In a recent display of finger-pointing at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. John Cornyn dramatically declared that the Biden administration has basically handed over the keys to the U.S. immigration system to criminal cartels. According to Cornyn, these baddies are apparently behind the staggering 108,000 American deaths last year, all thanks to drugs smuggled from the good ol’ southwestern border.
Cornyn, a Texas Republican, claimed that under Biden’s watch, a whopping nine million unauthorized entries have occurred, which he insists is a clear sign that the cartels are calling the shots. He emphasized that the surge in illegal entries since the Biden administration’s inauguration has enabled criminal organizations to exploit the nation’s vulnerabilities.
The cartels have caught on to the fact that border patrol might just be a tad overwhelmed. So, what do they do? They exploit every loophole as if it were Black Friday at the border, funneling not just people but a VIP list of illegal goodies like fentanyl—which, by the way, clocked in 71,000 fatalities last year alone. Talk about deadly efficiency!
Last year, the DEA was busy playing catch-up in a high-stakes game of drug lord bingo, snagging a jaw-dropping 79.5 million fentanyl pills and nearly 12,000 pounds of powder. It’s a new record that paints a stark picture of just how bonkers the crisis has gotten. Over at the CDC, the counters were ticking almost as fast, racking up a grim total of 105,384 overdose deaths by November 2023. Fentanyl, the reigning champion of destruction, claimed the lion’s share of lives, responsible for 73,097 of those fatalities.
Most of this nasty fentanyl is whipped up in Mexico, using ingredients shipped in from China. A whopping 97% of the U.S.’s illicit fentanyl is traced back to these Chinese operations, prompting accusations that China is exacerbating the fentanyl crisis. The Chinese government’s alleged subsidization and support for companies engaged in illicit drug trade have drawn condemnation, with accusations of facilitating global drug trafficking networks and money laundering.
Efforts to address the crisis include diplomatic initiatives between the U.S. and China, aiming to curtail the flow of chemicals vital for producing fentanyl. Despite such efforts, challenges persist, particularly concerning cooperation with Mexico, where accusations of government officials’ ties to drug cartels strain bilateral relations.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s warning that cooperation could falter if allegations linking his administration to drug funding persist underscores the complexities of counternarcotics efforts. Should such cooperation diminish, projections suggest a significant escalation in fentanyl trafficking into the U.S., exacerbating an already critical situation.
To counteract the increasing influx of fentanyl and other illicit substances, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has introduced “Operation Plaza Spike,” a multifaceted and collaborative initiative involving multiple government agencies. The primary objective of this operation is to target transnational criminal organizations that are involved in facilitating drug trafficking. By strategically disrupting cartel operations, the operation aims to intercept both narcotics and the tools used in their production.
“Operation Plaza Spike” involves deploying a range of tactics and resources to identify, intercept, and dismantle the networks responsible for the illegal drug trade, ultimately aiming to make a significant impact on drug trafficking activities.
Additionally, the cartels are known to be actively engaged in human smuggling activities. In an October 2023 interview with The Epoch Times, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) revealed that Mexican drug cartels profited an estimated $500 million from human trafficking in 2018, a figure that skyrocketed to more than $13 billion in 2022.
Amid a cacophony of growing concern and what might be the faint buzz of a bipartisan spirit, the halls of Washington are echoing with desperate pleas for President Biden to pull out his presidential superpowers. Democrats are practically begging him to wave his executive wand like a conductor at a symphony.
They’re adamant about beefing up border security, cutting off the flow of party favors like illicit drugs, and making the snail-paced legal immigration process less of a bureaucratic nightmare. All this in the hopes of tackling the ever-twisting, ever-turning saga of the fentanyl crisis. Because, hey, nothing screams “urgent action needed,” quite like a national health emergency spiraling faster than a reality TV drama during an election year.