Why Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan went to Texas with Bill Hagerty amid border crisis

A man found dead in Wilson County during January’s snow event sparked a homicide investigation that’s been difficult to move forward.

The case involves undocumented immigrants and is one example of what Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan and other law enforcement leaders claim is the impact of the nation's “border crisis” on Tennessee.

“We know people with information in this case have left the country,” Bryan said about the death of Octaviano Gonzalez-Ramirez, 40. "We can't track down these people."

Bryan, who ran as a Republican, was part of a group of Tennessee sheriffs, county mayors and district attorney generals who recently traveled to the southern border in Texas with U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.

Republicans have blamed Democrats and President Joe Biden for reports of millions of people entering the country illegally.

Republicans have pointed to undocumented immigrants committing crimes against U.S. citizens and taxing law enforcement with illegal drugs, human trafficking and potential terrorists as being part of the immigration crisis that is a polarizing political issue in this year’s presidential election.

Democrats counter that Republicans won't cooperate on a solution and have killed legislation to establish tougher border policies in order to damage Biden’s reelection bid.

U.S. Rep Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., has said “solving the immigration problem is not in Donald Trump’s best interest as he runs for president,” and that Republicans are using the border issue to help the Trump campaign at the expense of a solution.

Tennessee Democrats have also argued ongoing anti-immigration rhetoric has emboldened dangerously racist views. Such rhetoric was front and center at a recent white nationalist march in downtown Nashville, where masked marchers unfurled Nazi flags and chanted “deport every Mexican” and, "Save the white man."

Undocumented inmates in Tennessee jails

Wilson County booked approximately 7,800 inmates into its jail between January 2023 and the end of February this year, Bryan said. About 200 of those inmates were undocumented – not overwhelming, but trending up, according to the sheriff.

The Sullivan County jail had seven undocumented inmates in February, including one released to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to Sheriff Jeff Cassidy who went on the trip and is also the Tennessee Sheriffs’ Association president-elect.

The Sullivan Sheriff's Office made 63 arrests of persons without Social Security numbers in 2023, Cassidy said.

"The majority of all our drug seizures originate at the Southern border and are distributed via source cities," Cassidy said. "The drugs simply do not cross the Southern border without cartel involvement."

Bryan said he saw people swim from Mexico across the Rio Grande instead of using one of the nearby bridges available to enter the country legally in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby, and 12th Judicial District Attorney General Courtney Lynch were among others who went on the trip to Texas.

There were conversations with personnel connected with the local residents, and representatives of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the National Guard and others involved in border patrol.

"We'll continue the fight we're fighting," Bryan said. "I'm all for legal entry into the United States. What is coming across our Southern border (illegally) is directly impacting the citizens of our country, state and Wilson County. ... The catch and release program is not working."

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan travels to Southern border in Texas