Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Jackson County, Texas Sheriff, AJ ‘Andy’ Louderback to the newsmakers line to discuss the chaos at America’s southern border and the Biden’s administration’s denial of it.
Leahy: I’m excited to welcome on our newsmaker line. Our friend, Sheriff AJ Louderback from I guess it’s Jackson County, Texas. Sheriff, welcome to The Tennessee Star Report.
Louderback: Thank you, Sir. I appreciate you invited me to say a few words this morning. Thank you.
Leahy: Well, look, we met two years ago in Washington, D.C., and had a great conversation there. It’s been a bad two years for border control, hasn’t it?
Louderback: It’s the worst we’ve ever seen in the history here at the southern border here with Texas. We haven’t experienced anything like what we’re seeing today from the effects of the policies of the Biden administration and the chaos and destruction they’ve created.
Leahy: Here’s my question to you as a Sheriff enforcing the laws of the state of Texas, you look at the failure of the Biden administration to enforce our federal immigration laws. And my question to you is, is this intentional on their part? And what impact does it have on you?
Louderback: Michael, it’s not just intentional. It’s strategic. It’s planned, it’s operational. It’s a very concerted effort. Probably a year or more prior to there’s evidence of a year or more prior to the Biden administration taking office and anticipation of the implementation of the policy changes to completely gut the INA were more clearly done on purpose to achieve exactly what we are doing today and we see every day.
So this is not anything that is haphazard. They were told repeatedly. It was written by senior staff of CBP. And if you do this, this is what you’re going to do. There is ample evidence of that from the directors at CBP.
People have been there for 30 plus years, true experts in border security told this administration repeatedly meeting after meeting what was going to happen if they persisted in doing this to the United States?
Leahy: The Biden administration knew this would happen, right?
Louderback: Absolutely.
Leahy: So as a Sheriff there, what recourse do you have against a federal administration that is violating federal law?
Louderback: Well, not much. Really the first duty here for most of us is to inform. I mean, that’s what most of us are trying to do. When the American people are uninformed or misinformed we don’t get any results at all.
And we see the results of that. We’re in the informed stage right now urging governments, state governments, to go to work here and try to alter these policies or trying to get them to all these policies, which is exactly what Governor Greg Abbott is doing in Texas.
Leahy: Now, you mentioned Governor Abbott. There was a big press conference where he said, we’re going to build a wall of our own and we’re going to arrest people that come across it. Now, that’s a good thought. How practical is that?
Louderback: The complexity of finishing portions of the wall exists. The ability for the state of Texas to strategically place the resources necessary to start filing criminal trespass and the child endangerment charges would probably two most prevalent other than human trafficking, smuggling.
The state of Texas put a ton of resources and over a billion dollars dedicated to some different changes. And, of course, there’s a special session coming up legislatively that would go along with the declaration of disaster that he has done.
These things, we hope, will start to turn. And, of course, one most significant thing, Michael was the signing of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact in Arizona. So as these movements build, where we see more and more states coming on board, where federal policies are destructive to states, we’ll see where this goes.
But it’s obviously moving in the right direction for the rule of law and for us to try and have some recourse to the border issue and to the national security issue and border security.
Leahy: What does this do to the morale of your department and your employees when you see that you’re being undermined?
Louderback: Well, in our business, we’ve been under attack before the Biden administration took office. We’ve been subjected to all types of things, from the funding to qualified immunity to just outright racist attacks that every law enforcement officer in the United States is a complete racist.
Which is absolutely wrong. But we’ve got to keep our heads up. I don’t like falling into that kind of trap like that. We’re going to do our job here. We’re going to keep our heads up. We’re going to enforce the law as we know and keep citizens safe.
And that’s what we have to do. Yes. It’s demoralizing. It’s more demoralizing for the men and women of the border patrol working there. Imagine working there or any job that you had in the United States. It’s no different than a County Sheriff saying to his deputies I’ll tell you what? (Inaudible talk) We’re not going to accept any cases. I don’t want you to arrest anyone unless they are .20.
Leahy: We’ll just make up that new law, right?
Louderback: Yeah. We’ll just make that up. That’s a policy now for us.
Leahy: By the way, what did Vice President Kamala Harris say when she went down to the border and visit with you? (Laughter) That’s a joke.
Louderback: Yeah. Understood. She won’t go to the border. Going to the border with her, she’s obviously unable to find it would simply prove that there’s a problem there, and they don’t see it as a problem. They don’t want the American public to see it as a problem.
Leahy: They think we’re really pretty stupid, don’t they? (Louderback chuckles) Well, I know you are measured in your statements, Sheriff. I can say that.
Louderback: Let’s move onto other questions. Regarding the Vice President, I think it’s pretty obvious as to what’s going on here.
Leahy: (Laughs) Yes, I can do that. And we won’t give you a hard time about it. Jackson County. Is that right between, like, McCallen and Corpus Christi? Is that where it is?
Louderback: Just passed Corpus. We’re on the geographical major corridor into Houston, Texas, which is, of course, a huge magnet for all time. Whether it’s narcotics or human trafficking or human smuggling.
Leahy: You have what? 12,000 residents. How many residents of the county?
Louderback: We’re just under 20,000. Under 20,000. I remember that now. Have you seen an uptick in this travel going through your county by illegal aliens in the past five months?
Louderback: (Inaudible talk) The bailouts, the crashes, they’ve stolen vehicles, license plates, the increased methamphetamine, increased fentanyl. There’s not an agency around me that doesn’t have increased narcotic issues. The empowerment of the cartel has been done.
Leahy: Nothing says safety and security of citizens of Jackson County, Texas like a Biden administration that won’t enforce immigration laws. Right, Sheriff?
Louderback: Yes, sir. You got it.
Listen to the full second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “AJ Louderback” by AJ Louderback.
Live from Music Row Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Jackson County, Texas Sheriff, AJ ‘Andy’ Louderback to the newsmakers line to weigh in on the crisis at the nations southern border and Biden’s unraveling of Trump policies.
Leahy: We are joined on our newsmaker line now by our friend, Sheriff AJ Louderback from Jackson County, Texas. Welcome, Sheriff Louderback.
Louderback: Good morning. Good morning.
Leahy: You and I met back, I think, a year and a half ago when you were in Washington, D.C., with a group of folks that were part of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. And right then you talked about the problems on the border. Since the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 21st, what’s happened to Jackson County? You’re about halfway between Corpus Christi and Houston. What have you seen that’s different in the past two months?
Louderback: I guess the best place to start is with these policies that have Joe Biden’s signature on them. We went from a very stable border to mass chaos here in Texas. So in the interior of Texas, where ICE has been completely nullified from their activities to the point where they have to even call a supervisor and have written express authorization to do almost anything.
We’re feeling the effects here as all Texas towns and towns throughout the United States are where we have people coming through again. We have illegal aliens showing up on people’s door steps from bailouts. We’re having our trucks stolen here in this area. We live geographically on the major corridor into Houston, Texas. And so it’s the number one human trafficking corridor and huge narcotics trafficking hub of Houston as they spread out to the rest of the United States. So it’s again: where to start, Michael?
It’s the same thing over except this one is much more pronounced and much stronger. ICE and CBP have both been completely taken out of the picture. I used the term gutted back in the Obama administration, and I don’t have a better word today other than they’ve done a much more thorough job of nullifying the federal law about this through policies and executive orders.
Leahy: Would you say the big administration is violating our immigration law?
Louderback: Clearly. They’re completing now through the NGO programs the final leg of the journey into the United States that the cartels used to do, and the cartels are still doing it. But the U.S. government is essentially complicit in that or however, you want to call it. But in McAllen, Texas, which have numerous friends on border patrol and ICE and so forth, and I get the video he sent to me and long been a proponent of a secure border.
I just think that that’s essential to having a country. And obviously, I’m in disagreement with the administration where we have no borders. I call it a zero border today. And we feel the effects here as every state will feel the effects as more and more come in and are transported into the cities and counties across our nation.
Leahy: If the federal government is going to not enforce immigration law, what role can the state government, what role can county governments, and county sheriffs like you, what can you do to stop that?
Louderback: It’s a fascinating area. That’s the one I’ve explored extensively over the years because, obviously our founding fathers I consider much about this as far as a border state and states rights. That’s exactly what the governor can do in the state of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. So I know it’s being explored extensively.
I’ve seen some things out of our Texas governor here, Greg Abbott, and expecting some more. Our Texas AG here has lashed back with lawsuits on the deportation. And we were able to get a 100-day pause on that or so. It appears right now that we don’t have a lot of options or options that are actually being exercised. So waiting on that and exploring that and urging states to pay back in this issue as we become invaded here over and over with a steady stream of people.
Leahy: Sheriff Louderback, I saw that here is an idea from somebody who doesn’t live on the border, but who looks at what states can and cannot do. I saw that Governor Abbott deployed about 500 Texan National Guardsman to be on the border. Was that effective? Is there an opportunity to do more of that kind of thing or not?
Louderback: Well, Michael, I think it has value. Is it the most effective? I’m not sure. I’m glad that something’s being done. And I’m sure the extra help is certainly needed down there. They need resources and those guys are already exhausted. They’re demoralized to the point where imagine you went from a secure and stable border to a policy that completely destroys everything you’ve worked for, for the last two years with policies, no matter if anybody liked them.
The border hadn’t been that stable. And I like that word because the border is a unique area between any country. And it was very stable. We didn’t have any problems. It was more stable and had been in probably 50 years as far as the policies that were in place by the Trump administration. The military was down there and he sent extra troopers down there under Operation Loan Star.
The state lacks the ability currently to be able to turn back the tide and say, look, go back into Mexico and we’re going to restore some type of order on legal immigration coming into this country. Border security under its basic concept would be you were able to do that exactly the way we’ve been doing it in the last two years. So instead, we have mass chaos.
Leahy: If the President of the United States does not enforce existing administration in immigration law, in your opinion, is that an impeachable offense?
Louderback: Well, for me, certainly. I’m a strong advocate for a secure border, and I think you should be able here in the United States to control who comes into your country and who doesn’t? Just the very concept of that is just very basic to me. Very fundamental. As far as being a country obviously, there are people who disagree with that. We shall feel the effects of this. We already are.
The cartel grows ever stronger and enriched by these policies to the point where I don’t think most Americans understand the amount of money that the cartels have and their business model which is one of the most efficient in the world. And I don’t think most Americans understand exactly the types of money and how they profit from this policy here. So we actually have a war going on now on both sides because there is so much money involved. The cartels will actually even fight each other.
They’ll fight law enforcement. They’ll fight Mexican law enforcement. They sent two over here the other day to kill a law enforcement officer in the United States around the Yuma-Cochise County Arizona area. One was captured. I’m not sure if they capture the other one yet, but there are explicit orders from the cartel to take out at least one U.S. police officer.
Leahy: Was the U.S. police officer hurt in that?
Louderback: No. One was intercepted. But intelligence was very clear on it as to what was going on. So it resulted in a four-day search or so. Again, this is in Arizona from the sheriffs there that relayed this to Texas authorities that certain areas where the cartel gets upset with things and then they’re certainly able to put hits out on just about anybody they want.
Leahy: Sheriff Louderback of Jackson County, Texas. Please come back in about a month and tell us if it’s gotten better or worse. Thanks for joining us this morning.
Louderback: That’s good. Thank you, Sir.
Listen to the full second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
