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from Deborah BrennanCalMatters
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Gov. Gavin Newsom praised California’s efforts to curb drugs during a news conference in San Diego on Monday that contrasted the state’s public safety efforts with the bellicose tactics of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Since 2021, Newsom said, National Guard troops have seized 34,357 pounds of fentanyl worth about $506 million at California ports.
“This is what the National Guard should be doing,” Newsom said at the “This is the kind of partnership that makes sense” event.
Last month, a federal judge ended federal control of the National Guard troops in Los Angeles and returned them to Newsom’s command, six months after President Donald Trump ordered 4,000 troops to the city to quell protests against federal immigration actions in California. Newsom has argued that Trump’s deployment of the Guard has diverted them from duties including counternarcotics and wildfire prevention.
Newsom stepped down this year after eight years as governor and is expected to launch a presidential campaign in 2028. He has positioned himself as a figure of resistance to Trump’s tougher immigration crackdowns and increased federal control over states.
On Monday, Newsom argued that California is fighting crime and patrolling its border while responding to disruptions from the administration’s mass deportation campaign.
“It’s something we need to do more of,” he said. “It’s not about politics. It’s not about creating anxiety and fear.”
CalMatters could not reach the White House for comment Monday.
Newsom condemned the large-scale immigration sweeps in Los Angeles and other California cities, noting that one of ICE’s early sweeps involved arrests of kitchen staff at San Diego restaurant Buona Forchetta last may
The ICE crackdown escalated in Los Angeles, sparking public demonstrations and then a crackdown by the Trump administration.
“We’ve seen the federalization of the National Guard, hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money wasted,” Newsom said.
As the Department of Homeland Security wraps up its controversial “Operation Metro Surge” in Minneapolis, where ICE agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens, Newsom complained that the leader of the operation, Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, has been sent back to California.
“We hardly celebrate this,” he said.
Newsom said earlier Monday he spoke with residents of El Centro, where Bovino was originally in command. Community leaders described how local organizations help children left in charge of households after parents are detained in immigration actions and help people in ICE custody.
Newsom cited CalMatters in reporting this immigration arrests in san diego quietly increased by 1500% last year, “but without the fanfare of what you see in your living room and on your screen that happens in places like Minneapolis.”
He said the state is responding with lawsuits challenging the administration’s mass deportation efforts and allocating money to community organizations for legal aid, counseling and mental health support for people affected by immigration raids.
In the wide-ranging press conference, Newsom touched on topics from his efforts to seek $33.9 billion in wildfire relief for Los Angeles to rejecting Trump’s proposal to restart offshore oil drilling. He quotes Florida Governor Ron DeSantis shared concerns about the proposal.
“We have a well-established opposition in the state of California,” Newsom said. “I find it ironic and interesting that the governor of Florida does too. When Donald Trump advocates for offshore drilling off the coast of Mar-A-Lago, I will know the sincerity of those efforts.”
Newsom distanced himself from former President Joe Biden’s immigration policy, saying “My view was a little different than the previous administration’s on border security.” He called for reforming the immigration and asylum systems to account for long-term residents without legal status, mixed-status families and workforce needs.
“These things should be front and center in our conversation and debate around immigration, but unfortunately it’s not because it’s a bastard,” Newsom said.
He pointed to the state’s seizure of half a billion dollars worth of fentanyl, along with methamphetamine, guns and cash, as evidence that California’s approach is working.
Since October, the National Guard has confiscated 3,005 firearms and $34 million in cash, said Maj. Gen. Matthew Beavers, adjutant general of the California National Guard, freeing up other law enforcement agencies to carry out their duties.
“It means my team empowers dedicated law enforcement officers to get out on the street and do the tough work they need to do,” Beavers said. “It also allows customs and border agents to be able to be at the border where they belong.”
Newsom described California Highway Patrol officers and National Guard troops as “Swiss Army knives” who perform multiple roles in disaster response and public safety. In August, the governor deployed California Highway Patrol officers crime fighting teams in San Diego, the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, the Central Valley, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area to seize illegal guns and drugs.
“Everyone knows we are proud to be a partner and part of the solution,” said California Highway Patrol Commissioner Sean Dury. “I look at it as the National Guard being the first line of defense.”
The highway patrol, Dury said, is “the last line of defense before these drugs are in our communities.”
Newsom said he was committed to working with the Trump administration on “legitimate public safety concerns” but expressed doubt about the potential for such a partnership.
“It’s not about that again,” he said of Trump’s campaign to impose immigration measures. “It’s about terrorizing the community. It’s about chaos. It’s about fear.”
This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.