(The Center Square) – Gov. Gavin Newsom is blaming President Donald Trump’s deployment of the California National Guard for a 57% decrease in the amount of fentanyl seized at the southern border.
The number of pounds of fentanyl dropped by that percentage between May and June during seizure operations by the California National Guard’s Counterdrug Task Force, the Governor’s Office said in a news release. In June, 260 pounds of fentanyl powder were seized.
Newsom said the decrease happened because National Guard troops were taken off their California tasks and assigned by Trump to guard federal facilities in Los Angeles.
Trump deployed 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines following protests and riots that occurred in response to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on illegal immigrants. But California leaders such as the Democratic governor and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a longtime Democrat and former congresswoman, called the deployment unnecessary.
Newsom blasted the deployment both in the news release and during a news conference Thursday announcing the addition of two Firehawk helicopters for the state’s firefighting efforts.
National Guard members were taken away from their work on fighting and preventing wildfires, Newsom told reporters at the Sacramento headquarters of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“Donald Trump and Stephen Miller took the National Guard off of essential public safety assignments to fulfill a sick power grab within California communities,” Newsom said in the news release. Miller is the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security.
The Center Square reached out Friday to the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Defense to comment on Newsom’s remarks, but did not get a response.
Usually almost 450 service members are deployed statewide, including at ports of entry, to combat transnational criminal organizations and seize illegal narcotics, the Governor’s Office said.
Trump reassigned California National Guard members of the Counterdrug Task Force to the deployment in Los Angeles, according to the Governor’s Office, which called the deployment unlawful.
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All but 300 National Guard members are expected to go home soon, the Governor’s Office said.
Newsom said the Trump administration should immediately allow the remaining Guard members to go back to their families and civilian jobs.