00:00When it comes to the southern border with Mexico,
00:03California has proven time and time again that it's willing to tackle the hardest problems.
00:08But Republicans in Congress choose cynicism and the dangerous path of chaos instead of
00:15doing their job to help us secure the border. Think of this. For all their talk of securing
00:20the border, they rejected over and over and over again the opportunity to add thousands
00:26of new border agents and new immigration judges as well as personnel and hundreds of millions of
00:32dollars to support local communities near the border. And for what? Pure, unadulterated,
00:38partisan politics. When they speak about immigrants poisoning American blood and
00:43mass deportations and detention camps, this is the language of destruction of 1939 when
00:49Governor Olsen issued his warning. California is home to the busiest land port in the western
00:56hemisphere, and we've addressed the problems at the border with resolve. We also addressed it
01:01with resources, not plain politics. Give you an example. The vast majority of fentanyl seized
01:07at the border we know comes through ports of entry, and that's exactly why we've deployed
01:13the National Guard to stop the flow of this deadly drug into our state and the impact it has
01:19across the United States, allowing Border Patrol agents to do their job. These operations have
01:24resulted in the seizure of over 62,000 pounds of fentanyl in 2023, a 1066% increase since 2021.
01:34In the first five months just of this year alone, counter drug operations have led to the seizure
01:39of some estimated 5.8 million pills containing fentanyl statewide. At the same time, California
01:47proudly provided humanitarian assistance and temporary shelter to migrants and their families
01:53and along the border communities, easing the burden to local cities. Unfortunately, California has
01:59largely had to go this alone again because Republicans in Congress, when presented with
02:03an opportunity to assist border states, have turned their back. They've chosen politics,
02:08chosen inertia, and they've advanced pure political pandering.
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