OPINION:
Parents across the nation are increasingly worried about the health and safety of our future generations, as am I! The crime, drugs, and perversion that crosses through our southern border steals the lives of too many Americans every day, and the deadly repercussions are only worsening.
I have seized the opportunity to personally witness the atrocities at the United States/Mexico border twice in my short time in Congress, Double the amount of times that our Commander in Chief and Border Czar have made the trip. What I experienced was not only shocking but deeply haunting. I heard numerous testimonials from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents about the countless “got-aways” that disappear into our nation without vaccinations, documentation, or background information. To put it simply, thousands of illegal immigrants are crossing our southern border every day, and we have no way of knowing who they are, where they are going, or if they have a criminal record.
In less than one year, 66 individuals on the FBI’s terror watchlist have made their way into our neighborhoods. Seasoned criminals, many of them young men traveling alone, have settled in communities near you. In Sacramento, a man from Mexico brutally murdered his three young daughters after entering this country illegally, and in Tallahassee, an illegal immigrant from Haiti killed two Floridians after previously being charged and released in California. These stories of violence are too many to list and too heartbreaking to allow to continue.
This influx of crime and violence is the consequence of the Biden administration’s open border policies and refusal to provide our border patrol agents with the resources they need to protect us. The border crisis is more than just an immigration crisis, our wide-open border is a direct threat to our sovereignty, national security, and the lives of every American.
Illegally residing criminals are not the only side effect of this border crisis. The horrifying amounts of deadly illicit fentanyl analogues coursing through the southern border has caused this substance to become the leading cause of overdose deaths in our nation. As our children die, Mexican cartels, working with rogue actors in Communist China, are quickly becoming billion-dollar criminal empires.
As a pharmacist for over 30 years, concern for the well-being of my friends, families, and communities’ health has been an integral part of my life. As a member of Congress and member of the Republican Doctors Caucus, my responsibility for the health and safety of American families has only grown.
It terrifies and breaks my heart to hear the stories of numerous parents who have lost their children to deadly fentanyl analogues. Disguised as rainbow-colored pills, candy, and readily available medication, this fatal drug is tearing through our neighborhoods and ripping loved ones from their families.
To put the dangers of this synthetic opioid substance into perspective, a lethal dose is often the size of only two grains of salt and is hundreds of times more potent than morphine. This drug is often mixed with other illegal substances such as methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine, increasing the interaction with this fatal drug.
Make no mistake, this staggering crisis was entirely preventable. By simply closing the southern border, supporting and adequately resourcing our border patrol, and strengthening our immigration policy, our nation would have been spared from the death and disaster we’ve weathered over the last twenty months.
A nation without borders is not a nation at all. This horrifying realization should be more than enough motivation for our White House and Congress to take swift action to stop this threat to our republic and, moreover, save lives.
The American people are poised to send a strong wake-up call at the ballot box this November for those turning their heads from this invasive crisis. It’s high time we put America first, defend this great nation’s sovereignty, and protect the futures of our children and grandchildren.
• Diana Harshbarger is a United States Representative from Tennessee’s First Congressional District. She has been a licensed pharmacist and a successful business owner for over three decades. She brings a no-nonsense, common-sense approach to Washington D.C., where she currently serves on the House Education and Labor and House Homeland Security Committees, as well as the Border Security Caucus.
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