Advanced Immigration 2025

Written by Nyle Ahmad

The United States has turned its back on those who make America what it is today: immigrants. Besides those Native to this land, everyone, at some point in their family history, traveled to America for one reason or another. Whether escaping a destabilized Latin American nation, leaving behind a beautiful village in Vietnam that has turned to rubble, or something else entirely, American society has largely benefited from a steadfast influx of people. However, American citizens have repeatedly faced a variety of disparities without an apparent reason, often leading to feelings of entitlement and nativism. Indeed, dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries with political entities such as the “Know Nothing Party,” nativism is not new. Yet, the amplitude of anti-immigration rhetoric is warped over time depending on what can be scapegoated onto immigrants to uplift a certain political agenda.

Now, in the 21st century, Americans face a new epidemic: fentanyl, a drug so lethal it only takes around 2 milligrams to kill an average adult. At least 75,000 deaths each year in America are fentanyl-related. Often, recreational drugs are laced with fentanyl as it is a cheaper alternative to a more pure mixture. In the last decade, the conservative “MAGA” faction, led by Donald Trump, has taken advantage of the grievance of this epidemic by scapegoating immigrants from the Southern border as the facilitators for fentanyl entry to the United States. 

Although 97% of fentanyl seized by the U.S. has been from the Southern Border, the injection of fentanyl is a nuanced topic that rarely concerns undocumented and documented immigrants alike, yet contemporary conservatives have moved away from the Regan-era rhetoric of pro-immigration and co-oped the fentanyl epidemic to scapegoat a specific demographic: immigrants from the Southern Border. Indeed, this past election year has made it clear how conservative-owned media outlets have successfully normalized the idea that innocent immigrants from the South are “a problem” that needs to be dealt with through more dangerous conditions of crossings and forced deportations rather than a more straightforward documentation process.

To examine the effects of mainstream media and other conservative entities promoting inherently anti-immigrant rhetoric and equating the fentanyl crisis with those migrating from the South, three people with distinct perspectives were asked about their knowledge of fentanyl and why it’s spread throughout the nation this rapidly. Sara, a Pakistani American who grew up in Southern Texas; Lester, an American citizen born in Mexico; and Faraz, an immigrant from Pakistan.

The first question asked of the interviewees was a simple, all-encompassing question: “Where do you think Fentanyl is coming from into the United States?” All three answers included Mexico, but Lester also mentioned the Northern border. He stated that he recalled an article or TikTok that called out Canada as a bystander to the fentanyl epidemic in America. This answer is interesting because only 0.2 percent of fentanyl seized at America’s borders was from the North. As I followed up with Lester, it became clear that President Trump’s smear campaign against our Northern neighbors has swayed his opinion as Lester stated, “We should tighten up both borders.” Moreover, all three of my interviewees referenced “illegal immigrants” in their explanation for the spread of fentanyl. Once again, this has proven not to be the case. Indeed, the Washington Post finds, “Since it’s much easier for Americans to cross the border into the United States, American citizens are often recruited to do the smuggling. The New York Times just reported on this pattern, finding that more than 80 percent of those sentenced for crimes involving fentanyl smuggling are U.S. citizens.” Fentanyl is the type of drug that is easier to smuggle through vehicles rather than with undocumented immigrants crossing the border, yet the connotation has been cemented these past few years. 

Although both Sara and Faraz have always been socially liberal, the normalization of anti-immigration rhetoric is showing up in their answers (despite Faraz being an immigrant himself). Faraz went as far as to defend President Biden’s conservative Bipartisan Border Act of 2024 as he stated, “that woulda help the fentanyl crisis.” Sara and Faraz have remained somewhat loyal to the Democratic party on most issues, so when the Democratic party conceded their pro-immigration stance in an attempt to appeal to moderates and conservatives, it became normalized across the two-party system. It was, then, only natural that Southern immigrants became an easy target for one of the deadliest issues of our nation.

 Beyond my interviews, the abundant and continued propaganda campaign against those wishing to cross the Southern border has influenced our citizen’s personal biases. The KFF reports, “An NPR-Ipsos poll from 2022 found that nearly 4 in 10 Americans believe that ‘most of the fentanyl entering the U.S. is smuggled in by unauthorized migrants crossing the border illegally.’ In reality, federal data analyzed by KFF indicates that most fentanyl enters the U.S. through legal ports of entry and is trafficked primarily by U.S. citizens, not migrants.” The new conservative front in the United States has overwhelmed the national media outlets and citizens with misleading information, and they continue to prey on the hundreds of thousands of grieving families by giving them something tangible to point to as the problem. Unfortunately, like most pressing issues, the fentanyl epidemic is an incredibly complicated situation that does not include innocent immigrants simply trying to make a living. That doesn’t mean it is a lost cause, though; there are many ways to prevent more deaths, such as education, legalization of recreational drugs to ensure pure substances, redistributing border patrol forces to examine what comes through our legal ports, and much more.

In a nation pushing itself further into an oligarchy with billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk controlling significant media outlets and working in the president’s cabinet, it’s critical to check our personal biases and remain in a strong allegiance with the truth because, at the end of the day, everyone across the political spectrum wants a fentanyl free America.