Great Lakes Wire

Amid an increase in 2021 in the fentanyl overdose death rate, the nation’s opioid woes have become an urgent problem as President Joe Biden continues to push for an open border policy when border patrol agents don’t have the manpower to adequately do their jobs. 

Mexican drug cartels, according to experts, are seizing upon the influx of migrants at the border to smuggle thousands of pounds of deadly fentanyl into the country. The state of Arizona saw more than a 50% increase in opioid deaths in just two years, drawing heat from Sen. Ted Cruz, D-Texas, who took to social media this week to lay blame on the Biden administration.

“The cartels are exploiting Biden’s open border and poisoning our country with fentanyl,” Cruz pointed out on Twitter. 

According to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) news release citing provisional data issued from its National Center for Health Statistics, in 2021 some 107,622 people died of drug overdoses, with deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl surpassing any other substance. According to the  CDC, fentanyl deaths in 2021 (71,238) rose by 23% from 2020 (57,834). 

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) news release noted that the problem is further exasperated, according to critics, by a plan by the Biden administration to lift Title 42, a regulation that arose from the pandemic to expel migrants at the southern border. According to the CBP release, an injunction was granted last month by U.S. District Judge Robert R. Summerhays of Louisiana, preventing the administration from lifting Title 42. 

Another point of contention, according to the New York Post, citing data from CBP, detailed that more than 90% of 10,000 pounds of fentanyl seized during 2021 occurred at border entry sites in Arizona and California, where an estimated 30% of migrants are entering the country each day, which angers Robert Almonte, a Texas-based security consultant who once served as deputy chief of the El Paso Police Department.  

“Border patrol agents are too busy dealing with the influx of migrants, and are not really focused on looking for fentanyl,” Almonte told The Post.  “Border agents are not getting the support they need from the federal government to stop the flow of fentanyl, which is killing thousands of Americans.”

According to CBP’s news release, its officers seized 588 pounds of fentanyl in 2021, up 1,066 percent from the previous year. The seizures occurred at eight points of entry from Del Rio to Brownsville that make up the Laredo Field Office. Moreover, according to The Post, in addition to production in pill form, fentanyl also is being introduced into other drugs, including heroin and cocaine, increasing their potency and making them more lethal, with Almonte telling the publication more people are dying from fentanyl overdoses than suicide, traffic accidents and guns combined. 

“Our significant gains in fentanyl and cocaine seizures underscore the deadly nature of the contraband we encounter, the need to utilize Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to protect our officers and our continued resolve to carry out our vital border security mission,” Randy J. Howe, director of field operations for the Laredo Field Office, said in the CBP news release. 

According to a DEA press release, 20.4 million counterfeit pills seized last year would be enough to provide a fatal dose to each American, demonstrating the stakes at the border. ABC News reported that the DHS is preparing for up to 18,000 migrants each day at the border with Mexico should Title 42 be lifted, with concern growing around the fentanyl issue.