The Fentanyl Issue is not the same as the Illegal Immigrant or Asylum Issue.

by Rod Williams, Sept. 25, 2024- Donald Trump routinely mentions the deaths caused by fentanyl as part of the crisis of illegal immigration.  Illegal immigration is a serious problem, there is no denying. Fentanyl is a serious issue, causing over 56,000 overdose deaths in 2022. The two issues have very little to do with each other however. 

Not only does Trump often blame illegal immigrants for the fentanyl crisis but much of the media will fail to make a distinction between the two issues. Even Kamala Harris is conflating the two issues. Kamala Harris to counter the Trump criticism of her for the mess at the southern border, has presented herself as tough of the border and referring to herself as a “border-state prosecutor.” Rather than countering the claim that fentanyl is related to illegal immigration, she is leaning into it. The very liberal publication The New Republic has criticized her for this approach. 

I know most people simply know we have a fentanyl problem and an immigration problem, and assume they are related and want them fixed. It would help if we could think clearly about issues. One thing that would help is if Congress would pass the bipartisan border bill, which would deliver 100 more high-tech drug detection machines that could scan 20 times as many vehicles as we can currently scan. The bill would have passed if not for Trump's opposition. 

Most of the illicit fentanyl coming across the U.S.-Mexico border is smuggled through official ports of entry concealed in private cars. It is smuggled mostly by U.S. citizens. Some is smuggled in shipping containers as part of the cross-border commerce. Virtually none is seized from migrants who are seeking asylum. 

Some fentanyl is smuggled in in backpacks by illegal immigrants who are not seeking asylum and who try to avoid capture, but those illegal immigrants are only a small percentage of the immigrant illegally crossing the border. The amount of fentanyl coming into the country in backpacks of illegal immigrants is an insignificant compared to the amount coming in at legal point of entry. This information is easily confirmed. For more on this see this link, this and this. Truth should matter.

 

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