Noem touts fentanyl gains amid ICE protests in San Diego

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited San Diego on Thursday to tout drug seizures during the Trump administration, including what she said was a 56% decrease in fentanyl smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Noem held a news conference at the Otay Mesa commercial port of entry as sirens blasted and dozens of protesters chanted outside, condemning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

Noem was joined by Diane J. Sabatino, the acting executive assistant commissioner of the Office of Field Operations at Customs and Border Protection, who said, “We’re winning the fight against fentanyl.”

Noem said that she toured a vault holding 188,218 pounds of illicit drugs seized by CBP in the San Diego area. These included 100,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 59,000 pounds of cocaine, and 7,400 pounds of fentanyl. “That’s 1.7 billion lives that are saved because of the work that they do,” she said.

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks, also at the news conference, credited the Trump administration’s policies to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, which he said have allowed federal officers to focus on tasks other than processing migrants arriving at the border. In the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector, migrant encounters plummeted by 92% in fiscal 2025 compared to 2024.

“They can look for more narcotics,” Banks said. “They can ...