Arizona Sheriffs’ Association Raises Concerns Over Border Wall Protest Response

The Santa Cruz County, Arizona, sheriff’s office has come under scrutiny over allegations that it declined requests for assistance involving threats, violence, and property damage during protests at border wall construction sites.

In an Oct. 9 open letter, the Arizona Sheriffs’ Association (ASA) expressed “deep concern” over the allegations, citing reports from federal and state law enforcement officials.

“They have also described masked participants from outside Arizona. These allegations merit documentation and appropriate investigation,” the association wrote.

The letter named Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway, alleging that he publicly described directing deputies not to respond to calls associated with border wall protests except in cases involving violence.

“Yet law enforcement partners have reported repeated requests for assistance involving alleged violence, threats, and other criminal conduct that went unanswered,” the letter reads. “These reports raise serious concerns about public safety and the fulfillment of the Sheriff’s responsibilities under Arizona law.”

On June 18, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) awarded a $309.46 million contract for the construction of 27 miles of new border wall in Santa Cruz County as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to secure the southern border. The project has sparked numerous protests and arrests.

The project is funded with fiscal year 2021 CBP funds and is intended to close gaps left unfinished after contracts were canceled during the Biden administration.

“Continuing border wall construction in Tucson will support the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to impede and deny illegal border crossings and the drug and human smuggling activities of transnational criminal organizations,” CBP stated.

Santa Cruz County lies within CBP’s Tucson Sector, an area the agency identifies as affected by illegal border crossings, drug smuggling, and human trafficking.

The ASA said preserving the peace is a law enforcement duty that should not be “set aside simply because an incident involves federal operations or politically contentious circumstances.”

“The right to peaceful protest must be protected, but credible reports of criminal activity demand appropriate law enforcement attention,” the organization stated.

“Arizona’s sheriffs are independently elected county officials who serve as the chief law enforcement officers of their respective counties. Their authority and responsibilities are established by the Arizona Constitution and state law. ASA respects that authority.

“A federal operation does not automatically displace a sheriff’s independent responsibilities under Arizona law,” the letter reads. “Sheriffs must assess and investigate reports of potentially applicable state-law offenses.”

On Oct. 12, Hathaway sent The Epoch Times a two-page written response to the ASA’s allegations, describing it as a private organization presided over by what he described as activist Republicans with “no governmental authority.”

Hathaway accused the association of failing to remain politically neutral and said he let his ASA membership lapse for that reason.

Regarding protests on private land near the border wall in Lochiel, Arizona, Hathaway said his office responded “multiple times” to calls from federal law enforcement seeking the removal of protesters.

“These calls have been very disingenuous and have involved no threat to federal employees or contractors,” Hathaway said.

“The very small Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office employs 45 sworn officers to cover 1,238 square miles. We are outnumbered 20 to 1 by the federal officers assigned to the county to work the border, not to mention the active duty military members assigned to the border.”

Hathaway said that his office realized federal officers in Lochiel were not in danger and alleged that the federal officers and contractors “wanted to avoid their responsibilities regarding this clearly federal issue.”

The Santa Cruz County sheriff called protesters “gentle unarmed folk that are a throwback to the flower children of the Vietnam anti-war movement.”

“We adopted the posture that the thousands of federal officers armed with machine guns, helicopters, drones, and chemical weapons should not pawn off their own border security job on the very small Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office by pretending that they are afraid” of protesters, he said.

Hathaway claimed that the only violence in the area came from federal officers “gassing and dragging [protesters] away.”

Protesters called his office asking for help protecting themselves from federal officers, he said, but he “was not about to start a war with CBP” by having his officers confront federal officers. Protesters “faced an onslaught from an overwhelming army of masked federal officers,” he alleged.

“The protestors are packing up and leaving. Other private land owners are still confounded at how they have been barred from accessing their own private land in Lochiel by CBP and the contractors.”

In its letter, the ASA said its members “stand ready” to assist the Arizona Department of Public Safety in investigating the matter, if requested.

“Our readiness to assist does not diminish the independent authority of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff or authorize an unrequested deployment. It reflects the shared commitment of law enforcement agencies to protect the people of Arizona,” the organization said.

The ASA comprises participating elected sheriffs from Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, La Paz, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Pinal, Yavapai, and Yuma counties.

The Epoch Times reached out to CBP for comment.