The United States should have a larger presence in Mexico to help stem the possibility of terrorists and other undesirables crossing the border, says Joe Arpaio, the longtime sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona.
"We ought to be sending the military across the border, or the border patrol, and work with the Mexican government and stop all this garbage before it gets into the United States," Arpaio said Wednesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
"Maybe, just maybe, this threat of terrorists coming over — crossing that border — may stimulate some interest, who knows."
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Arpaio said he hopes to be briefed on any information the government has about terrorists attempting to cross the Mexico border into the United States. There are fears that members of the Islamic State group will try to enter.
"There's this 2,000-mile border and you never know who's going to cross that border," he said.
"Do you think that they don't watch media over in the Middle East? They probably have the perception or … know they can cross that border very easily. There's always that possibility."
Arpaio is among many, including former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra, retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, and former federal agent Michael Cutler, who have also cited the border as a way terrorists and ISIS militants could enter the United States if they want to launch attacks on American soil.
The sheriff complained recently on Newsmax TV's "America's Forum" that the U.S. Border Patrol is not making enough drug seizures in border states because it has changed its focus to the flood of illegal immigrant children.
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