{"id":611914,"date":"2021-08-04T21:35:38","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T01:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=611914"},"modified":"2021-08-04T21:35:45","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T01:35:45","slug":"the-border-crisis-is-killing-americans-data-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-border-crisis-is-killing-americans-data-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"The Border Crisis Is Killing Americans, Data Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-border-crisis-is-killing-americans-data-shows%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=611914&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><ul>\n<li><strong>The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has called fentanyl the \u201cprimary driver\u201d of the record 92,183 drug overdose deaths in 2020.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Some experts have said the Biden administration needs to pressure Mexico to use its military in coordination with the U.S. to destroy cartel labs.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>While many drugs come into the U.S. country at various points of entry, \u201ccartels are now becoming more creative in tapping under policed areas at the border,\u201d professor at Lee University Arlie Tagayuna told the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The drugs flowing over the border are leading to an uptick in fentanyl deaths, and experts are split about how to solve it.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dea.gov\/resources\/facts-about-fentanyl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">called<\/a> fentanyl the \u201cprimary driver\u201d of the <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/16\/drug-enforcement-administration-fentanyl-drug-overdose\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">record<\/a> 92,183 drug overdose deaths in 2020. Many drug dealers use fentanyl to make money and smuggle it through the southern border mixed with other drugs like heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine to make them more potent \u2014 and more deadly \u2014 according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook, everyone needs to understand drug cartels are vicious, they\u2019re violent and it\u2019s all about the dollar bill. It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s 2021 or 2020 or 2016, drug cartels are going to get their drugs across our border,\u201d Houston Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Daniel Comeaux previously <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/19\/exclusive-local-dea-chief-says-drug-cartels-are-doing-anything-and-everything-to-smuggle-drugs-across-the-southern-border\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told<\/a> the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>The trafficking of fentanyl has gotten even worse in 2021. Border officials <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/18\/fentanyl-overdose-cbp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seized<\/a> nearly 2,400 more pounds of fentanyl from January to April 2021 than during the same period in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Border patrol officials do not have the resources or officers to handle the influx, Marguerite Telford, director of communications for the Center for Immigration Studies, told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOfficers right now are taken off the line to take care of UACs(unaccompanied children) and family units, and it becomes much easier for those carrying drugs to enter the country,\u201d Telford said.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just an issue in the southern region of the U.S. Comeaux told the DCNF the drugs smuggled can go further north.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery cartel has their drug routes and their methods of trying to get it all the way up to the east coast to the Midwest and off to the west,\u201d Comeaux said. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2017\/08\/31\/fact-check-is-the-current-drug-epidemic-the-deadliest-in-us-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: FACT CHECK: Is The Current Drug Epidemic The \u2018Deadliest\u2019 In US History?)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Experts told the DCNF that the Biden administration could work with Mexico\u2019s police, legalize drugs, and address addiction to combat the cartels.<\/p>\n<h4>Work With Mexico\u2019s Police And Experts<\/h4>\n<p>Poverty on the other side of the border increases criminal activities, Lee University professor Arlie Tagayuna told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBiden\u2019s administration must carefully coordinate with the Mexican authorities and aid without jeopardizing international jurisdiction. We need to reexamine our policing tactics for would-be traffickers and revisit our MOU (memorandum of understanding) and MOA (memorandum Of agreement) with Mexico,\u201d Tagayuna said. \u201cDespite fences having been built, the illegal drug trade continues to move under (the border).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden must also listen to people who work at the border on a day-to-day basis, Tagayuna told the DCNF. \u201cJust tightening borders and concentrating entry in one area are not enough. It only slows down drug entry.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7243023\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"37\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7243023\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7243023\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/An-officer-from-the-US-Customs-and-Border-Protection-Trade-and-Cargo-Division-finds-Oxycodon-pills-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"An officer from the US Customs and Border Protection, Trade and Cargo Division finds Oxycodon pills in a parcel at John F. Kennedy Airport&#039;s US Postal Service facility on June 24, 2019 in New York. (Photo by JOHANNES EISELE\/AFP via Getty Images)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/An-officer-from-the-US-Customs-and-Border-Protection-Trade-and-Cargo-Division-finds-Oxycodon-pills-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/An-officer-from-the-US-Customs-and-Border-Protection-Trade-and-Cargo-Division-finds-Oxycodon-pills-188x120.jpg 188w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/An-officer-from-the-US-Customs-and-Border-Protection-Trade-and-Cargo-Division-finds-Oxycodon-pills-620x396-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/An-officer-from-the-US-Customs-and-Border-Protection-Trade-and-Cargo-Division-finds-Oxycodon-pills-768x490-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/An-officer-from-the-US-Customs-and-Border-Protection-Trade-and-Cargo-Division-finds-Oxycodon-pills-1536x981-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/An-officer-from-the-US-Customs-and-Border-Protection-Trade-and-Cargo-Division-finds-Oxycodon-pills-2048x1308-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7243023\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An officer from the US Customs and Border Protection, Trade and Cargo Division finds Oxycodon pills in a parcel at John F. Kennedy Airport\u2019s US Postal Service facility on June 24, 2019, in New York. (JOHANNES EISELE\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The border patrol officers have a difficult time working in many rural areas that are unfenced or filled with tunnels, Tagayuna told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>While many drugs&nbsp;come into the U.S.&nbsp;country at various points of entry, \u201ccartels are now becoming more creative in tapping under policed areas at the border,\u201d Tagayuna said. professor at Lee University Arlie Tagayuna told the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/p>\n<h4>Why Do Americans Want Drugs?<\/h4>\n<p>In order to stop cartels from smuggling drugs into the U.S. Biden needs to understand why Americans want them in the first place, Tagayuna told the DCNF. Americans have depended on drugs to cope with their own social issues, Tagayuna told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we also need to address the demand side here in the U.S. and how it feeds cartels and smugglers to pursue such activities,\u201d Tagayuna told the DCNF. \u201cWithout the demand, there will be no supply.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s administration needs to invest in aggressive policing at the border and also provide assistance in poverty, mental health, and other social issues that lead to drug addiction in the U.S., Tagayuna told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<h4>Legalize Drugs &amp; Leave Other Countries Alone<\/h4>\n<p>Another option is to decriminalize drug use and move towards a universal healthcare system that treats \u201cmaladies like drug addiction,\u201d Terence Garrett, a politics professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) will continue to profit on these victims,\u201d Garrett told the DCNF. He said the cost of war on drugs is not worth all the lives and billions of dollars put on this \u201cintractable problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. should stop destabilizing democratically elected governments in the Americas, Garrett told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese efforts keep the TCOs in place \u2013 oftentimes displacing democratically elected leaders with right wing profiteers who thrive on their respective population\u2019s misery,\u201d Garrett told the DCNF. \u201cThe TCOs would eventually go out of the drug business and all their other illicit activities \u2013 human trafficking, petrol-chemical and mineral theft.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Garrett also said the U.S. maintains the profitability of the TCOs by making illegal drugs scarcer. He says that businesses will continue to turn a blind eye to these issues as long as they keep making money off migrant workers.<\/p>\n<p>As long as cheap migrant labor continues to get through the border other businesses like agriculture will continue to profit from \u201cmigrant\u2019s misery\u201d Garrett told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<h4>Failure Of Mexico\u2019s \u2018Hugs Not Bullets\u2019 Strategy<\/h4>\n<p>The U.S. has worked with countries like China across the world to stop the production of drugs that eventually are trafficked through the border.<\/p>\n<p>The American government has provided assistance to countries like China to cut the global supply of opioids, as the Chinese government <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2019\/04\/01\/china-bans-all-types-of-fentanyl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">banned<\/a> fentanyl in April 2019, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/backgrounder\/us-opioid-epidemic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Council on Foreign Relations<\/a>. Most fentanyl coming through the border is illegally produced in China, however, some view targeting China as an out-of-date strategy.<\/p>\n<p>Production and transportation of fentanyl are controlled by Mexican drug cartels in collaboration with American street gangs, Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at The Center for Immigration Studies, told the DCNF. Cartels have already hired chemists from Mexico\u2019s universities to research how to create fentanyl using other chemicals to not rely on China, Bensman told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe cartels are a few steps ahead of US thinking, anticipating pressure on China. So any strategy has to target the cartel lab networks, physically,\u201d Bensman told the DCNF. \u201cMexico won\u2019t go after these labs due to corruption and intimidation by the cartels, the fatal \u2018hugs not bullets\u2019 strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pledged to combat drug cartels by reducing extreme poverty in a \u201cabrazos no balazos (hugs not bullets)\u201d strategy, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2019\/nov\/05\/mexicos-security-failure-grisly-cartel-shootout-shows-who-holds-the-power\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Obrador <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2019\/11\/15\/billingsley-mexico-cartels\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a> that \u201cviolence cannot be confronted with violence\u201d and \u201cthe bad cannot be confronted with the bad. The bad needs to be confronted doing the good.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4><b>Biden Must Show His Muscles<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>Former President Donald Trump took an aggressive approach to the drug crisis, he <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2018\/08\/24\/trump-sessions-death-penalty-fentanyl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">called<\/a> for the death penalty for fentanyl dealers linked to fatal doses in August 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Trump signed in September 2018 the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, which expanded access to addiction treatment and increased research on alternative pain medications, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/trump-signs-sweeping-opioid-bill-vow-end-scourge-drug-addiction-n923976\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NBC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He also <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2017\/10\/26\/trump-to-deem-opioid-epidemic-a-public-health-emergency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">declared<\/a> the opioid epidemic a \u201cpublic health emergency\u201d in October 2017. This allowed more flexibility with regulations governing how states can spend federal dollars, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2017\/10\/26\/exclusive-trump-declare-public-health-emergency-opioid-crisis-partial-measure-figh\/796797001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USA Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration needs to follow a similar path and use \u201cmuscular diplomacy\u201d by pressuring Mexico to use its military in coordination with the U.S. to destroy the cartel labs, Bensman told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>Biden should follow in the footsteps of Trump when he threatened trade tariffs with Mexico if they didn\u2019t deploy troops on its southern border, Bensman told the DCNF. Bensman said Biden should also force Mexico to accept illegal immigrants that were from the Remain in Mexico policy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t see the Biden administration having the cajones for this necessary kind of approach,\u201d Bensman told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has called fentanyl the \u201cprimary driver\u201d of the record 92,183 drug overdose deaths in 2020. Some experts have said the Biden administration needs to pressure &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-611914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}