Fentanyl, the deadly synthetic drug, has been killing Americans at an alarming rate in recent years, yet a Democratic member of the House Oversight Committee called increased drug seizures by border agents a good thing.
During a hearing on the border crisis Tuesday, Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., claimed the increase in drug seizures at the border was a net positive because those drugs weren’t ending up on the street.
“What we can see here is that the facts show that we’re catching a lot of fentanyl. To me, as a mother, that’s a sign of success,” Porter said. “I don’t want that fentanyl in this country. It’s dangerous and it kills people. And it makes our communities dangerous and to me that’s a sign that our border patrol and our agents at our points of entry… Doing their job.”
This position does not take into account the possibility that there are more attempts to smuggle fentanyl into the United States, which would result in more traffickers being caught, while also being more successful. Fox News asked Porter’s office if he believed more seizures could result from further efforts, but he did not immediately respond.
Children Under 14 Are Dying Faster Than Any Other Group From Fentanyl Poisoning: Analysis
At Tuesday’s hearing, Tuscan Sector Chief Patrol Agent John Maudlin acknowledged that the fentanyl was not actually detected.
Ann Milgram, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, has called fentanyl “the single most lethal drug threat facing our nation” in 2022. Not safe. Every opportunity to spread the word to prevent fentanyl-related overdose deaths and poisonings from taking Americans’ lives every day.”
Rep. Katie Porter called the increase in fentanyl visits at the border a “success” because it means smugglers are being caught. (Andrew Harnick/Poll via Reuters)
The DEA announced in December that it had seized enough fentanyl to kill every single American in 2022, a claim confirmed by a Washington Post fact-checker column.
NYC has reported an increase in overdose deaths, with the majority involving fentanyl
Interestingly, Porter also identified that the increase in visits began in the summer of 2020, yet he attributed the change to President Biden.
Customs and Border Protection Chief Patrol Agents Gloria Chavez and John Modlin testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolfe)
Despite Biden not taking office until January 2021, he said, “I think what’s interesting is that of course we had a change in president in 2020 and some changes in border policy.” In the final months of the Trump administration, and continuing into the Biden presidency.
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