Lawmakers argue Biden administration’s border policies are to blame for fentanyl crisis

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Fentanyl is now responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans each year.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States during the 12-month period between April 2020 and April 2021. Of these, the National Institutes of Health reported that more than 70,000 deaths have been attributed to synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas now says the record number of Americans overdosing on fentanyl is “the biggest challenge” facing the United States. Mayorkas made the statement during a Senate hearing last week, and many noted it was the first time a member of the Bidens cabinet had described fentanyl in this way.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Fake prescription pills containing fentanyl are often disguised as Oxycontin, Percocet and Xanax, magnifying the danger of the powerful drug.

In 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration confiscated 50 million pills and over 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder. Officials say Mexico is the main source of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked into the United States and attribute the increase to a shift toward synthetic drugs that are easier and faster to produce in cartel business models.

“The Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel and their affiliates control the vast majority of the global fentanyl supply chain, from manufacturing to distribution,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in remarks. written to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “It costs cartels as little as 10 cents to produce a fake prescription pill containing fentanyl that is sold in the United States for between $10 and $30 a pill.”

Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundations Border Security and Immigration Center, says the Biden administration has not been honest about the full extent of the fentanyl problem and that the DHS, under Mayorkas, is to blame.

It roughly describes the problem,” Ries said. “Getting the Secretary of Homeland Security to answer audience questions is a challenge. Killing 100,000 Americans is a crisis: it’s reasonable to call it a public health emergency, but he downplays it because it involves the very open border and the policies he oversees and the terrible results that come with it.”

Mayorkas says the Department of Homeland Security is attacking cartels and smugglers like never before, citing the arrest of more than 9,100 smugglers and the disruption of more than 9,000 human smuggling operations last year. He says efforts have led to the seizure of record amounts of fentanyl at our ports of entry.

But conservatives say that’s not enough and the country needs tougher immigration laws to secure the border and stop the flow of drugs.

“You should be fired, but you weren’t fired,” Senator John Cornyn said. R-Texas, Mayorkas told during last week’s hearing.

This is all happening on Capitol Hill as the Food and Drug Administration just approved the first over-the-counter Narcan nasal spray. The drug quickly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose and many hope it will help save lives.

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