USA. Stop Scapegoating Immigrants for the Fentanyl-Involved Overdose Crisis
USA. Stop Scapegoating Immigrants for the Fentanyl-Involved Overdose Crisis
As the United States continues to grapple with a devastating opioid-involved overdose crisis, conservative policymakers have seized on a familiar scapegoat: immigrants.
Republican leaders and presidential candidates falsely claim that undocumented Black and Brown migrants and asylum-seekers crossing the southern border are responsible for flooding America’s streets with fentanyl.
This pernicious lie both distracts from evidence-based responses and causes direct harm to immigrant communities still reeling from the unjust attacks that characterized the Trump administration.
The vast majority of fentanyl entering the country is smuggled through official ports of entry—not bypassing them.
In fact, according to Customs and Border Protection data, the vast majority of fentanyl entering the country is smuggled through official ports of entry—not bypassing them. And most is brought in by US citizens. (Filter, USA, 16.10.2023)