Joe Biden’s border crisis has brought us unprecedented numbers of illegal immigrants crossing the border. Unfortunately, as the border crisis has exploded on his watch, so has the flow of drugs, including the deadly drug fentanyl.
But Democrats don’t want us blaming the border crisis for the smuggling of the dangerous drug into our country. During a recent appearance on MSNBC, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) tried to divorce the open border from fentanyl coming across it.
“The majority, Jose, as you know, drugs — which is absolutely something we have to stop — are coming across the border, mostly carried by Americans at our actual border crossings,” Wasserman Schultz claimed. “So that’s where we need to get a handle on this, and we need to — Democrats have put more resources into the border patrol the last several fiscal years. We need Republicans to come to the table and work with us on comprehensive immigration reform, so we can really get at the crux of this problem.”
Fentanyl at our southern border is being brought in by Americans – not immigrants. While Republicans fearmonger, @HouseDemocrats stand ready to fund @CBP and pass comprehensive immigration reform. pic.twitter.com/qhd8qX65uI
— Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (@RepDWStweets) March 10, 2023
This is grossly misleading and, frankly, beside the point. It doesn’t matter who is doing the smuggling; the open borders are allowing it to happen.
Mexican drug cartels are responsible for producing and smuggling much of the fentanyl coming across the border. Two cartels, Sinaloa and Jalisco, are importing most of the fentanyl that ends up in the United States, and they’re exploiting the open border to bring their product into the country. The operation is, of course, fueled by demand from within the United States. While that is a problem, Schultz and other Democrats pretending that the fentanyl crisis isn’t related to Biden’s open border are deluding themselves.
“It’s a horrible epidemic, but it’s an epidemic that’s been unleashed on purpose by the Sinaloa and the new generation Jalisco cartels,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said earlier this month.
Further, many of the cartels bringing in fentanyl and other drugs are also smuggling people into the country. And the border crisis is undoubtedly making it easier for them to do so.
Related: WATCH: Joe Biden Laughs While Talking About Fentanyl Deaths
Biden critics have pointed to his border policies as contributing to the problem, because the surge of illegal migrants led the Border Patrol to redeploy about half of its agents to deal with the influx of people, the Washington Examiner explained last year. This shift in resources has made it easier for drug cartels to smuggle fentanyl into the country because there are fewer agents watching the border.
Regardless of how the drugs are being smuggled or by whom, the issue is directly linked to the huge influx of illegal immigrants coming across the border. Democrats trying to separate the two issues are paying politics, and they’re not taking the situation seriously enough to address the root causes.
“Joe Biden’s open-border policies have plunged our southern border into absolute chaos. It is a fact that Biden’s fentanyl crisis is directly a result of his border crisis, as the illegal drugs pour in over the wide open southern border,” a GOP spokesperson pointed out.
If Democrats want to be serious about this crisis, they have to recognize that, regardless of who is smuggling the fentanyl, the ease with which it is being transported into the United States is directly linked to Biden’s open border policies.