Before President Donald Trump addressed the nation Tuesday in demanding funding for a Mexican border wall, one of Cobb County’s top elected officials pledged his support.
Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren, a Republican like the president, wrote a letter that was released Tuesday afternoon, saying “I am, like most Americans, fed up with Congress’ refusal to do their jobs and fund the border wall.
“This is not about party affiliation. This is about threats to the residents of our communities. . . . For more than 20 years, we have been asking Congress to provide funding to stop the flow of illegal immigration and the carnage, trauma and suffering it brings to our neighborhoods.”
He referenced violent crimes committed by suspected illegal immigrants in other states, but nothing in Cobb County.
In an Oval Office speech, Trump reiterated his demands for $5.7 billion to construct the wall along the entire southern U.S. border with Mexico. He called the issue “a crisis for the soul,” and mentioned the grisly murder of a Georgia man who was beheaded and dismembered. His illegal immigrant neighbor has been charged with the killing.
The U.S. government has been partially shut down for nearly three weeks after Trump said he would not sign a spending bill without border wall funding. Congressional Democrats are opposed, saying it’s ineffective and doesn’t solve other immigration problems.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer offered a brief response to Trump’s speech, saying they’ll discuss border security only after the shutdown is ended. “We don’t govern by temper tantrum,” Schumer said.
After the speech, U.S. Sen. David Perdue, a Georgia Republican and one of Trump’s most vocal supporters in Congress, hailed the president’s remarks.
Trump, Perdue said, “is right: The only reason the government is still shut down is because Democrats refuse to fund border security. Enough is enough. Focus on the national interest, not political self-interest.”
The president “showed leadership by speaking directly to the American people. The situation at our southern border is a national security crisis. We need a solution now.”
According to the Georgia political publication Insider Advantage, Warren, who was first elected Cobb sheriff in 2004, is planning on running for a fifth term in 2020.
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A sheriffs job is to enforce the law not to write laws. If our Sheriff is so adamant on suppressing rights and changing laws (referencing KSU free speech suppression) then he needs to run for a different office. This same Sheriff employs numerous deputies who have been charged with DUI, HOMICIDE, Aggravated Assault with an issued firearm, Domestic Violence etc etc. If he’s so tough on crime why does he condone and employ so many who violate the law? He literally has created new positions in these cases to keep them employed at their same salaries when federal law strips his prized deputies of their firearms.