Lawmakers call on White House to ramp up hiring border officers, invest in technology at ports of entry
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Seventeen Senate Democrats have sent a letter to the White House calling for more money in the 2025 federal budget to stem the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs at the border.
The request comes as Americans, especially young adults, continue dying in record numbers of drug overdoses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate more than 112,000 people died of drug overdoses between Aug. 2022 and Aug. 2023, with synthetic opioids like fentanyl accounting for most fatalities.
“We urge you to prioritize robust funding for border security and drug interdiction initiatives,” says the letter signed by both Democratic New Mexico Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, and Arizona’s Mark Kelly. “Much of the fentanyl that is destroying so many of our communities is being smuggled through our border checkpoints. To meaningfully address the fentanyl crisis, officers at our nation’s borders must be equipped to combat the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs.”
The senators are urging the Biden administration to hire more U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and expand the acquisition of non-intrusive inspection technology.
Federal officials estimate that 90 percent of illegal drugs not manufactured domestically come into the United States through lawful ports of entry. CBP in fiscal year 2023 seized 120 tons of illicit drugs at ports of entry, including enough fentanyl to produce 1.1 billion doses, the senators said. That’s in addition to the 78 million fentanyl-laced pills seized in-country by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Federal court dockets in border states like Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California are rife with cases involving individuals who tried to smuggle illicit drugs at ports of entry in their cars, cargo, luggage, clothing and even body cavities.
The Democrats acknowledged transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) are largely responsible for producing and trafficking fentanyl into the United States, and also fostering the export of illegal cash and guns into Mexico.
“In the interest of our nation’s public health, and to protect our youth and communities increasingly begin exposed to deadly drugs laced with fentanyl, we must strengthen our borders and work to eliminate the TCOs that produce fentanyl and traffic it into our country,” the letter says.
The FY 2025 federal budget is being delayed in part by a partisan tug-of-war over border security. The White House Office of Budget Management doesn’t expect to release a preliminary budget until the second week of March, according to reports.
