Why aren’t we talking about: The Southern Border?
A lot of topics are talked about on Medium, but some just seem to be ignored these days. Take the crisis at the southern US border with Mexico. There used to be loud voices from folks writing about it back in 2019, when Trump was still in office. Most of it was assailing his “build the wall” or “stay in Mexico” strategies. But since he left office that rhetoric has died; though assailing Trump for one remains prime fodder for many “writers”; delivering their daily dose of anti-Trump / anti-conservative rantings, seemingly stuck in what some call Trump Derangement Syndrome. If it wasn’t for him, they would have nothing to write about. But I digress…..
Calling it a “border” is near farcical.
The reality is that the southern border has been a mess for years,….no decades. But at no time has it ever been as bad as it is today. A good deal of that responsibility falls squarely are the feet of the current Democrat administration, and specifically Joe Biden’s relaxed / lax border management policy.
A tragedy on both sides!
Anyone who takes a moment to think clearly about the humanitarian crisis at the border would see what’s going on is simply bad policy impacting both sides. Mexicans in their towns and villages on the south side are impacted as much if not mor than the Americans in their towns and villages on the north. On the Mexico side huge numbers of “immigrants” pack the streets and parks and represent an overpowering burden to what already limited social infrastructure they might have. Crime is rampant, drugs are everywhere, Cartels run the show. Kidnappings, rapes, murders, and other atrocities are everyday events. Personal safety is non-existent, children…often the targets of kidnappers seeking ransom, fear for their lives every day. And it’s much worse than these words suggest. For many hells has arrived in their otherwise peaceful village…all because the “gringos” can’t manage their border.
Crime!
Cartel gangs, smugglers of all sorts, thieves, rapists, child molesters, sex-trade hustlers, kiddy porn maggots, drug-crazed whack-jobs, international terrorists, felons, ex-felons, and assorted sicko set up shop in or stream through Mexico’s northern territories. They are paying a huge price for the Biden administrations “invitation” to come and try to cross into America. The blame for all those tragedies rests squarely on Joe Biden. It was his “messaging” that signaled this onslaught to come to the border. They have told us that repeatedly. It’s killing innocent Mexicans caught in the crossfire of dysfunctional American border policy, and it’s Joe Biden’s fault.
Drugs!
The US/Mexico border has always been a relatively easily navigated portal into the illicit American drug market. It started with marijuana and over the decades graduated to cocaine, heroin, meth, and most recently fentanyl. As I mentioned already drug smuggling across the Mexico / US border is not a new thing by any means. But the scale today is far worse than anything in the past. Though the epicenter of the problem is San Diego, California (the historic high point due to its proximity to Tijuana) it is a record levels in the more than 300+ ports of entry into the US; 13 of which are included in the San Diego numbers.
The numbers are staggering! According to data from the US Department of Justice.
Seizures of fentanyl increased 272% between FY 2019 and FY 2022.
Fentanyl deaths in San Diego County increased 2,375% between 2016 and 2021; 33/817.
In FY 2021 Border authorities seized more than 24,000 pounds of fentanyl, compared to about 6,000 in 2019.
Death at our doors!
Fentanyl overdose deaths began to rise in 2015 but have skyrocketed in the last few years; more than doubling between 2017 and 2020.
The CDC reports that FY 2022, with more than 100,000 fentanyl related deaths, is turning out to be the worst year yet, far exceeding the previous 3 years.
Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death amongst Americans 18 to 45 years old.
American Medical Association to labels fentanyl overdose deaths an EPIDEMIC!
So why aren’t Medium writers screaming about this?
That might be the question of the moment. 100,000 fentanyl deaths! 274, an airplane full, every day! A 12-year-old in San Jose, a 2-year-old in Ohio, a 10- year-old in Florida, a 22-month-old toddler in New York. Why aren’t Medium writers spending half as much time on this crisis as they are on Trump-bashing? If you think he deserves it, fine with me. But look around at what the real problems confronting Americans at increasingly alarming rates.
I know there’s an election coming up and this is a huge weak spot for the current administration, but if we care about our country, we should be talking about this a whole lot more than we are.
