Fentanyl has become a killer drug in the last ten years. Both democrats and republicans often associate the smuggling is being done by migrants coming across the border of the U.S. and Mexico. Why are people, especially elected officials blaming migrants when facts show that it is U.S. citizens doing the smuggling and getting arrested? Biden’s administration is being blamed for his “open borders.” Only lies, no solutions, and no opportunities for millions of people waiting inside the U.S. and at our borders fleeing violence.
Yes, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers are indeed making record-breaking Fentanyl and Meth seizures at the border. They have data that it is U.S. citizens that are doing this. Some of these find and arrests are at ports of entry and some are in between. Customs and Border Patrol leaders say that increased illegal crossings distract them from arresting more smugglers and want more agents to be hired.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a Policy Counsel at the American Immigration Council has researched many cases and reports of the CBP proving that 95% of arrests for fentanyl at the border have been U.S. citizens, not migrants. The analysis of every press release from CBP that mentioned fentanyl over six months, showed the data that out of 89 seizure events, just 3 involved undocumented immigrants. Another report on fentanyl seizures at the U.S./Mexico Border on the methods of smuggling used from December 1, 2021, to May 31, 2022—63 via passenger vehicle/bus, 14 via pedestrians, 3 via truck, and 2 on foot. The Cato Institute reported in 2021: “It found that 86.3% of convicted fentanyl drug traffickers were U.S. citizens—a number ten times greater than convictions of illegal immigrants for the same offense.”
Republicans in Congress have continued to push this lie, even with the facts, that it is unlawful immigration across the U.S./Mexico border that is responsible for fentanyl-related overdoses across the country. One obvious problem: It’s not true. This sums up to trying to scapegoat/blame unauthorized entry to pass border security bills before any opportunities to adjust statuses. Any attempts to consider immigration reform always ends up with divided results due to some of these disagreements.
It is bad enough that there have been thousands of deaths due to fentanyl, and we must stop its use. It won’t stop by banning entry to the U.S., putting in super-surveillance equipment, or increasing the number of border patrol agents. Congressman Maxwell Frost (Florida) dispels the anti-immigration rhetoric during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee in February 2023. After he quoted the Cato Institute data, he said: “The situation deserves this committee’s attention because there is a crisis at the border. But the crisis is not a criminal one. It’s a humanitarian one.” The truth must be told.
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