The United States currently has implemented a very aggressive deportation plan for our immigrants of color. The stated goal of these mass deportations is to stem the flow of drugs coming into our country. But are we actually achieving that goal?
According to the Cato Institute and our government‘s own statistics, approximately 78 percent of all drugs and over 80 percent of the fentanyl brought into the United States is trafficked by U.S. citizens. That is because drug traffickers tend to choose people who are less likely to be stopped by border officials. That means that drug traffickers do not choose people of color or people with foreign accents as they are more likely to be targeted.
So, despite these mass deportations of people, many of whom have been working, paying taxes, and raising families here in the United States for years, the amount of drugs coming into the United States has stayed roughly the same. Fentanyl deaths have decreased, but that has been primarily because the drugs containing fentanyl have decreased slightly in lethality and the antidote Narcan has increased in availability.
So what have we achieved? We do have fewer construction workers. We have fewer farm workers for harvesting our crops. We have fewer people working in healthcare and in childcare. We have also created an atmosphere of fear in our country and in countries that previously have felt safe studying, working and visiting in our country.
Perhaps it’s time to revisit our goals and take an honest look at what we are doing. Are we really trying to stem the flow of drugs that come into this country or are we just adopting policies that are gratuitously racist?
Sincerely,
Voters for Informed Action
Polly Scott-Showalter, Kathy Love, Catherine Frank, Suzanne Femmer, Yvonne Cheek, Alice Reeves
Rolla
