Josephine Dunn, a mother who lost her child to Fentanyl and a witness at the recent U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security hearing titled "Voices for the Victims: The Heartbreaking Reality of the Mayorkas Border Crisis", spoke about the impact of Fentanyl on her family. Dunn was among three witnesses providing testimony at the hearing.
According to Dunn, "Under Secretary Mayorkas’ leadership, Fentanyl is an invasion. This weapon of mass destruction has caused unimaginable numbers of deaths and unmeasurable damage to our country’s families." She further criticized his approach, stating, "His wide-open border policy allows massive quantities of poisonous fentanyl into our country. Arizona is the fentanyl SUPERhighway into the United States."
In her testimony to House Committee members, Dunn revealed that her daughter Ashley's life was tragically cut short at 26 due to Fentanyl poisoning. Ashley's death resulted from ingesting just half of one pill containing five mg of Fentanyl, supplied by a convicted drug dealer with 14 prior convictions for drug sales.
Despite evidence in Ashley's phone and a toxicology report, Dunn stated that the dealer responsible cannot be prosecuted for Ashley's death. She expressed frustration at the lack of victim status for Ashley's family in the trafficker's case.
Dunn holds Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the Department of Homeland Security partially accountable for her daughter's death and voiced frustration at the lack of justice she and her family have received. "In my humble opinion, Mr. Mayorkas’ border policies are partially responsible for my daughter’s death," she said. Dunn believes that Mayorkas' border policies allow "massive" quantities of Fentanyl into the country and that an "open border" has contributed to the opioid crisis.
Dunn also highlighted alarming statistics during her testimony: "In the United States, every 5 minutes of every day of the week, someone dies from overdose/poisoning," she said. "So by the time my testimony is over, someone will have died from an opioid overdose/poisoning."
The hearing represents the second and final one as House Republicans work to advance impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas, who serves as head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as reported by CBS News. Mayorkas has repeatedly been accused of failing to enforce the nation's laws. "This hearing is about the human costs of Secretary Mayorkas' egregious misconduct and failure to fulfill his oath of office," said U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) Green is the committee's chairman.
