Cammack Texas Democrat blasts Operation Lone Star as ‘waste of money’

By Bethany Blankley (The Center Square)

US Rep. Kat Cammack blasted a Democratic witness at a US House subcommittee hearing last week after she refused to answer questions under oath and laughed when Texas law enforcement officials asked if it was a waste to seize enough fentanyl to kill everyone in the United States. money

After Democrat Brooks County Sheriff Benny Martinez testified about the record number of dead foreign nationals in his rural county, Democrat Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star, was illegal and illegal and a waste of taxpayer money.

He said, “Our governor is wrong about how fentanyl enters the United States. The vast majority of fentanyl seized at the border is intercepted at US ports of entry or through the US mail, with most smugglers being US citizens.

“Operation Lone Star has not resulted in any reduction in fentanyl deaths” in the districts of the congressman who chaired the inquiry, Garza said.

Garza, an attorney, ran against Attorney General Ken Paxton in November and lost. She, Martinez and two others on Feb. 15 testified before the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Joint Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee and Health Subcommittee hearings in Weslaco, Texas.

RELATED: New Operation Lone Star Task Force Now Tracking and Capturing Getaways

Since March 2021, when Abbott launched OLS, Texas law enforcement officials alone have seized more than 360 million lethal doses of fentanyl between ports of entry and throughout Texas.

Cammock asked Garza if OLS was a waste of money and not stopping fentanyl deaths, “How do you explain the 361 million lethal doses that have been seized? And in your opinion, what is the price of life?

Garza replied, “We’re talking about billions of dollars in further militarizing this region and the state of Texas. It’s a waste of taxpayer dollars.

When Cammack repeated her question, Garza continued to talk to her and Cammack said, “I’m going to reclaim my time. I’ll reclaim my time if you have to stop talking.

When Cammack asked Garza again if the seizure of 361 million lethal doses of fentanyl was a waste of taxpayer money, Garza laughed and did not answer the question.

At one point, Garza said, “She had no idea why we were here at the border, nothing to do with fentanyl.”

In response, Cammack said, “I’ll show you the connection,” and held up a photo of 958-grams of fentanyl seized in Marion County, Florida, after being smuggled across the border by illegal aliens. “That’s the connection,” she said. And it’s not just my district. As a result today every member has illegal items in their district [President Joe Biden’s] Open border policies. Each of us has components that are poisoned as a result. To say there is no connection is wildly inappropriate, unacceptable and [to] To the families who lost loved ones as a result of open border policies, you owe me an apology.

He pointed to data indicating that only 5-10% of seized fentanyl is recorded; “We know that,” he said.

Biden asked Garza if he believed it would be social justice to “take $130 million from homeless veterans programs under FEMA and redirect it to the border crisis.”

Garza responded by accusing him of “using the border as a political talking point” and refused to answer the question.

RELATED: Abbott Expands Operation Lone Star in Effort to Secure Southern Border

Cammack He tweeted A clip of the exchange says, “I covered some of the craziest commentary I’ve heard during my time in Congress.” Garza’s comments were “not defensive,” he said, adding that “she owes an apology to every family that has lost a loved one, including those abused at the hands of the cartels.”

Before Garza’s testimony, Border Patrol chiefs denied claims that fentanyl was being smuggled between ports of entry. Law enforcement officials said they were arresting foreign nationals who entered Center Square between ports of entry carrying fentanyl and other drugs in their backpacks. Known as outposts, they are mostly men of the same military age who deliberately evade capture by law enforcement who do not seek asylum. Many are armed and dangerous, committing robberies and other crimes.

The DEA announced last year that its agents had seized enough fentanyl to kill everyone in the United States and identified Mexican cartels as facilitating the fentanyl crisis. Its seizures occurred nationwide, not just at ports of entry, and included those made by state law enforcement agencies and US Customs and Border Protection agents.

Last year, Paxton’s campaign paid for billboards saying Garza defended human traffickers, saying he was “working to enable these criminals by defending them in court.” Garza’s spokeswoman did not deny that Garza represented the alleged human traffickers, arguing that each is entitled to protection. He told The Houston Chronicle that Garza “withdrew as legal counsel within days of the cases the billboards were referring to. In one case, she never served as an attorney of record. In another, her representation was withdrawn within days.

Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.