The Left refuses to connect the dots between the
fentanyl
and
border crises
because it would require acknowledging that we have an open border. The truth of the matter is that the
border crisis
and fentanyl problem in America are directly related.
Drug overdose or poisoning is the
leading cause
of death for Americans aged 18-45. Nearly
70%
of those deaths are due to opioids, including fentanyl.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says that the
large majority
of the drug is sourced from China and trafficked into the U.S. by the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels. We have seen
record high
illegal border crossings since President Joe Biden came into office, and the DEA says it
seized enough deadly fentanyl
in 2022 to kill every American.
Rebecca Kiessling
is a Michigan mom who knows this pain all too well. She lost two sons to fentanyl poisoning in 2020. At a congressional
hearing
on the border crisis last week, she fearlessly advocated for her sons and the hundreds of thousands of families devasted by the fentanyl and border crises. The president
responded
to the hearing by attacking Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for her pertinent questions and statements that day and insulting Kiessling by making light of her situation.
Unfortunately, this isnât a new trend. For the last two years, the Left has
shifted blame
and
ignored real solutions
that would help fight the drug crisis through increased border security. Instead of acknowledging the fentanyl crisis, let alone working with their colleagues to truly solve it, the Left in Congress
accuse
s Republicans of
racism and bigotry
when they talk of securing the southern border, even
claiming
that Republicans use hearings to âamplify white nationalist conspiracy theories.â
Kiesslingâs testimony was a passionate, human reminder of why the border crisis really matters and how it connects to the fentanyl crisis, national security, and American lives. She said, âThis is a war. Act like it. Do something.â
During the same hearing, David Bier from the CATO Institute
argued
that the majority of fentanyl that is seized is encountered at ports of entry and smuggled in by U.S. citizens. Missing from that analysis was the shocking level of influence the Mexican cartels exercise at the border and on American soilâincluding even by
taking control
of the travel routes into the U.S. and the flow of drugs, money, and people.
As Arizona Sheriff Mark Lamb
pointed out
, a large number of âgotawaysâ (nearly 600,000 who
we know of
in 2022 alone) come across the border every day with an unknown amount of drugs. In this sheriffâs county, the majority of illegal aliens they come into contact with are trafficked by the cartels. In the last two years, he has seen human smuggling and trafficking incidents go up 377% and the number of fentanyl pills seized go up 610%. Lamb
said
:
They are adult
military aged men
wearing
camouflage
clothes, carpet shoes,
carrying backpacks
and often times drugs. They have eluded Border Patrol by walking through the desert for several days and have no intentions of giving up. Many of them have been deported before, have criminal records or work directly for the cartels. Their goal is to enter our country undetected and illegally.
The entire
porous border
is one giant port of entry under the Biden administrationâand it is deadly. No matter how much is seized, the sobering reality is that only
2 mg
of fentanyl, or the equivalent of 3 grains of salt, is potentially lethal and the Mexican drug cartels are âprimarily responsible for the fentanyl that is killing Americans today,â according to
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram
.
As last weekâs hearing continued, Bier also focused on curbing the demand for fentanyl. Kiessling adamantly rejected that, saying her sons didnât âaskâ for fentanyl. She said this isnât a demand problem or something that can be solved by making fentanyl âsaferâ to use.
Fentanyl is
not being sought out
by young people struggling with substance abuse. Many victims
do not intend
to purchase fentanyl but instead consume it unknowingly laced in another drug and are poisoned instantly.
Amidst the tragedy so many American families continue to face, perhaps the most out-of-touch person of all is the president of the United States. Despite losing one son and experiencing the destruction drugs have caused with his remaining son, Biden belittled Kiesslingâs loss while
laughing toÂ
point out that her sons died during the prior administration.
Kiessling rightfully
chided
the president, calling him âdespicable.â This is exactly the response warranted when someone in a position of leadership laughs off the drug crisis or shifts blame rather than takes responsibility and becomes a part of the solution to the border crisis instead of the problem.
The Biden administration is supposedly all about addressing the â
root causes
â of issues. The border crisis is one of the root causes of the fentanyl crisis in America.
As the president and his administration ignore and downplay the crisis, Congress and other national leaders must put aside politics. It is a life and death matter that they be voices for reasonable,
actionable solutions
in future legislation, including
defunding
the Biden open border operations and
redirecting
money from things like the presidentâs
misdirected budget proposals
to
true border security
.
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This article originally appeared in the Daily Signal and is reprinted with kind permission from the Heritage Foundation.
