El Paso sheriff accuses Trump of spreading ‘falsehoods’ about city during State of the Union

Officials in El Paso, Texas, took umbrage with President Trump using the city as an example of why a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border would work, with Sheriff Richard Wiles accusing Trump of spreading “falsehoods.”

“It is sad to hear President Trump state falsehoods about El Paso, Texas, in an attempt to justify building a 2,000-mile wall,” Sheriff Richard Wiles said in a statement Wednesday, according to the Guardian.

{mosads}“The facts are clear. While it is true that El Paso is one of the safest cities in the nation, it has never been considered one of our nation’s most dangerous cities and El Paso was a safe city long before any wall was built.”

El Paso Mayor Dee Margo (R) quickly shot back at Trump on Tuesday night, writing in a post on Twitter that “El Paso was never one of the most dangerous cities in the US.”

“We’ve had a fence for 10 years and it has impacted illegal immigration and curbed criminal activity,” Margo wrote. “It is NOT the sole deterrent. Law enforcement in our community continues to keep us safe.”

El Paso was NEVER one of the MOST dangerous cities in the US. We‘ve had a fence for 10 years and it has impacted illegal immigration and curbed criminal activity. It is NOT the sole deterrent. Law enforcement in our community continues to keep us safe #SOTU

— Mayor Dee Margo (@mayor_margo) February 6, 2019

Trump spoke at length about the city during his State of the Union address Tuesday night, saying it “used to have extremely high rates of violent crime, one of the highest in the country, and considered one of our nation’s most dangerous cities. Now, with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is one of our safest cities.”

Trump has long called for a border wall, alleging it would reduce crime caused by illegal immigration. His demand for more than $5 billion for a border wall led to a weeks-long partial government shutdown that came to an end last month without funding for the wall.

El Paso sits just across the border from the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez and is divided by the Rio Grande and a stretch of fence that was constructed more than 10 years ago.