East Houston News

The U.S. Border Patrol recently found a large amount of marijuana and more than 20 people living in the country illegally in a Texas motel, and gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines thinks that they should be immediately deported.

"Terrorist drug cartels are part of a hostile foreign invasion, plain and simple," Huffines told East Houston News. "These invaders should immediately be deported, but failed leaders like Greg Abbott would rather let them sit in our jails, wasting our tax dollars, before being released into the U.S. When I am governor, I will finish the wall and immediately stop inbound traffic from Mexico to stop the flood of drugs across the Texas border, and any illegal alien found in Texas will be deported."

On Jan. 10, the U.S. Border Patrol Laredo Sector responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle and found almost 400 pounds of marijuana inside the SUV, according to Fox News. On Jan. 13, border patrol agents responded to a report of suspicious activity at a Laredo motel. The law enforcement agents found more than 20 people living in the country illegally in the motel, where rooms were allegedly used as "stash houses."

During fiscal year 2021, South Texas Border Patrol agents seized 1,066% more fentanyl and 98% more cocaine than during the previous year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In total, the Laredo field office seized 87,652 pounds of narcotics with an estimated combined street value of $786 million. They also seized 463 weapons and 84,863 rounds of ammunition.

Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin, according to ABC Denver. For Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, fentanyl overdoses are the No. 1 cause of death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between April 2020 and April 2021, fentanyl caused the deaths of 40,010 Americans, which is almost twice as many as COVID-19, suicide and cancer individually.

Don Huffines is a gubernatorial candidate who supports border security. If he is elected, Huffines says he will finish the border wall, deploy the Texas National Guard to aid in securing the border with Mexico and end all taxpayer subsidies to people residing in the country illegally.