Border officials have rejected claims that fentanyl is not smuggled into the United States

By Bethany Blankley (The Center Square)

US Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, claimed at a US House committee hearing on Tuesday that most fentanyl – 90% – is seized at southern border ports of entry and that 80% of those arrested for smuggling are American citizens. .

“We need to stop the flow of fentanyl into our country,” he said. “It’s a matter of life and death.” However, he said, “most fentanyl coming into the country is seized at ports of entry, not from immigrants crossing the border on foot.”

Raskin added that “90% of fentanyl seizures occurred at the port of entry at the vehicle check point and not in between, and what’s even more surprising … is that 80% of people are convicted of smuggling. [fentanyl and drugs] was an American citizen, not a foreign citizen.”

A similar argument was made by Democrats at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on border security last week.

Law enforcement officials in Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star, has seized more than 360 million lethal doses of fentanyl at ports of entry and across Texas since March 2021, enough to kill everyone in the United States. Because Mexican cartels are “bringing record amounts of fentanyl across the border,” Abbott has designated them a foreign terrorist organization.

And while Texas law enforcement officials are “doing everything they can to get this off our streets,” Abbott argued, “it’s time for the Biden administration to take this seriously and take action to secure the border, if nothing else to stop fentanyl.” “

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A Border Patrol agent on the southern Texas border told The Center Square, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, “We know from our intelligence in Mexico, from interrogating (interviews) with smugglers and fentanyl coming from cartels and cartels. Drawbridge image. Illegal aliens carry drugs in their back packs or duffel bags. The cartel is going to choose the easiest and least secure route depending on the size of the load. Do you think it’s going to be at or within the port of entry?”

Keene County Attorney Brent Smith, who helps prosecute the largest number of criminal charges brought against illegal aliens in Texas, told The Center Square that Democrats’ claims about fentanyl “prove that they’re willfully ignorant of what’s really going on. At our southern border. . It also shows that they have no regard for the thousands of Americans who have lost their lives to this dangerous poison.”

Last week, Hays County, Texas resident Brandon Dunn testified about his son dying of fentanyl poisoning, saying, “Because of the lethality of this drug, smuggling any amount in a backpack or fanny pack or even in someone’s pocket can be enough. To kill thousands of people. It is not just a problem of border checkpoints. Without immediate medical intervention, a person is unlikely to survive. That’s how fast it kills.”

House Oversight Committee member Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Louisiana, responded by calling “more than a million walkouts” in the past two years “that we know; that strong young men as chiefs. [John Modlin] Testimony in disguise, rolling hard. They got Milspec radios. They are carrying backpacks. They work for drug cartels. What do you think is in the backpack?

“Every American who is watching this understands that there is a tremendous amount of illegal fentanyl and meth crossing between ports of entry.”

Border Patrol agents use the term “getaway” to refer to foreign nationals who enter the U.S. illegally at ports of entry, intentionally evade law enforcement, do not return to Mexico or Canada, and “get away” within U.S. law, regardless of who or where enforcement officials are. Concerned about knowing. In fiscal year 2022, more than 637,000 getaways were reported nationwide, including more than 350,000 in Texas, according to Border Patrol data obtained by The Center Square.

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Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd told The Center Square, “If the Democrats actually believe that fentanyl is only being smuggled through the gateway, I have a bridge I want to sell them. The primary reason for the detention at the port of entry is that the Border Patrol is being directed to administrative duties, which prevent them from patrolling the vast populated areas along most of the border with Mexico.”

Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Center Square that Democrats’ claims are “false. Most fentanyl is seized at the port because all, 100% of the shipments are stopped and may be sent to a secondary for further investigation based on different circumstances. .

“They don’t know how much fentanyl crosses the border between ports. To assume that a small fraction of fentanyl comes through ports of entry, the same places where 1.2 million people entered and left, is ridiculous,” he said, referring to known getaways reported over the past two years.

“Not to mention that up to 80% of agents are drawn from border operations to process [foreign nationals], which leaves hundreds of miles of border where there are no agents to intercept speaks for itself,” he added. “It’s not a coincidence that we have historic levels of illegal immigration at the same exact time as fentanyl overdoses. This problem is killing thousands of US citizens. They need to stop playing politics and spin and work on a strong border system to save lives.”

“It doesn’t matter if 90% or 99% of the fentanyl is seized at the port of entry,” Terrell County Sheriff Thad Cleveland, who goes after human traffickers every day, told The Center Square. What is being reported only “represents what is seized, not how it is crossed, or more importantly, what goes away. … We must do what is right. Americans are getting poisoned every day. We must prevent this poisoning by securing our borders.”

Syndicated with permission from Center Square.