New legislation known as the "Build the Wall and Fight Fentanyl Act," introduced by Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, would use assets confiscated from the cartels to pay for both the completion of the border wall and fentanyl treatments. In a July 31 news release, Feenstra commented on the amount of fentanyl crossing the border and said this bill is a real solution to the problem at hand.
“Criminal drug traffickers have smuggled enough fentanyl into our country to kill every man, woman and child in the United States, and tragically, too many families know the pain of losing a loved one to this deadly crisis. As a father of four, I’m proud to introduce the 'Build the Wall and Fight Fentanyl Act,' which will fund two separate priorities – building the border wall and supporting fentanyl treatment and recovery services – with assets confiscated from the drug cartels by our brave border patrol agents," Feenstra said in the release. "While President Biden has failed to uphold his oath of office and secure our border, I remain committed to delivering real solutions to the border crisis by beating the drug traffickers at their own game and using their illegal financial gains to finish the border wall and support our families.”
Feenstra introduced his bill July 31. This proposed law seeks to allocate confiscated assets from the cartels, drug traffickers and other criminal organizations into two equal funds, the release reported. These assets, confiscated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, would help to continue to build the border wall as well as battle the fentanyl crisis by providing treatments and other recovery services.
The Department of the Treasury would house both funds, which are called the “Southern Border Wall Fulfillment Fund” and the “Combating The Fentanyl Epidemic Fund” respectively, the release said.
“Last year, we lost more than 109,000 Americans to fentanyl overdoses, making it the leading cause of death for those aged 18-49," Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., said in the release. "Much of the fentanyl fueling these tragedies is pouring across our open southern border.”
The release also quoted Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who said, “This bill supports local and state law enforcement agencies, and drug prevention facilities to combat this crisis, and will improve our security at the border, all by using seized cartel funds.”
In a news release from last year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott classified the Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations due to the escalating fentanyl crisis. He said, “Fentanyl is a clandestine killer,” and called for more action to be taken to remove fentanyl from communities.
“Cartels are terrorists, and it’s time we treated them that way," Abbott said in the release. "In fact, more Americans died from fentanyl poisoning in the past year than all terrorist attacks across the globe in the past 100 years.”
