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Pima Co. Sheriff on Fox News: Rejected border funds jeopardize public safety

The Board of Supervisors rejected $1.4M
Pima Co. Sheriff on Fox News: Rejected border funds jeopardize public safety
Posted at 9:23 AM, Sep 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-13 12:24:00-04

Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier is speaking out on a national television after a controversial decision from the Board of Supervisors last month.

Napier appeared on the Fox News morning show 'Fox & Friends' -- famously one of President Trump's favorite shows -- to discuss the Pima County Board of Supervisors' decision to reject more than $1.4 million in border security funding from the federal program "Operation Stonegarden."

"It isn't about the issue of illegal immigration as much as it is about safety in my county," Napier told Fox host Steve Ducey.

At the board's meeting earlier this month, dozens of community members voiced strong opposition to the funding, suggesting the money would make deputies accomplices to controversial federal immigration policies.

On Fox News, Napier says the board accepted Stonegarden funding for years under previous administrations.

"This same Board of Supervisors has accepted the grant for 12 prior years, under Republican administrations and Democrat administrations, and now this year they've rejected that grant," he said.