WATCH: Newsom cites California’s seizures of fentanyl

By Dave Mason
The Center Square

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday afternoon joined California National Guard and California Highway Patrol leaders to announce the state’s success in seizing a half billion dollars’ worth of fentanyl pills since 2021.

Newsom also addressed issues ranging from rebuilding Los Angeles after last year’s wildfires to the fatal shootings by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis during the approximately 45-minute news conference in San Diego.

The conference started with fentanyl. Newsom and other officials spoke against the backdrop of military helicopters in a hangar and cited the success of the California National Guard and California Highway Patrol working together.

Major Gen. Matt Beevers, the adjutant general in charge of the California National Guard, noted seizure efforts take place at all ports of entry, including Los Angeles International Airport and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Efforts are equally dedicated to stopping the flow of American firearms and cash to drug cartels in Mexico, Beevers told reporters.

The California National Guard has seized more than 5 million pills containing fentanyl, with a street value of more than $506.6 million since drug interdiction efforts started in 2021, Newsom said Monday.

Since 2021, 34,357 pounds of fentanyl have been seized, Newsom said Monday.

California Highway Patrol Commissioner Sean Duryee noted the CHP recently trained all its dogs to detect fentanyl.

“It takes one dose to be deadly,” Duryee told reporters. “It takes getting one crime gun off the street to make a difference.”

Newsom also noted the success with the state’s more than $2.1 billion in investments to fight crime, help local governments hire more law enforcement and improve public safety since 2019.

The Governor’s Office has cited data showing crime is down.

During reporters’ questions, Newsom switched to immigration and was critical of Gregory Bovino, who was removed from his leadership of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol operations in Minneapolis. Bovino was transferred back to El Centro, Calif., following immigration agents’ fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

“He’s sent back to California,” Newsom said about Bovino. “We’re hardly celebrating that.”

“I’m shocked he still has his job. I’m shocked Kristi Noem still has her job, although she’s been pushed aside,” the Democratic governor said. Newsom was referring to President Donald Trump sending his border czar, Tom Homan, to Minneapolis to take over operations from Noem, the secretary of homeland security, and Bovino.

The Department of Homeland Security is traumatizing not only illegal immigrants but immigrants who are legal residents and U.S. citizens, Newsom said.

The governor addressed the recent detention of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who returned to Minnesota Sunday after a judge ordered ICE to release them from a Texas facility.

“I don’t know how you can be a human being and feel any sense of pride and patriotism with an angelic boy who’s 5 years old who is sent to a detention center in Texas,” Newsom said as he discussed the Minneapolis family.

The Center Square Monday reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the White House for comment. DHS did not respond as of late Monday afternoon. The White House referred The Center Square to DHS.

Homeland Security has repeatedly told The Center Square that vilifying immigration agents has greatly increased assaults on them and puts them in danger. The department has stressed it’s working to make America safer from criminals.

On another subject, a reporter asked Newsom about Trump’s executive order, allowing the federal government the ability to take over the permit process to encourage a faster rebuilding of the Los Angeles area one year after the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires.

“We are fully focused on fast-tracking the permit process in Southern California,” Newsom said, noting 2,981 rebuilding permits have been issued. Those permits were issued in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, Malibu and Pasadena.

“If there is something more we can do with permits, we’ll do it at the state level,” he said.

California is waiting for Trump to ask Congress for $33.9 billion to address the gap between insurance coverage and construction costs, Newsom said.

He added construction costs have increased because of the tariffs Trump introduced, the mass deportation of immigrants and the resulting labor shortage. The governor said the president can address all of that.