Border crisis has unique impact on Southern California – Pasadena Star News

United States Border Patrol visits an area where a higher number of non-citizens are making multiple attempts to cross the border. Border Patrol Agent Jeff Stephenson radios for agents in the area near Otay Mountain on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in San Diego, California. (Alejandro Tamayo/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The United States has seen 10 million illegal border crossings under President Biden and Vice President Harris. This dramatic increase in illegal immigration is playing a significant role in the crime epidemic ravaging our communities.

For communities in Southern California, the biggest consequence of the Biden-Harris border crisis is the explosion of fentanyl. The fentanyl crisis is tearing families apart, killing more than 200 Americans a day, and is the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45.

And as with many other problems we face, the main culprit is our main adversary, communist China. As detailed in a recent report, the Chinese Communist Party is responsible for the production, shipping, and profiting from fentanyl. Our adversary is taking advantage of an open southern border to funnel fentanyl into the U.S.

The CCP and the Mexican drug cartels profit, while families in Southern California suffer.

The worsening fentanyl crisis demands action. I am proud to have recently been appointed to a newly formed committee in Congress dedicated to finding solutions to stop the flow of fentanyl.

The Fentanyl Working Group, a product of the Select Committee on Communist China, is dedicated to pursuing new enforcement measures to curtail the trade, while strengthening or imposing sanctions on foreign entities involved in the fentanyl trade. While the potential solutions are multifaceted, the most immediate action that must be taken is clear. Secure the border.

Our region sees this problem firsthand. I often hear horror stories from our law enforcement officers about the flow of deadly drugs into our communities and homes.

The amount of narcotics coming across our border has increased dramatically over the past four years. According to testimony to Congress by Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes, seizures of fentanyl powder increased 676% from the time President Biden took office through 2023. Seizures of fentanyl pills increased nearly 400%.

The materials used to produce fentanyl – known as precursors – are manufactured in China, smuggled across our borders, and introduced into our communities by drug cartels. Even scarier, these precursor chemicals often enter the U.S. through our ports in Los Angeles, are then driven to Mexico, and put back on the streets as fully potent narcotics.

Unfortunately, the Biden-Harris administration is not taking the fentanyl crisis seriously, even as family after family is losing loved ones. If it had been on their radar, they would have closed the border and the drug entry points by now. Their own policies upon taking office have repealed proven, effective solutions to curbing illegal immigration.

Bad actors around the world are taking note of America’s porous southern border. These are the consequences of policies that fail to discourage illegal immigration, at the expense of those seeking to enter the U.S. legally.