Last week’s invite-only appearance by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at the border wall near Nogales did not go unremarked upon by locals.
More than 130 demonstrators, including residents of eastern Santa Cruz County, protested at the intersection of Grande Avenue and Crawford Street in Nogales, with many waving handmade anti-Noem and anti-ICE signs. Whistles, cowbells and sympathetic car honking from continuous corner traffic headed for the port of entry made for a loud, high-energy event.
Meanwhile, Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway, who said he had not been invited to Noem’s event, distributed a blistering statement to the press.
“Kristi Noem is a coward besides being a tyrant,” he wrote. “She is afraid to face the chief law enforcement officer of the county where she did her disingenuous briefing. Neither she, nor her staff, invited me to her briefing or informed me where it was being held. She did, however, invite the Trump-supporting sheriff from the neighboring county of Cochise. Noem was obviously afraid that I would refute her false claims about crime rates in this safe border county.”