California National Guard-supported operations in February resulted in the seizure of over 1 million fentanyl pills in California — including more than 592,900 pills at the state’s ports of entry
By ONME Newswire
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Governor Gavin Newsom announced this month that the California National Guard (CalGuard) supported counter-drug operations last month that led to the seizure of over 1 million fentanyl pills in California — including more than 592,900 pills at the state’s ports of entry. The seizures highlight the importance of counter-drug operations along the southern border and increased border security.
However, the bipartisan border security deal, which is being blocked by Republicans in Congress, includes funding and new mechanisms to crack down on fentanyl trafficking.
At the end of February, President Joe Biden traveled to Brownsville, Texas to meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement, frontline personnel, and local leaders to discuss the urgent need to pass the Senate bipartisan border security agreement. According to the Biden-Harris Administration, President Biden has repeatedly said he is willing to work in a bipartisan way to secure the border and fix the broken immigration system.
Over several months, the Biden-Harris Administration negotiated with a bipartisan group of Senators to release a bill that includes reforms to secure the border crisis that has been an issue for decades.
It would make our country safer, make our border more secure, and treat people fairly and humanely while preserving legal immigration, consistent with our nation’s values," said President Biden. The bill received support from the Border Patrol Union, the Chamber of Commerce, the South Texas Alliance of Cities, and the Wall Street Journal – but Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans are not in support of it and have not given an alternative.
Meanwhile in California, Governor Newsom visited the California-Mexico border in early March, where he was briefed by the California National Guard (CalGuard) and U.S. Border Patrol officials, and later met with community leaders at a shelter supporting migrant families in San Diego.
“On his first day in office, President Biden put forward a comprehensive plan focused on securing our border, ensuring Dreamers have a permanent home in our country, and helping businesses address their needs for workers," said Governor Newsom. "Republicans in Congress have done nothing but create chaos and sabotage any attempts at progress — including blocking the bipartisan border security deal that had everything they’d been asking for. It’s past time for the spineless Republicans in Congress to do their job.”
Following lobbying efforts led by the California Congressional delegation and the Newsom administration, the FY24 defense appropriations bill signed into law last week by President Biden includes an approximately $10 million increase in funding for CalGuard’s counternarcotics operation.
Cracking down on the smuggling of illegal drugs, Governor Newsom last year increased the number of CalGuard service members deployed to interdict drugs at U.S. ports of entry along the border by approximately 50%. The operations CalGuard supported resulted in the record seizure of 62,224 pounds of fentanyl in 2023 — a 1066% increase since 2021. CalGuard’s coordinated drug interdiction efforts in the state are funded in part by California’s $30 million investment to expand CalGuard’s work to prevent drug trafficking by transnational criminal organizations. Fentanyl is primarily smuggled into the country by U.S. citizens.
“Our increased California National Guard deployment helped federal partners seize over half a million fentanyl pills at the southern border last month. We’re doing our job, while Republicans in Congress drop the ball and block the bipartisan border security deal that would further crack down on fentanyl trafficking. They continue to choose chaos for political gain over the American people.”
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