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Rep. Mike Garcia brought Fox News’ Sara Carter to the Antelope Valley last week to raise awareness of the increasing problem of illegal marijuana grows and related crime in the Antelope Valley and surrounding areas, including Acton and Agua Dulce.

Garcia and Carter took a helicopter tour of the illegal grows, which have expanded exponentially since Garcia toured them last month.

“This is the border crisis basically in our backyard; some three (hundred to) 400 miles away from [Mexico],” Garcia said on Fox News. “It’s affecting everyday American lives right now: it’s not good for Americans [or] those who are here illegally.”

While in the Antelope Valley, Garcia and Carter met with community members from the surrounding area who shared their stories of theft, intimidation, and public menacing. One constituent shared a story of their neighbor’s house being shot at for 20 minutes by nearby Transnational Criminal Organization leaders. Local residents have asked to keep their identities private out of fear of retaliation.

“Since coming to Congress in May, I’ve received an outcry of concerns from community members about the impact illegal grows are having on the people of (California District 25),” Garcia said. “I wanted to learn more about the situation and get a better understanding of the issue, so I took an aerial tour of just a portion of the illegal grows with the LA County Sheriff’s Department. What I saw was much worse than I anticipated, and frankly worse than anyone is talking about. I was utterly shocked and horrified by the expansive nature of these illegal grows. They aren’t just in the Antelope Valley either, they are frankly across Southern California.”

Garcia spoke to Attorney General Merrick Garland during a House Appropriations hearing last week where he urged Garland to act on the massive influx of illegal marijuana grows in the Antelope Valley. Garcia secured Garland’s promise to speak to the Drug Enforcement Agency about the problem.

“As a member of the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, which has jurisdiction over the Drug Enforcement Agency, I am in a good position to advocate to ensure that the DEA and other law enforcement entities have the proper funding to combat this issue,” Garcia said. “However, this is going to require a holistic, all-hands-on-deck approach. The only way we are going to combat this is if the federal, state and local governments work together.”

Garcia also has secured the support of the Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva to help combat the crisis in the Antelope Valley.

In Congress, Garcia is fighting to secure more funding for local law enforcement to combat this issue. He is also working to get federal entities, including the DEA involved.

Constituents who have concerns or more information about the illegal grows should contact Garcia’s Antelope Valley Office at 661-839-0532.