Gallego Urges DHS to Prioritize CBP Staffing to Combat Fentanyl Trafficking and Keep Arizonans Safe
PHOENIX – Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) sent a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security urging his Department to prioritize the full deployment of fentanyl detection technology and the full staffing of Ports of Entry on the southern border when determining future personnel and resource distribution.
“Fentanyl poses one of the greatest threats to our national security, killing thousands of Arizonans each year, and much of it is smuggled into the United States through Ports of Entry,” Rep. Gallego wrote. “I am glad that the Ports in the Tucson Sector are nearly adequately staffed based on agency modeling, but it is my understanding that deploying more staff to these Ports would allow for greater use of cutting-edge fentanyl detection technology without disruption to other operations. Each additional officer in Arizona’s border sectors would improve technological deployment and protect communities in Arizona and across the country.”
Rep. Gallego recognizes the critical role Congress plays in improving staffing at the southern border, which is why he recently became the first Democrat to back the Anti-Border Corruption Improvement Act to expedite Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hiring of applicants who have prior law enforcement or military experience. He has also introduced the Direct Hire Act to create a five-year direct hire authority for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), making it easier for the agencies to hire processing and enforcement officers.
“As I continue to push these efforts in Congress, I request that you prioritize staffing and technological implementation along the southern border. Doing so very well may be a matter of life and death,” Rep. Gallego concludes.
Full text of the letter can be found HERE.
Rep. Gallego has worked tirelessly to stop the flow of fentanyl across Arizona’s border, including introducing the Buck Stops Here Act to authorize the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to designate financial institutions, transaction classes, or accounts as primary money laundering concerns in connection to illicit fentanyl trafficking. This bill was signed into law in April.