Federal agents arrested three men at their condominium in Novi, Mich., in July 2017, resulting in the seizure of 88 kilograms of heroin, 10 kilograms of fentanyl, and more than $500,000 in cash. The men, one of whom hails from Sinaloa, Mexico, were part of an active network with links to a Mexican cartel that had infiltrated southeastern Michigan, and had ties to Maryland, Florida, Indianapolis, and Dallas.
Once removed from the streets, however, it became clear that the individuals only made up a small node within the larger network of opioid suppliers in Michigan. In September 2018, Michigan’s opioid crisis hit levels that led federal agencies across the state to band together to form a “strike agency” to combat more than 140 known neighborhood gangs distributing Mexican heroin and fentanyl in southeast Michigan.
Since leaving her state for the nation’s capital, freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., seems to have forgotten about the epidemic that has so great an effect on her constituents.
When President Trump addressed the nation on Tuesday to discuss finding ways to end the government shutdown and remedy the national security and humanitarian crises at our southern border, including the flow of Mexican drugs into our communities, Tlaib wasn’t watching.
Instead of listening to Trump’s rant which will most likely include many falsehoods, I think I’ll take some time to read this. #EndTheShutdown #BoycottTrumpPrimeTime #unapologeticallyMe pic.twitter.com/jg661bgnXD
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 9, 2019
Her reaction was unsurprising, given Tlaib’s track record of hatred for Trump, but her willingness to allow that anger to prevent her from addressing topics that concern Michiganders is problematic.
In the passing days, much like her Democratic cohorts, Tlaib has continued to obstruct negotiations that would end the government shutdown and address vital national security concerns, instead laying the blame for the shutdown at Trump’s feet.
In her first speech on the House floor on Wednesday, Tlaib spoke at length about the low-income families in Wayne County, Mich., who will be affected by the government shutdown, claiming that they “can’t fly to Mar-a-Lago to stay warm in the middle of winter.” The president, according to Tlaib, is “play[ing] political and partisan games and the lives of Americans are put in harm’s way.”
Never once did Tlaib mention the reason for the government shutdown: a crisis at the southern border. She has also failed to acknowledge the impact that our poor border security has on the residents of the state she represents.
That crisis is clear. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s 2018 National Drug Threat Assessment, deaths by drug poisoning are “at their highest ever recorded level,” and “Mexican [transnational criminal organizations] remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States.” That national data is reflected in Michigan, where opioid overdose deaths have increased from 1,786 in 2016 to 1,941 in 2017.
The multi-agency strike force created in September has already had effects. They have seized “25 kilograms of heroin, 50 kilograms of cocaine and 35 kilograms of fentanyl,” the quantity of the latter being enough to kill 15 million people, according to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Matthew Schneider. According to Schneider, working together to dismantle the network of “domestic cartel” and “violent street gangs” who distribute Mexican drugs is of utmost importance. In Michigan, “even young boys and young girls,” he said, “are getting caught in the crossfire,” in what he calls a “gang and drug war.”
Tlaib is so focused on her hatred of Trump that she has lost sight of deadly threats facing her constituents. If the representative wants to help the Michiganders she claims have been so ill-served by the shutdown, perhaps she should quit grandstanding and just admit that there is a crisis which starts at our border, and has spread its nefarious tendrils throughout the country.
“I kept Trump from making you safe” won’t make a good rallying cry come 2020. Why not try working toward a solution that secures the border, provides increased technology to detect drugs, and ultimately makes Michigan and the rest of the country a safer place for generations to come?
Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area.
