(RepublicanDaily.org) – Apparently Republicans aren’t the only ones who are exasperated with U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, after a leaked audio recording shows a Democratic governor expressing frustration with the DHS secretary.
In the recording, Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat and the governor of New Mexico, is heard complaining about the federal government’s seeming onslaught against the Land of Enchantment’s cannabis industry. Marijuana use is legal in New Mexico and in several other states, but is still considered illegal under federal law.
The recording was released through a Twitter / X account owned by Tore Maras, who runs an “investigative” news website called “Tore Says.”
Grisham’s office has confirmed that the recording was authentic, but also stressed that the conversation was meant to be private. The New Mexico governor was not speaking to Mayorkas – only making reference to him – but to a “high-level federal administration official.”
In the call, Grisham was taking particular issue with the Border Patrol’s seizures of state-licensed cannabis at various checkpoints, some even located close to a hundred miles away from the U.S. – Mexico border. According to the New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, the Border Patrol, which operates under the Mayorkas’s DHS, has seized around $300,000 worth of state-legal pot to date, for this year alone.
The New Mexico governor was also incensed by Secretary Mayorkas’ seemingly flippant attitude towards the raids. According to Grisham, Mayorkas dismissed her complaints, saying, “Who cares? They [legal cannabis sellers] make a lot of money.”
“I thought that was really inappropriate,” the New Mexico governor said of Mayorkas’ reply.
Grisham also threatened to send a letter indicating that Mayorkas and the DHS were persecuting states rather than working on problems at the border and the thousands of illegal immigrants that have crossed into the U.S.
In a statement, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) defended their actions, insisting that given that marijuana is still illegal under federal, CBP agents have the authority to seize shipments a Border Patrol checkpoints, even if these have permission from the state government.
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