California AG Bonta Refutes Claims Linking Immigrants to Fentanyl Crisis
During a visit to the San Diego border region on Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta challenged the misleading notion that undocumented immigrants are fueling the country’s fentanyl epidemic.
According to Bonta, federal data shows that the great majority of fentanyl is brought into the country through authorized border crossings by US residents.
“Most of the trafficking and the buyers of fentanyl are American citizens,” Bonta said in a statement. He argued that equating immigration with drug smuggling undermines the contributions immigrants have made to the United States.
“My mom is an immigrant,” Bonta explained. “I arrived here when I was two months old. “Immigrants have made our state great and our country strong.”
However, strong Republicans continue to promote the story. In December, former President Donald Trump claimed that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
Several Republicans defended Trump’s comments, noting fentanyl deaths.
“First of all, he didn’t say immigrants were poisoning the blood of this country,” remarked Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. “He said illegal immigrants were poisoning the blood of this country, which is objectively and true to anybody who looks at the statistics about fentanyl overdoses.”
According to data from the US Sentencing Commission, 89% of convicted fentanyl smugglers in 2022 were US citizens.
Bonta’s remarks came during a press conference highlighting the region’s efforts to curb fentanyl overdoses.
He was accompanied by San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan, as well as representatives from the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, San Diego Police Department, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and other law enforcement organizations.
They gathered in the headquarters of the San Diego and Imperial Counties High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, or HIDTA, a federal program that funds federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in drug-trafficked areas.
Stephan advocated for harsher sanctions against drug dealers whose products end up murdering people. She also emphasized the importance of greater preventative efforts to combat addiction, stating that criminal enforcement is not the only solution to the fentanyl issue.
“We need to continue to invest in prevention and protection by having more Narcan available to save lives,” she said, referring to the opioid overdose treatment medicine.
Bonta made similar statements, emphasizing the necessity of tackling both doctors who overprescribe opioids and gangs that market fentanyl-laced heroin in California.
According to Stephan’s research, overdose deaths in San Diego increased from 154 in 2019 to 814 in 2021, reflecting a national trend. Since then, overdose deaths have averaged around 800 per year.
“We have somewhat stabilized the overdose death rate,” said HIDTA head David King. “Still, more than 800 is unacceptable. “That is two per day.”
King emphasized the significance of working together on this issue.
“It’s public health, public safety, and prevention that is our way forward,” he went on to say. “All three working together.”