An association of thousands of sheriffs across the country is calling for Congress to take immediate action against Mexican drug cartels, including additional manpower and tools to law enforcement, after the deaths of two Americans by cartel members and amid an ongoing fentanyl crisis.
The National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) says that it is backing new initiatives in Congress to undermine and eliminate drug cartels — which wreak havoc at the border and are responsible for the smuggling of illegal migrants and drugs like fentanyl into the U.S. — and calling for more action.
Specifically, the organization, which represents more than 3,000 sheriffs, says it wants to see Congress using its authorities to build a “comprehensive system of further manpower and other tools that prevent any illicit drugs from being produced, smuggled and sold on American streets.”
“The nation’s sheriffs strongly support the American people’s continued demand that our federal government use whatever means appropriate to combat these deadly cartels,” Sheriff Jim Skinner, chair of the National Sheriffs’ Association Government Affairs Committee, said in a statement.
Some members of the U.S. Congress have recently been ramping up calls for action, with multiple lawmakers calling for cartels to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations and some even calling for military action in Mexico itself.
“We’re going to unleash the fury and might of the United States against these cartels,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. “We’re going to destroy their business model and their lifestyle because our national security and the security of the United States as a whole depends on us taking decisive action.”
Source: Eje Central
