The southern border: a territory in a fight against drugs and illegal immigration

Customs and Border Protection agents continue to seize massive quantities of deadly drugs at the border with Mexico. In two operations alone, border officials seized hard narcotics worth more than $11 million last week.

Among the many hard drugs being smuggled through border crossings with Mexico is fentanyl. In recent weeks, the voices of alarm about the entry of this drug into the country have multiplied. A few days ago, a group of 18 prosecutors asked President Joe Biden to consider fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. Since the beginning of the Biden Administration, authorities have reportedly seized enough fentanyl smuggled across the southern border to kill approximately 5 billion people.

Fentanyl alarm

The 18 prosecutors charged that fentanyl is claiming a record number of lives across the country and continues to flow freely across the southwest border. In July alone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 2,100 pounds of this illegal substance; enough to kill nearly 500 million Americans. "Because of the prevalence and low cost of production, there is concern that bad people are weaponizing fentanyl," noted this group of both Democratic and Republican prosecutors.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an an executive order a few weeks ago officially designating Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Abbott urged President Joe Biden to do the same to combat human trafficking at the border and fentanyl smuggling.

Illegal immigration, rampant

During fiscal year 2022, more than 2.5 million illegal immigrants attempting to enter the country were apprehended and nearly 5 million illegal immigrants have already entered the country.

In addition, since Joe Biden took office as president - in January 2021 - to the present, border authorities have intercepted 267,000 unaccompanied minors, according to official figures. So far in fiscal year 2022, 140,186 minors were apprehended at border crossings.

Border smugglers in some cases abandon children at crossings. A few months ago two babies, 18 and four months old, were abandoned in Organ Pipe Cactus National Park in Arizona. The first was crying and the second was face down and unconscious. Stories like this are abound on the southern border, they are part of the reality that puts a face on an unprecedented migration crisis.

Nearly 750 migrants died trying to cross the southern border this year

During fiscal year 2022 (as of October 2021) 748 immigrants have died trying to cross the southern border, as reported by CNN a few weeks ago. The figure is higher than the 557 deaths recorded at the border last year. This figure could have been increased as the information was provided before the end of the fiscal year. In addition, the figures don´t necessarily record all deaths, because other state and local agencies may recover bodies without Border Patrol involvement, so the number of deaths is probably higher.

With this new record, the number of migrants killed exceeded last year's total by more than 200 people. CNN cites Department of Homeland Security sources in obtaining this data.

Majority of Hispanics believe Biden should do something about it

Fifty-two percent of likely Hispanic voters believe the government is doing "too little to reduce illegal border crossings and overstays by visitors," repors the The Washington Times, citing a Rasmussen Reports survey to which they had access.

Only 15% of voters believe the government is doing "too much" and 25% say the government's efforts are correct, and 9% are not sure. The number of Hispanic voters who think the government is neglecting the border is more than three times greater than the number of voters who think the government is policing too much.