, if it goes their way, they're happy campers. If it goes against them, then they're gonna dig in dirt and try to make you look bad to, to figure out. They're doing it with the justices now.

Jenny Beth Martin (45:00):

Yes.

Leon Wilmot (45:01):

So I mean that, those justices have been there for a long time.

Jenny Beth Martin (45:06):

Right.

Leon Wilmot (45:06):

But now all of a sudden it's a problem because they're not getting their way. And I don't care what side you're on. Like I said, it's the character of the individual bottom line. It's nonpartisan for me. I serve everybody. When people call 9 1 1, they don't care what party you are. Green, pink, purple, it doesn't matter. They want help . That's it. That's what's great about being a sheriff. I work for the people and we're here to serve. Doesn't matter what party you are. Don't care. I did I ask you what you were when you walked down the door or anybody else for that matter? No sir. You did not. No. Cause I really don't care. , it doesn't matter to me. We serve everybody the same. If you're a victim of a crime, the bad guy's going to jail and we're gonna take care of you. That's the way it should be.

Jenny Beth Martin (45:55):

Absolutely. .

Leon Wilmot (45:56):

So, you know, when, when they start their political and personal ideologies and mixing all this stuff, it's like, that's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard in my life. You know? And I can speak freely, , I won't get in trouble from a mayor or chief fact is they're probably going Good job. I wish I could do that. You know.

Jenny Beth Martin (46:15):

So let me ask you one last question. Have you thought about if, if, if the people are listening, um, in in the audience today, one of the things you said they could do is look at the Yuma sector on mm-hmm. on, um, border Patrol website. Right. Or Department of Homeland Security mm-hmm. and look at the other sectors as well. But what are, do you have other suggestions for what you think they should do? Whether it's calling their local sheriff's department to find out? Office. Office Office. That's right. Police department, Sheriff's Office, . Um, and I learned that from you, the, um, to find out what's happening locally so they understand how it really is affecting their own local community. Are there, are there action items you would recommend to just a general listener?

Leon Wilmot (47:02):

So for, for your general audience, obviously be engaged with your sheriff's office and your community. You know, even if you live in the city, you can still get ahold of the local sheriff's office and they can give you a pulse on what's happening in, in the county as a whole. Monitor the websites for your local law enforcement as well. And the sheriff's office as well as like National Sheriffs, Western State Sheriffs. Cuz we're part of that as well. We put out information all the time. If you're curious about Arizona, the Arizona Sheriff's Association actually has a website where all of us share information from our counties and we've got a good guy that keeps track of the activities going on. It's like I said, what's happening here in Yuma County. Not necessarily the same situation over in Cochise County. They're dealing with a lot different scenario.

(47:55):

And it's even worse when you're looking at a number of pursuits that have actually killed people over there cuz of that activity. So keep engaged, look into your different locations, national Sheriffs, Western State, Arizona, get on the association websites for the sheriffs throughout the country because we all, we all talk to each other. We really do. There's only 3080 sheriffs in the whole United States. We're a pretty tight knit group. There are a few that are different, but hey, it is what it is. Not all sheriffs are full service, especially back east. Which, which means that some sheriffs are restricted to just serving civil process or housing and working jails or as sheriffs in the West for the most part. We're full service. We handle everything.

Jenny Beth Martin (48:46):

Um, and you have for over a hundred years and mm-hmm. , explain that, that photo be behind us because you were saying full service and I think some of that stems from full service from,

Leon Wilmot (48:59):

So the big one is actually my Sheriff's posse, the city of Yuma celebrated their a hundred year anniversary a while back, 2012, 13 ish. And they asked for me to use the posse in the 18 hundreds to bring in the American, in the, uh, Arizona flag for their ceremony. So that's a picture from the, the Yuma County Sheriff's Posse and me riding in. And then we went down to the river and got a, got a picture with everybody back in their 18 hundreds Western Guard the way it was back then. Sheriff's office is actually 160 some odd years old here. So we were here long before the even state. We were territorial back then. So there's not been very many sheriffs here in Yuma County. They're all up there on the wall above that. So those are all the former sheriffs for over 160 years.

Jenny Beth Martin (49:54):

Wow. Yeah. And your job now is to be full service and to take care of your,

Leon Wilmot (50:01):

Your citizens in the community always have been.

Jenny Beth Martin (50:03):

And that's what it has been. Yeah.

Leon Wilmot (50:05):

That's, this is the way it is. You know, I work for the people and that's what's great about being a sheriff. When they're done with me, then I can go, you know, but I mean, I'm willing to serve as long as you enjoy doing what you do and you can fight the fight to be the voice of the people. Cuz face it, all the other electives that they have in their communities, they're back in DC or up at the major hubs of the city. Right. Right. So who does the local community come to when they're pissed at their electeds. Mm-hmm. , they grab the Sheriff by the throat because we're community oriented and engaged and we go to the meetings and we talk to people all the time. Unfortunately, those that were elected by other people that are at the cities and in the DC don't listen. And we're the voice of the people. You know, we try to help 'em, but, you know, it is what it is. But at least we can be that voice.

Jenny Beth Martin (51:02):

It's good. It is good. Yeah. And, um, we all need to pay attention to what our sheriffs are doing and mm-hmm. and we need sheriffs like you across the country. Um, and we, I don't live in Arizona, but I'm very appreciative of what you and the other border sheriffs are doing to, to try to help, um, prevent the problems that are going to seep into the rest of of the country because of the situation on the border right now.

Leon Wilmot (51:28):

Well, your nation sheriffs are engaged. They really are a, as a executive board member member for National Sheriff's Association that represents all 3080 sheriffs. There's not a sheriff that isn't aware of what's going on and, and isn't asking what's happening there because what's going on here is coming to their backyard. And they want to be prepared to take care of their community like we try to do here. So no matter where you live in the United States, your sheriffs are pretty much engaged. Like I said, not all hundred percent, but the bottom line is that that's why they're voted in office, is to address those community concerns and improve the quality of life of the people they serve. Period. It's not about politics, not about personal and political ideologies. It's about enforcing the rule of law and doing what's best for the community. It's not a really hard deal.

Jenny Beth Martin (52:25):

I I appreciate your time today, sheriff Wilmont. It's really been a very interesting podcast discussion with you. And I think that I've learned a lot and I hope our listeners have as well. Thank you so much for opening up your, your office to us.

Leon Wilmot (52:41):

Well, it, it was my honor, and, uh, sorry for a lot of the bad news that's coming your way, but, uh, until you hold your electeds accountable, this is what happens.

Jenny Beth Martin (52:52):

So to be able to address a problem first, we have to understand what the problem is. And I hope that this has helped you understand more about what the problem is on the border, so that we can work to correct these problems in our own local communities and work to get Washington DC to secure our border. I'm Jenny Beth Martin with the Jenny Beth Show. Thanks for joining us.

Narrator (53:13):

The Jenny Beth Show is hosted by Jenny Beth Martin, produced by Kevin Mohan and directed by Luke Livingston. The Jenny Beth Show is a production of Tea Party Patriots action. For more information, visit tea party patriots.org.

Jenny Beth Martin (53:33):

If you enjoyed this episode and want to stop Freedom Thieves from turning our country into a communist nightmare, be sure to click the thumbs up and subscribe to the channel. And while you're at it, click the notifications bell to get an alert every time we post a new episode.