LETTER: Grafton fentanyl death shows consequences of open border

To Ozaukee Press:

I was recently speaking at a conference in Milwaukee when an attendee handed me an article from the Ozaukee Press. The article’s headline was “Death in four-person overdose sparks homicide probe.” I would suggest that “overdose” should be replaced with “poisoning.”

Fentanyl is a deadly drug that is poisoning Americans, and it took the life of 28-year-old Grafton resident Nick Hamilton this month. Unfortunately, Nick isn’t an anomaly.

Since President Biden opened up our southern border, fentanyl poisonings claim the lives of nearly 200 people every single day.

I’ve been to the southern border. I’ve spoken with Border Patrol agents. I’ve met with the DEA and sheriffs, and they all say the same thing: What’s coming through Arizona’s front yard today will be in Wisconsin’s backyard tomorrow.

Now we are seeing devastating results. President Biden’s open-border policies have turned every state into a border state with fentanyl being the number one killer of young adults.

That’s the bad news, but the good news is that there is an answer to help curb the flow of deadly fentanyl coming across our open border. The House of Representatives took an important step to put an end to this crisis by passing the Secure the Border Act, which has been described as the “strongest border security package in history.”

The ball is now in the U.S. Senate’s court. I hope they will pass it and put pressure on President Biden to sign it into law.

Regardless of political party, we should work together to save American lives, and that starts with securing our southern border.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany

Wausau

The author represents Wisconsin’s 7th congressional district.