Sheriffs: “California Is an Open Territory for the Cartel to Do Whatever It Wants”

(The Center Square)—California residents are suffering from Biden–Harris administration “open border” policies and California’s sanctuary state law, California sheriffs argue.

At a recent U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing on victim perspectives, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said, “when it comes to open borders and the impact of illegal immigration in California, I have a front row seat to the havoc those can wreak.”

Boudreaux is among many sheriffs in the state who don’t support Harris for president, he’s said after their image was used in one of her campaign ads.

He then described cases in the Central Valley related to the border crisis. The region is known as the agricultural heart of California and referred to as the “major breadbasket of the world” because they produce so much food, he said. The region has also had a long history with illegal immigration because an estimated 80% of agricultural workers are in the country illegally, he said. With illegal immigration comes crime, and that has stretched thin law enforcement resources, he said.

“When it comes to our open border, the Central Valley is at the foot of the mountain staring down an avalanche. We are confronting a barrage of violent criminals, events, and drugs flow from the border into our community. The free flow of illicit and deadly drugs, principally fentanyl, have turned the corridors of Highway 99 and Interstate 5 into two highways of death that unleash unspeakable carnage.”

He described how deputies and canines have been killed by criminal illegal foreign nationals who’ve been deported multiple times after committing multiple crimes in other states. He also described multiple agency operations in several counties targeting drug trafficking operations that uncovered how Tulare County has become a hub for the Sinaloa Cartel. Cartel member suspects they interviewed told them that under the Biden-Harris administration “it is easier now in the last three years than in the history of the drug organization to move illegal drugs across the border into the United States.”

He also described arrests of illegal foreign nationals operating out of Washington state who were allegedly transporting fentanyl for the Mexican cartel “all over the southern border up to Washington.” Arrested and detained on multiple charges, they were let out of jail the next day and never to be found.

“Their release was a slap in the face to the criminal justice system and a direct repercussion of failed immigration policies and an open border,” he said. California’s sanctuary law, SB54, prohibits law enforcement from working with U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement (ICE). As a result, “there are no ramifications for their actions. California has basically become an open territory for the cartel to do whatever it wants.”

Mexican cartels “are infiltrating our communities, unleashing incredible violence and taking the lives of innocent people,” he continued, describing an execution style murder of a family, including a 16-year-old mother and her 10-month-old baby, The Center Square reported on last year.

Biden-Harris policies have “caused a major crisis in California and in America. We are seeing murders, marijuana grows, drug and human trafficking, financial scams, agricultural crimes, robberies and so much more. The rest of the world is taking advantage of the current policies concerning our border, recognizing the administration has removed the foundation of legal immigration. Allowing an unsecured border has encouraged the world to violate immigration laws resulting,” he said. The result is that local law enforcement is overwhelmed and soon won’t be able “to keep and maintain peace in our communities.”

At another Judiciary Committee hearing on California perspectives, Riverside County Undersheriff Don Sharp said his county “has felt the devastating effect of a weak border sanctioned by this administration.”

Sharp, who spent over 10 years in narcotics enforcement, said “the catastrophic impact cartels have on our communities is, and has always been, abundantly apparent. Our communities are facing an unbelievable flow of fentanyl, and fentanyl laced drugs; emergency response personnel are responding to dozens of overdoses and overdose fatalities daily.”

“The flood of deadly fentanyl to our streets is overwhelming and only made possible by complete border security failures under the current administration,” he said. Because Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed processing illegal foreign nationals into the country instead of patrolling for bad actors in the field, “the border is wide open.” This results in “larger drug and human smuggling loads. The risk of detection and loss of illicit contraband becomes less, and the shrinking risk is easily worth the reward for cartels and criminals.”

By contrast, when border security is strong and robust, he said, they see “smaller loads and more fearful cartels, as they should be when breaking our laws and harming society.”

The Riverside County Sheriff’s narcotic investigation unit alone seized a record 359 pounds of fentanyl and over 2.3 million fentanyl pills in 2023, he said, enough to kill the entire county’s population. This excludes the amount of fentanyl other agencies have seized.

“This is a staggering statistic of poison seized. What did we miss? We know we missed plenty. We wish the current administration understood what the full effect of their actions has created.”

He blamed both California politicians and the administration for skyrocketing border crime. “I am sick of battling the deeply flawed changes being made by them,” he said. “Our state and nation matter and our citizens are afraid of the consequences of an open border. The unknown number of terrorists and bad actors entering unchecked is eye opening and terrifying. It puts our county and communities in jeopardy.”