Escobar Says Wiles Would've Been Lost As Plaintiff ...

This one apparently slipped through the cracks, but it is a really important conversation for this community to have locally about Sheriff Wiles.

County Judge Veronica Escobar has indicated that the reason that the County of El Paso DID NOT include a constitutional challenge to ICE detainers as part of its lawsuit against SB4 is because Sheriff Wiles would not have been a plaintiff had they done so.

Thats a major news story that had gone previously unmentioned. Especially for a sheriff in a border community. The County Judge made the admission in an online debate we had on the issue of the hypocrisy of the County being against SB4 because it would turn local law enforcement into defacto border patrol agents, but apparently having no problem at all with that same local law enforcement having a contract with the federal government to house those immigrants.

Sheriff Wiles has long been seen as an ally to the immigrant community and has been awarded - rightfully so - for his leadership on immigration.

But if he's going to be recognized for his work in the area, he should equally be scrutinized for a position that appears to run so contrary to what he has been recognized for.

Other sheriffs have signed on to their county's lawsuits against SB4 that did include a constitutional challenge.

But Sheriff Wiles has not.

Why?

Well we don't know why because he hasn't been asked. Perhaps he enjoys having a cooperative relationship with the federal government, but that cooperation means we are using our local tax dollars to subside the federal government - to the point that Wiles called for taxpayers to spend $45 million to expand a jail that wasn't really needed.

Now Wiles is shutting down 4 of the 8 floors that house inmates which saves the tax payers about $1 million and he's getting a pat on the back. Forget about shafting the tax payers for $45 million, ICE detainers, and a losing contract to house federal inmates at local expense - but hey, a million dollars amirite?

The Judge praises him pretty often and thanks him, but the bottom line is that Wiles' insistence on housing federal inmates is what appears to have led to him saying that the jail was full and we needed a new expansion, but yet he didn't know that 70% of them were detained for simply being undocumented? Hell at least Joe Arpaio knew who he was jailing and that guy owned it.

The county judge later changed the story a bit (she says its not changing the story, its adding to it) and said that losing Wiles as a plaintiff was not the only reason they chose not to pursue the constitutional issue of ICE detainers as part of the lawsuit. You'll have to check with the other commissioners to find out the details on that, but she also indicated that there was a court decision that basically made the issue moot, but that decision didn't come out until after the County filed their lawsuit.

The main point is that according to the county judge, Sheriff Wiles didn't want the constitutionality of ICE detainers challenged.

The media should be asking, why? The Judge says she's happy to give detailed answers about this and puts her office number down for people to call, so (915) 546-2098.