Opinion: Many Americans believe migrants bring fentanyl across the border. That's wrong and dangerous
www.latimes.com
Illicit imports of the opioid drug responsible for a fatal overdose crisis largely come from Mexico. But U.S. citizens bring most of it through legal ports of entry.

About 90% of the fentanyl seized at the border in recent years was at legal crossings, which undocumented migrants generally avoid, and 91% of the seizures were from U.S. citizens, according to Border Patrol data. It’s much easier to transport fentanyl pills or powder in one of the thousands of vehicles that pass through legal ports of entry every day than with the bedraggled people walking, wading and climbing across the border.

Former President Trump and other politicians and pundits have nevertheless been relentlessly linking migrants with fentanyl on the campaign trail, in Congress and on social media. A Trump campaign ad warned of “record numbers streaming across our border, costing taxpayers billions, and almost as many Americans killed from fentanyl as killed in World War II.” It showed images of crowds walking along a roadside and a Fox News headline reading, “Border Patrol seized enough fentanyl to kill entire U.S.”

This is a classic example of what we call dangerous speech: language that inspires fear and violence by describing another group of people as an existential threat. And it’s working to terrible effect: Americans are increasingly convinced that migrants are to blame for the fentanyl crisis. Social media posts blaming migrants for the drug’s toll more than tripled from December to January, according to our analysis of more than 30 sites

  • @[email protected]
    12•9 months ago

    Undocumented migrants actually come through legal crossings more often than not. What makes them “undocumented” is when they stay past the length of their Visa. I do find it interesting that they’ve identified US citizens as being the largest importers of Fentanyl. Surely, as a US citizen, you are watched more stringently if you travel to China than say Mexico. With drug sniffing dogs, thermal imaging, x-ray, and a thorough understanding of all of the holes a person has in their body, how is so much Fentanyl still coming into the US? Are border patrol that bad at their jobs? Or is it more likely that there’s an acceptable amount of Fentanyl being allowed into the US to justify law enforcement budget hikes?

    • @[email protected]
      1•9 months ago

      I think it’s down to the being so incredibly many people coming across legally ever day, you can’t realistically find most of it with how many people they have to search for it.