About 90% of the fentanyl seized at the border in recent years was at legal crossings, which undocumented migrants generally avoid, and 91% of the seizures were from U.S. citizens, according to Border Patrol data. It’s much easier to transport fentanyl pills or powder in one of the thousands of vehicles that pass through legal ports of entry every day than with the bedraggled people walking, wading and climbing across the border.
Former President Trump and other politicians and pundits have nevertheless been relentlessly linking migrants with fentanyl on the campaign trail, in Congress and on social media. A Trump campaign ad warned of “record numbers streaming across our border, costing taxpayers billions, and almost as many Americans killed from fentanyl as killed in World War II.” It showed images of crowds walking along a roadside and a Fox News headline reading, “Border Patrol seized enough fentanyl to kill entire U.S.”
This is a classic example of what we call dangerous speech: language that inspires fear and violence by describing another group of people as an existential threat. And it’s working to terrible effect: Americans are increasingly convinced that migrants are to blame for the fentanyl crisis. Social media posts blaming migrants for the drug’s toll more than tripled from December to January, according to our analysis of more than 30 sites
“Many Americans”
Just say conservatives. It’s the truth and we all know it.
People going to the border rally earlier this month reported being surprised that it wasn’t utter bedlam. They have no real understanding of the world. Only propaganda.
Usually the first question I ask anyone who starts talking about the ‘border crisis’ is ‘have you been to the border’?
I mean, I have. I have family that lives near there. But not one person I’ve ever asked has ever been to the border. They are idiots.
Yup, Im a short drive away from one of the borders. All i hear is talk about a crisis but there isnt anything thats changed. New businesses are popping up but thats generally a net positive
I asked someone one time, what official organization is actually keeping tabs at the border? Wouldn’t it make sense for border patrol to inflate the number for propaganda and budgets?
How long until we tell the idiots watching TV a “migrant caravan is coming”
Remember when roving bands of Antifa invaded all their small towns? Yeah, another delusional panicked outrage.
My democratic senator just emailed a few days ago me about “restoring order at the border… the illicit fentanyl flowing into the country”
And you believed it was actually your democratic senator?
It was the latest of weekly newsletters coming from the same email for years, so yes.
Need to hold bipartisan dems accountable too, I’m sure mine wasn’t the only one that shares these views.
Wow… that’s pretty surprising. Wouldn’t have thought I’d see something like that being legitimate. They definitely need to be held accountable.