Once cartel members and their gang associates get drugs across the border, where do they go?
Well, they go to Chicago. They go to Detroit. They go to Atlanta. They go to New York. They go to San Diego. They go to virtually every community in our country.
It's not just a border problem. This affects every single community in our country.
If the Biden Administration doesn't want to lead in the effort, at least they can allow those of us here in the Congress to come up with ideas like my bipartisan, bicameral Border Solutions Act to try to address this crisis that we cannot tolerate any longer.
WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed the consequences of the Biden Administration’s inaction on the situation at our southern border and its impact on crime and illegal drug trafficking. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.
“An aspect of the border crisis that is not been sufficiently discussed… is the connection between the flood of illegal drugs coming across the border, not just with 100,000 drug overdose deaths we experienced in America last year, but also with crime and gangs and guns in every community across the United States.”
“It seems like there’s a new headline every day about acts of violence in cities across our country.”
“Rising crime rates have caused many leaders to change their tune on this idea, this crazy idea called ‘Defund the Police.’”
“Because defunding the police is dangerous.”
“Customs and Border Protection encountered more than 200,000 migrants along the southern border last month alone, the highest number in more than two decades. The total number of migrant encounters over the last 12 months exceeds 2.2 million.”
“You might be tempted to ask, ‘What in the world is going on? Why are things changing?’ I want to make one thing clear though: I’m in no way suggesting that all of these individuals coming across the border are dangerous criminals. Many of them are economic migrants looking for a better life, something we all understand.”
“But there are definitely people coming across the border who are dangerous criminals primarily associated with the drug cartels who threaten public safety in every city in America every day.”
“And they fight for territory, for market share. They commit other property crimes, other crimes of violence – carjacking, larceny, armed robbery – in order to fuel their need for money.”
“So once cartel members and their gang associates get drugs across the border, where do they go? Well, they go to Chicago. They go to Detroit. They go to Atlanta. They go to New York. They go to San Diego. They go to virtually every community in our country where they are then distributing to people to feed addictions, which result in overdoses and death.”
“It’s not just a border problem. This affects every single community in our country.”
“This is happening on a daily basis in every community in our country, which is contributing to the spike in violent crime and the public’s reasonable concerns that they’ve expressed about it, including boneheaded ideas like defunding the police.”
“In recent years, the number of drug overdose deaths caused by synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, have skyrocketed and so have the seizures of fentanyl at the border – virtually all made from precursors from Asia, primarily China, shipped to Mexico, manufactured there in an industrial operation which can make a fentanyl tablet look a lot like some other medication that you might take.”
“Many people, too many people, have died thinking they were taking a drug for some condition only to find out it was laced with fentanyl, and resulting in their drug overdose death.”
“The drugs pouring across our border make this a public health crisis as well, and the criminals sneaking across our border who are distributing these drugs in our communities all across the country are a public security crisis, a public safety crisis.”
“The unlicensed guns that the gangs use to protect their territory makes this a gun violence crisis as well.”
“I would argue through some of the policies promulgated by Director Mayorkas that [President Biden] has actually made it worse. He’s made it more attractive to come and attempt this dangerous journey from their home into the United States. He’s made it easier, given the business model of the cartels, to get more of those drugs across the border and into our communities, contributing to the crime wave that’s shocking so many people.”
“If the Biden Administration doesn’t want to lead in the effort, at least they can allow those of us here in the Congress to come up with ideas like my bipartisan, bicameral Border Solutions Act to try to address this crisis that we cannot tolerate any longer.”