A Message from Executive Director, Susan J. Kibbe

Dear Members,

February is one of those strange months. Some of us get rain, some don’t, but we have to go through it to get to March.

We have our First Annual Skeet Shoot planned for April 15. We included this spring fundraiser as a fun social event that will satisfy the competitive spirit in our South Texas shooting enthusiasts. If you don’t shoot, that’s ok. Come and visit with your friends and neighbors and enjoy a Charles Maley chicken fried steak!

Speaking of Charles Maley, his official title has changed to Advocacy Director. And he is doing just that, advocating for STPRA’s issues at the state Capitol and in all the meetings he attends on our behalf. He has the passion for our causes and the drive to work towards achieving them. We are so fortunate to have him. Please take time to read his report.

I was recently appointed to the National Sheriffs Association Border Security Committee. I had the opportunity to attend my first meeting in Washington D.C. last week. There we heard from the U.S. Border Patrol Deputy Chief, Matt Hudak, and other states’ sheriffs on the impact that they are experiencing from the current open border situation. Chief Hudak stated that there had been 2.2 million encounters in FY 22 from 171 countries. In FY 23, there have been 755,000 so far with 3,000 of those having serious criminal history that pose a national security and public safety concern.

Chief Hudak explained the administration’s new allowable pathway for Venezuelans, that was expanded to include Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians, who now come through the ports of entries.

Sheriffs from all over the United States shared their own stories of how the border situation has affected them. The number one common factor was fentanyl poisonings, and how it was devastating their communities. One sheriff was particularly passionate on the issue and stated that at 9/11, almost 3,000 people were killed at the hands of foreign terrorists, and the U.S. went to war to seek justice for those horrible events. But last year, 107,000 U.S. citizens died of fentanyl poisoning, brought into the country by foreign transnational criminal organizations, and the U.S. has done nothing.

After that meeting, The American Sheriff Alliance drafted an alliance letter declaring their intent to eradicate two Mexican Drug Cartels: the Sinaloa and the Jalisco New Generation Cartels because they have been identified as the two cartels responsible for bringing fentanyl into this country. Click here to read the letter in its entirety. It includes a quote from the Hidalgo County Sheriff, and STPRA Advisor, Eddie Guerra.

Join me in praying for rain for South Texas, and I wish you all the best!

Until next month,

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Susan J. Kibbe
Office (361) 522-5194
Susan@STPRA.org

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