California sheriffs criticize ‘tough prosecutor’ Kamala, say Biden-Harris policies emboldened Mexican cartels

WASHINGTON, DC — While Kamala Harris claims to be a “tough prosecutor,” the Biden-Harris administration’s policies appear to paint a very different picture.

According to sheriffs in Harris’ home state of California, the impact of “open borders and the impact of illegal immigration in California” gives sheriffs a “front row seat to the devastation they can wreak,” Washington Examiner defeated.

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux made the statement during a recent hearing of the House Judiciary Committee. Boudreaux is one of several sheriffs in California who have opposed Harris’ presidential candidacy, despite a recent campaign ad that used his image.

Sheriffs: ‘California is open territory for the cartel to do whatever it wants’ https://t.co/ur75W183Ri

— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) September 14, 2024

Boudreaux described a number of cases in California’s Central Valley region that show the impact the Biden-Harris open border has had on the state. Boudreaux explained that part of the state has been called the “greatest breadbasket of the world” because of the large amount of food production that takes place there.

He noted that the area has a long history of illegal aliens, as an estimated 80 percent of those working in agriculture are in the country illegally. He said illegal immigration brings with it crime, which has stretched law enforcement resources thin, he said.

“When it comes to our open border, the Central Valley sits at the foot of the mountain, with an avalanche at its back. We are faced with a barrage of violent criminals, events, and drug flows from the border into our communities. The free flow of illegal and deadly drugs, primarily fentanyl, has turned the corridors of Highway 99 and Interstate 5 into two highways of death, unleashing unspeakable carnage.”

Boudreaux told lawmakers about agents and K9s who have killed illegal aliens who have been deported multiple times after committing crimes in other states. He also said that multiple anti-drug operations in several counties targeting drug trafficking have revealed that Tulare County has become a hub for the Sinaloa cartel. In fact, cartel members interviewed said that the Biden-Harris border laxity has made it “easier now than it has been in the drug organization’s history to smuggle illegal drugs across the border into the United States” over the past three years.

He outlined the arrests of illegal aliens operating in Washington state and transporting fentanyl for the cartel “all across the southern border all the way to Washington.” Despite being arrested and held on multiple charges, they were released from jail the next day and never seen again.

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

Boudreaux said cartels are “infiltrating our communities, unleashing incredible violence and taking the lives of innocent people,” and described an incident of an execution-style killing of a family including a 16-year-old mother and her 10-month-old baby, The Center Square reported last year.

Boudreaux said the Biden-Harris administration’s open border policies have “created a major crisis in California and America. We’re seeing murders, marijuana cultivation, drug and human trafficking, financial scams, agricultural crime, robberies and much more,” he said. “The rest of the world is taking advantage of the current policies regarding our border, recognizing that the administration has taken away the foundation of legal immigration. Allowing an unsecured border has emboldened the world to violate immigration laws. As a result, local law enforcement is overwhelmed and will soon be unable to “preserve and maintain peace in our communities.”

Boudreaux wasn’t the only California sheriff to speak out about the lax border policy and the resulting rise in crime. During another House Judiciary Committee hearing, Riverside County Undersheriff Don Sharp explained that his county “has suffered the devastating consequences of a weak border that this administration has authorized.”

Sharp, who has more than a decade of experience in drug enforcement, said, “The catastrophic impact that cartels have on our communities is, and always has been, abundantly clear. Our communities are facing an incredible influx of fentanyl and fentanyl-laced drugs; our emergency responders respond to dozens of overdoses and overdose deaths every day.”

“The flood of deadly fentanyl onto our streets is overwhelming and has only been made possible by the complete failure of border security under the current administration,” Sharp said.

He noted that Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed by the influx of illegals and are unable to search for “bad actors.” He said that “the border is wide open,” resulting in “greater amounts of drug and human trafficking. The risk of detection and loss of illegal contraband is reduced, and the reduced risk is far worth the reward for cartels and criminals.”

Sharp compared that to when Trump was president, noting that back then they would see “smaller charges and more fearsome cartels, as they should when they break our laws and harm society.”

In 2023, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit seized a record 359 pounds of fentanyl and more than 2.3 million fentanyl pills, enough to kill the county’s entire population. That doesn’t include fentanyl seized by other agencies.

“This is a staggering statistic of poison seized. What have we missed? We know we have missed plenty. We wish the current administration understood the full impact of their actions.”

Sharp noted, however, that there was plenty of blame to be shared. He criticized California politicians and the Biden-Harris administration for the explosive increase in crime.

“I am tired of fighting the deeply ingrained, flawed allegations they make,” he said. “Our state and nation matter, and our citizens fear the consequences of an open border. The unknown number of terrorists and bad actors coming in unchecked is illuminating and terrifying. It puts our country and our communities at risk.”