The False Fentanyl Narrative
“I am persuaded that in the case of elected officials, the overwhelming temptation is to conclude that it is more important for your constituents that you be reelected than that you deal honestly with them.”
~ James L. Buckley
You don’t have to spend more than five minutes on social media or watching cable news to see Republicans blaming President Biden and the border crisis for the country’s fentanyl problem. According to some of our elected officials, fentanyl is streaming across an open border. Many are equating the asylum seekers and migrants with the fentanyl crisis. It may be playing well with their base and in their own heads but there’s just one problem. It isn’t true. More than 86% of those caught smuggling the drug are American citizens.
A Significant Increase in Fentanyl Busts
The fentanyl crisis in the United States started in 2014 and has grown steadily. Since 2017, fentanyl busts have increased exponentially. According to the DEA, the primary sources of fentanyl trafficked directly into the United States are China and Mexico. India has become a growing source of finished fentanyl powder.
Despite the insistence of certain politicians on Twitter that our open borders are just letting fentanyl into the country and the president is doing nothing to stop it, drug busts at the border have increased 90% since 2017. This increase in seizures at the border would indicate that steps are being taken to stop the flow of fentanyl into the country.
The Identity of the Smugglers
They leave out a lot about where the drug is coming in and who is bringing it. According to drug seizure statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 90% of the fentanyl is seized at legal points of entry. It is not coming via illegal migration routes or being carried by those seeking asylum or attempting to illegally enter the country.
In fact, it isn’t migrants, immigrants, or “illegals” bringing the drug in at all. The vast majority of those convicted of smuggling fentanyl into the United States are American citizens. In 2021, 86.2% of fentanyl trafficking offenders were U.S. citizens bringing the drug into the country in trucks through legal entry points.
Intentional Misinformation from Elected Officials
This is the exact opposite of what our elected officials are telling us. According to them, fentanyl is streaming across the “open” border carried by undocumented people who are mules for drug cartels. They are lying openly because this is what we are doing now in U.S. politics, just lying without a bit of shame or consequence.
This lying causes a few problems, other than the obvious problem of dishonest politicians purposely confusing people and making it difficult to know what is true. A huge problem is the number of people believing them. An NPR/IPSOS poll showed that a majority (56%) of Americans are believing the “invasion” rhetoric from politicians. This includes 76% of Republicans, 40% of Democrats, and 46% of Independents.
This can, and has, caused violence against immigrants and asylum seekers. Some have suffered actual physical violence. Even people legally in the country are routinely harassed and attacked by people for doing things like watching TV in a pizza shop or listening to Spanish music in a park.
The violence and harassment are incited by politicians making people think the country is under attack. Less stable people and racists will use untrue claims made on social media and cable talk shows pretending to be news as evidence that every person they meet is undocumented. The idea that asylum seekers are invading the country by the millions gives racists an excuse to mistreat people.
Actually Solving the Problem
Politicians want to point fingers and pretend that sealing the border and mistreating asylum seekers would magically solve the drug problem. Aside from the fact that they aren’t bringing in the drugs, these politicians seem to have learned absolutely nothing from a decades long failed war on drugs. Lying about the cause of the problem without actually working to solve it isn’t going to be helpful.
Rather than point the finger and make false accusations, we need to fix our own issues. The truth is that fentanyl, like every other illegal and abused prescription opioid, is on the streets because there is a huge demand from Americans. Attacking President Biden and migrants does nothing to address the serious problem we have with so many of our people wanting these drugs.
Why are our citizens so drug dependent? What can be done to heal the brokenness of so many of our people? Of course, these are more difficult issues to address, as every family who has dealt with addiction is painfully aware. Let’s have some Congressional hearings on that issue and have politicians come up with some ideas for solving America’s addiction problem and stop laying the blame on people seeking a safe place for their own children.
