ROCK SPRINGS – Two local legislators and Sweetwater County’s sheriff are sounding the alarm about problems associated with controls at the border between the United State and Mexico following a short tour the two embarked on.

Sen. Stacy Jones, R-Rock Springs, and Rep. Tony Niemiec, R-Green River, recently visited the border after receiving an invite from Rep. Jon Conrad, R-Mountain View. The two did not receive any state or public funds to attend the tour, paying for airfare and other expenses out of their pockets. The invitation came at very short notice for the two.

“I had 24 hours’ notice to get my plane ticket there,” Jones said.

The legislators traveled to Yuma, Arizona to see the situation at the border and to gain a better understanding of how the Mexican crime cartels are behind many of the problems that start at the border. The group tour was overseen by the Border Security Alliance, an organization seeking to promote policies to better secure the northern and southern borders and support border patrol and law enforcement efforts in fighting human trafficking, drug smuggling and other crimes.

The talking point that “every state is a border state,” was mentioned multiple times during a press conference hosted Monday to allow Jones and Niemiec the chance to speak about visiting the border, as well as give Grossnickle and other legislators a chance to speak about the importance of border security to Wyoming. Many of the problems at the border were blamed on the Biden Administration, with Rep. J.T. Larson, R-Rock Springs, explicitly voicing support for former President Donald Trump’s re-election bid, saying Trump will secure the border. Neither the legislators nor Grossnickle mentioned the bi-partisan border bill Senate Republicans killed earlier this year. Trump opposed the bill and sought credit for blocking it. He was also open in his political motivations to ensure the bill did not pass.

“A Border Deal now would be another Gift to the Radical Left Democrats,” Trump said in a January statement cited by the Washington Post. “They need it politically.”

Jones said between 80% and 90% of the illegal fentanyl coming into the U.S. She said the Interstate 80 corridor is a major transportation route for the illicit drug and others, which Sweetwater County Sheriff John Grossnickle said has impacted the county. Grossnickle said the influx of fentanyl has led the county to be a hotspot in fentanyl use and overdoses.

Grossnickle said deputies carry Narcan, a nasal spray developed to help save people who overdose on opiate-based drugs like fentanyl and heroin. Grossnickle said Narcan use by deputies has increased as fentanyl has seen increased usage and said he personally was involved in a situation where Narcan was needed to save a life. Grossnickle also pointed out the issue with human trafficking coming from the southern border, saying the cartels make money off of people attempting to cross into the United States, with Niemiec adding that it isn’t just Mexicans coming into the country from the south.

“They have caught people from every single country in the world,” Niemiec said.

Niemiec said a “surreal” incident he and other legislators watched involved watching a group of women and children come over the border, with Jones saying the group did not look frightened and waited patiently for border patrol to approach them. A second crossing they mentioned involved two men coming across near the Arizona-California border and quickly disappearing behind a hill.

The cartels have an active trafficking system that can cost as much as $4,000 per person to be moved from Mexico into the U.S. Though, Niemiec said that amount can quickly increase as cartel members near the border attempt to extort more money from people trying to cross into the U.S. Those who are unable to pay may be forced into working with the cartel in smuggling drugs or worse.

“The women and children are raped to get across the border,” Niemiec said.

Jones claimed people already in the country illegally can sponsor someone who is caught trying to cross into the country and was possessed at a border patrol facility. She said the court dates are pushed so far back that many who are detained don’t have a court date until the 2030s, with those awaiting court being released into the country. Grossnickle also said the Canadian border is also becoming a target for cartels to traffic drugs and people across.

Grossnickle said the sheriff’s office has received tips about large groups of illegal immigrants establishing themselves in Sweetwater County but said the office has not found evidence of that being the case. Grossnickle also mentioned several human trafficking investigations the office has been involved in, citing a recent investigation into a Rock Springs massage parlor. He said that investigation didn’t result in arrests or charges filed because people trafficked into working at the parlor were not cooperative with investigators. One of the reasons given for this behavior is the criminal groups that traffic people also keep tabs on relatives of people they bring into the country, with the safety of those relatives used as leverage.

Jones said illegal border crossings also can result in the destruction of crops being grown in the area. She said the farmland near Yuma produces about 85% of the leafy green vegetables grown in the U.S. Clandestine border crossings impact the crops as regulations require farmers to burn crops if trespassers walk through the fields in a bid to halt the spread foodborne illnesses. She said farmers have taken to placing portable toilets and water stations off their farmland in a bid to keep illegal immigrants from going through their lands.

While talking about what Wyoming can to help combat the increasing issues stemming from the border, Larson said the state has to step up funding for law enforcement initiatives.