Silver State Times

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues to apprehend fentanyl and other lethal drugs coming across the southern border as seen over Thanksgiving weekend in El Paso. As FY 2022 comes to a close, data shows a record number of illegal immigrant encounters, record death toll for migrants and over 414 million lethal doses of fentanyl attempted to be smuggled into the U.S. in September. Dr. Fermin Leguen, district health officer for the Southern Nevada Health District, reported fentanyl overdoses "continue to take a toll on the community."

According to the Nevada Independent, international drug cartels have sped up the smuggling process by making fentanyl in a lab after purchasing the ingredients from Asia. In early 2021, from January to June, illegal fentanyl was involved in 34% of overdose deaths in Nevada, according to the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS). Clark County issued a warning about fentanyl overdoses in an October press release.

A CBP press release states that CBP El Paso caught almost 27 pounds of methamphetamine and 3.2 pounds of fentanyl on Thanksgiving, Nov. 24. A Mexican woman was attempting to smuggle the drugs across the southern border and was discovered at a point of inspection. CBP El Paso Port Director Ray Provencio said, “This seizure is notable because it marks one of the first times CBP officers in El Paso have encountered the multi-colored rainbow fentanyl pills.” The woman attempting to smuggle the drugs was a Mexican citizen.

“While many families were enjoying time together celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday, CBP officers were hard at work stopping dangerous drugs from entering our country,” Provencio said. 

According to a Federation for American Immigration (FAIR) press release, 5.5 million immigrants have entered the U.S. illegally since President Joe Biden took office. FAIR blamed Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. FAIR analysis reports approximately 1.1 million in FY 2022 were “gotaways” or escaped from CBP. Border Patrol encountered 98 “known or suspected terrorists” in FY 2022, compared to 15 in FY 2021, three in FY 2020 and none in FY 2019. Over 850 migrants were killed at the border, the highest migrant death toll ever. According to FAIR, 414 million lethal doses of fentanyl were seized last month, bringing the total for FY 2022 into the billions.

Overdose deaths in the U.S. have increased dramatically in the last two years. According to data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), there were 107,622 overdose deaths in 2021. The CDC says overdose deaths have decreased in 2021 from 2019-2020, when they rose by 30%. Overdose deaths are primarily caused by opioids, specifically fentanyl, but also methamphetamine and cocaine. Fentanyl was the cause of approximately 80,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2021.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Mexican cartels are disguising fentanyl by combining it with other opioids like heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine, which makes the drugs more lethal. The DEA says 1 kilogram of fentanyl has the potential for 500,000 overdoses. Someone can take a pill, believing it to be something else but it could be laced with fentanyl. Overdose deaths from fentanyl rose by 55.8% from January 2020 to January 2021.

In Fiscal Year 2022, CBP recorded 2,378,244 southwest border encounters, according to CBP data. The 2.4 million crossings have more than quadrupled since FY 2020, where 458,088 encounters were recorded. In September and October of 2022, CBP recorded more encounters than the entire FY 2020.

The New York Post reports that El Paso is one of the highest cities for immigrants in the country illegally. According to The Post, those living in El Paso are seeing the city overrun by immigrants in the country illegally who climb over fences or cut holes in fences to reach U.S. territory. A resident of El Paso, Luis Lujan, told the New York Post, “Ever since Biden said, ‘Come on over,’ they’re coming over.” Lujan called it a “freeway” for them. Lujan also said many El Paso residents are afraid to “confront” them because “we don’t know if they have guns.” Lujan says more immigrants will likely come after Title 42 ends on Dec. 21.