After several illegal immigrants were arrested in Florida last week for allegedly illegally picking thousands of pounds of palmetto berries, a local sheriff blasted lawmakers in Washington, D.C., for a “total failure” to secure the US border.
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey announced in a video Monday that eight suspects, four of whom are illegal immigrants, were arrested for stealing about $7,300 worth of palmetto berries from private property and loading 9,000 pounds of the harvest into the back of a U-Haul truck.
Ivey said the case “may not be a big deal to some people, but the facts that this case reveals about the people who were arrested and the fact that they are in our country illegally is what makes me absolutely mad, and probably makes you mad as well.”
Two of the four arrested illegal immigrants were found to be applying for U.S. citizenship and cannot be deported because they have pending court dates for their immigration status, Ivey said. He added that the others had been deported before and had been arrested previously for felonies.
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Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said those arrested had loaded 9,000 pounds of stolen palmetto berries into a U-Haul truck, with the value of the stolen berries estimated at about $7,300. (Brevard County Sheriff's Office)
“The best thing for me is when I ask why this person isn't being deported or why this person has committed multiple crimes and is still in our country, I'm told that unless you commit a violent felony, you're not going to be deported no matter how many non-violent crimes you commit,” Ivey said.
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said four of the eight people arrested were in the U.S. illegally, adding that several had previously been deported. (Brevard County Sheriff's Office)
During multiple visits to the U.S. southern border, Ivey said she has seen firsthand the surging influx of illegal immigrants and its impact on communities across the country.
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“Please understand, this is not a failure of our partners, like the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Border Patrol or even the Department of Homeland Security,” Ivey said. “This is a complete failure of Washington, D.C., to allow the laws of our great country to be enforced.”
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey called on Washington, D.C., to secure the border or “just get out of the way” and allow him and other sheriffs across the country to enforce the law themselves and ensure safety. (Brevard County Sheriff's Office)
“When will we as a people lose our tolerance for people coming into the United States illegally to commit more crimes?” Ivey asked.
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“Why don't you leave border security to Customs and Border Protection, as our laws allow us to do,” Ivey told officials in Washington, D.C. “Or just get out of here and I'll do it with the help of sheriffs across the country who really believe in law enforcement and are fed up with this bullshit way of doing things.”
