Sheriff urges Congress to secure borders

by Meghann Evans
Staff Reporter
11 hrs ago

This week Surry County Sheriff Graham Atkinson was one of nine sheriffs from across the country to travel to Washington, D.C., to urge members of Congress to secure the country’s borders and aid local agencies in dealing with illegal aliens with criminal records.

The effort, called the Sheriffs’ Fly-In, was coordinated by Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. Atkinson said he was invited by Page to attend the event, which included nine sheriffs traveling to D.C. to meet with immigration and customs officials and participate in a panel discussion with the U.S. House of Representatives Immigration Reform Caucus. Six of the sheriffs were from North Carolina, with the other three hailing from Arizona, Iowa and Maryland.

Atkinson said the group left Tuesday morning for D.C. and met with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials that night. Assistant Director Gregory J. Archambeault of the enforcement and removal section of ICE and Assistant Director Harold L. Hurtt from the ICE Office of State, Local and Tribal Coordination attended that meeting.

During the panel discussion Wednesday morning, each sheriff had the opportunity to discuss concerns and tell stories about how lack of security at the borders affects the counties they work in by allowing the spread of drugs and weapons. Atkinson said the sheriff from Arizona had the most dramatic stories of the drastic efforts they have to take to try to secure the border. The sheriff from Alamance County, N.C., showed a photo of an execution that occurred there. Atkinson said he told the caucus about the quadruple homicide that occurred in Mount Airy in November 2009 which involved an illegal alien who had already been deported once.

“The number one thing is we’ve got to plug our borders,â€