California sheriffs contend that California’s sanctuary state law and the “open border” policies of the Biden-Harris administration are harming the state’s citizens.
Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux stated, “I have a front-row seat to the havoc those can wreak when it comes to open borders and the impact of illegal immigration in California,” during a recent hearing of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on victim perspectives.
Following the use of their photo in one of Harris’s campaign advertisements, Boudreaux has stated that he, along with many other sheriffs in the state, does not endorse her for president.
He continued by discussing instances of the border situation in the Central Valley. Because of their abundant food production, the area is referred to as the “major breadbasket of the world” and the agricultural heart of California, he said. According to him, 80% of agricultural workers in the region are in the country illegally, indicating that the area has a lengthy history of illegal immigration. According to him, crime has increased along with illegal immigration, taxing already limited law enforcement resources.
“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.”
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He gave an account of how illegal foreign individuals who have committed numerous crimes in other states and been repeatedly deported have killed deputies and dogs. He also detailed other agency operations that targeted drug trafficking operations in multiple counties, revealing how Tulare County evolved into a center of activity for the Sinaloa Cartel. According to suspects who were part of the cartel that they spoke with, “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” because of the Biden-Harris administration.
Additionally, he spoke of the capture of undocumented foreign individuals working out of Washington state who were purportedly supplying the Mexican cartel with fentanyl “all over the southern border up to Washington.” After being apprehended and arrested on several accusations, they were released from custody the following day and were never heard from again.
“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.”
In an execution-style murder of a family that included a 16-year-old mother and her 10-month-old child, he went on, saying that Mexican cartels “are infiltrating our communities, unleashing incredible violence and taking the lives of innocent people.” The Center Square published a story on this case last year.
The actions of Biden and Harris have “caused a major crisis in America and in California.” Murders, marijuana farms, drug and people trafficking, financial fraud, agricultural crimes, robberies, and a host of other crimes are all happening. The international community is capitalizing on the present policies pertaining to our border, acknowledging that the government has undermined the basis for lawful immigration. He remarked, “The world has been encouraged to break immigration laws as a result of an open border.” As a result, local police enforcement may soon be unable to “keep and maintain peace in our communities” due to an overload.
Don Sharp, the undersheriff of Riverside County, stated that his county “has felt the devastating effect of a weak border sanctioned by this administration” during a separate Judiciary Committee hearing on California viewpoints
After more than a decade of working in drug enforcement, Sharp stated, “It is abundantly evident that cartels have a catastrophic effect on our communities.” Emergency response workers respond to dozens of overdoses and overdose deaths every day as a result of the uncontrollably high influx of fentanyl and substances laced with it into our communities.
“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.”
He claimed that in contrast, “smaller loads and more fearful cartels, as they should be when breaking our laws and harming society,” are observed when border security is strong and effective.
He claimed that in 2023, the Riverside County Sheriff’s narcotics investigation team alone had found almost 2.3 million fentanyl tablets and a record 359 pounds of fentanyl—enough to kill every person living in the county. The quantity of fentanyl that other agencies have found is not included in this.
“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 held the administration and legislators in California accountable for the sharp increase in border crimes. He declared, “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.”
