Arizona sheriff says Biden halting border wall construction left area wide open for cartels

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Arizona sheriff: Halted border wall construction is a ‘product of politics within policing’

Cochise County, Ariz., Sheriff Mark Dannels discusses how the Biden administration's decision to stop border wall construction could impact his state and other border states.

An Arizona sheriff is speaking out against President Joe Biden’s decision to halt border wall construction, saying the decision has created a "crime scene" at the U.S.-Mexico border, as he shared photos of the troubling border security gaps. 

"When President Biden rescinded the emergency order on the southwest border, it stopped resources and stopped construction on our border," Sheriff Mark Dannels of Cochise County, Arizona, told "Fox & Friends" on Friday.

"As a result of that one area where the fence is not complete, we get five or six groups a day coming across there."

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"This administration owns this decision," he added. "And what it’s doing is, is forcing us back to 2019, when we had the largest, what I call, crime scene in the country to include the largest humanitarian situation going on."

Sheriff Mark Dannels said 5-6 groups cross daily where fencing incomplete on the Arizona border.

Dannels' Cochise County includes 83 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. The sheriff also chairs the Border Security Committee of the National Sheriffs’ Association.

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Dannels told Brian Kilmeade he believes the administration’s decision is politically motivated.

"It’s a product of politics within policing," he said. "And I’ve always said that they had no business in our business, in the business of policing what we do on this border in our communities."

Arizona sheriff highlights incomplete border wall sections and says cartels are taking advantage.

Dannels said the current situation at the border has an impact on both health and public safety.

"Nobody is talking about what's going on at the southwest border when it comes to the health pandemic in this country," Dannels said.

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"And then you look at the public safety aspect of this, it’s upsetting," he added. "It’s almost like we’re not part of this country, which is very upsetting."