Oklahoma AG to testify on how illegal immigration has impacted law enforcement in the state
By Jason Burger
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WASHINGTON (KOCO) — Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is set to testify before Congress on how illegal immigration has impacted law enforcement in the state.
He will testify in front of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security as part of impeachment proceedings against Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Drummond said Chinese and Mexican crime groups are now working together, and Oklahoma is caught in the middle.
“There’s legitimate migration. There are legitimate green card applicants. There are legitimate asylum seekers,” Drummond said.
Drummond is not against immigrants legally coming to Oklahoma. On Wednesday, he will testify to the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee on the impact of illegal immigration on Oklahoma law enforcement.
“A very large population of Mexican cartel members and Chinese syndicated crime organization members, who have found a way to Oklahoma via the Mexican border,” Drummond said.
He said one of the biggest problems is the drug movement.
“We know with absolute certainty that the fentanyl product is coming from China into Mexico, manufactured in Mexico,” Drummond said.
In the past, KOCO 5 has reported how the AG’s office identified that some illegal medical marijuana operations can be traced back to mainland China. Drummond also said criminal Chinese groups are working with Mexican cartels to move drugs and sometimes human trafficking.
“We’ve identified a partnership between the Chinese syndicated crime organizations and the sophisticated Mexican cartels that are partnering in Mexico. They’re transferring the fentanyl, getting it across the border,” Drummond said.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics confirmed they’ve seen evidence of that, and these groups use foreign bank accounts to launder payments internationally.
Drummond is one of three attorneys general who will testify in front of the House committee, alongside Andrew Bailey of Missouri and Austin Knudsen of Montana. He said efforts at the southern United States border need to improve.
“There’s an unlimited number of illegals crossing over and coming into Oklahoma to replace those that we’re arresting and sending out of state. We’re talking about those inadmissible people that would not otherwise qualify, and they’re just not being stopped,” Drummond said.
The committee hearing will start at 10 a.m. in Washington D.C. If Mayorkas is removed, he’d be the first cabinet secretary impeached in almost 150 years.
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