During a campaign tour in Arizona, Ohio Senator and Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance addressed a rally at the Generation Church in Mesa. The event, co-hosted by conservative talk show host and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, focused on a pressing issue in Arizona: the southern border. Vance painted a stark picture of the border as a pathway for illegal immigration and the influx of drugs, particularly the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Vance praised former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, highlighting its effectiveness in deterring illegal immigration and deporting those who entered the country illegally. He accused President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of dismantling Trump’s border policies, leading to a “border catastrophe.” According to Vance, this policy change has empowered Mexican cartels to smuggle drugs into the US with impunity.
Vance went on to make a startling claim: “We have American citizens right now who are dying of fentanyl overdoses that the Mexican cartels brought into our communities.” He then alleged, “We have thousands of missing children because Kamala Harris has left the cartels sex traffic minors in our own country.” However, these statements are contradicted by data from the Department of Justice, which shows that 95% of individuals charged with child sex trafficking in the US are American citizens, with the majority being white males.
Vance shared a personal story about his mother’s struggles with opioid addiction, highlighting the potential impact of the current fentanyl crisis on families. He argued that if the drug flow across the border had been as prevalent 15 years ago, he might not have had the chance to help his mother overcome her addiction.
While Vance has claimed that fentanyl-laced marijuana is widespread in the US, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has confirmed that drug dealers mix fentanyl with other drugs. However, the DEA has not issued any warnings about fentanyl being found in marijuana. Despite this, fentanyl remains the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, over 107,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2021, primarily due to fentanyl.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl, claimed an average of 204 lives daily in 2023. The event highlights the heated debate surrounding the southern border and the impact of drug trafficking on American communities. Vance’s claims regarding Vice President Harris’s role in the fentanyl crisis and child sex trafficking have been met with skepticism and factual rebuttal.
