Ending the Fentanyl Crisis Starts by Securing the Border

"In 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized 50.6 million fentanyl pills and more than 10,500 pounds of fentanyl powder. That’s enough to kill every American.

But that’s just what we caught. Huge amounts of fentanyl still made it across the border. It claimed the lives of up to 70,000 Americans in 2021 — a record, and up from almost zero a decade earlier. When the numbers for 2022 come out, the death toll may be even higher. It’s not just Salem: From the biggest cities to the smallest towns, dealers are killing more and more Americans with drugs from Mexico and China.

Securing the border is the first and most important step toward ending this crisis. Yet the one person who can do the most to help is actively making things so much worse. President Joe Biden has spent two-plus years in office ignoring the border and undermining proven efforts to stop the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants. He has abandoned his duty to protect Americans, from Salem to San Diego to everywhere in between.

The list of Biden’s offenses is depressingly long. He brought back the disastrous “catch and release” policy that lets drug runners go free after illegally crossing the border. He’s tried to end “Title 42” and ended “Remain in Mexico,” making it easier for people carrying drugs to get into America and stay here. Biden still refuses to crack down on “sanctuary cities” such as Lawrence."