House Dem claims spike in fentanyl seized at border is a 'success'

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Rep. Katie Porter claims spike in fentanyl seized at border is a 'success'

During a House Oversight Committee hearing on the border crisis, Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., hailed the spike in fentanyl seizures at the border as a "success" because the drugs are not making it to the streets.

Fentanyl, the deadly synthetic drug, has been killing Americans at an alarming rate in recent years, yet one Democratic member of the House Oversight Committee hailed the spike in seizures of the drug by border officials as a good thing.

During a hearing on the border crisis on Tuesday, Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., claimed that a rise in drugs seized at the border was a net positive because those drugs were not ending up on the street.

"What we can see here is that the facts show we are seizing a lot more fentanyl. For me, as a mom, that is a sign of success," Porter said. "I don’t want that fentanyl in this country. It is dangerous and it kills people. And it makes our communities dangerous and to me this is a sign that our Border Patrol and our agents at our points of entry… are doing their jobs."

This position does not take into account the possibility that there are more attempts to smuggle fentanyl into the U.S., resulting in more smugglers getting caught, while also having more being successful. Fox News asked Porter's office if she believes it is possible that more seizures could be the result of more attempts, but they did not immediately respond.

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At Tuesday's hearing, Tuscon Sector Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin acknowledged that there is indeed fentanyl getting through undetected.

Drug Enforcement Administration head Anne Milgram has called fentanyl "the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered," saying in 2022, "Fentanyl is everywhere. From large metropolitan areas to rural America, no community is safe from this poison.  We must take every opportunity to spread the word to prevent fentanyl-related overdose death and poisonings from claiming scores of American lives every day."

Rep. Katie Porter called the rise in fentanyl seizures at the border a "success," because it means smugglers are getting caught. (Andrew Harnik/Pool via Reuters)

The DEA announced in December that it seized enough fentanyl in 2022 to kill every single American, a claim the Washington Post's Fact Checker column confirmed to be correct.

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Curiously, Porter also identified that the spike in seizures began in the summer of 2020, yet she attributed the change to President Biden.

Customs and Border Protection Chief Patrol Agents Gloria Chavez and John Modlin testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

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"I think what’s interesting about this is, of course, we had a change in president in 2020 and some changes in border policy," she said, despite Biden not taking office until January 2021. Indeed, the rise in fentanyl seizures began during the final months of the Trump administration, and has continued throughout Biden's presidency.