May 24, 2022

Video, Photos: Sen. Marshall, Kansas Sheriffs Visit Southern Border

(McAllen, TX, May 24, 2022) – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall and Kansas Sheriffs Calvin Hayden (Johnson County), Brian Hill (Shawnee County), Roger Soldan (Saline County), Jeff Richards (Franklin County), and Tim Morse (Jackson County) toured the southern border last weekend for briefings, tours, and meetings with border patrol officials, within DHS and the state of Texas. The trip came amid the growing fentanyl crisis that is wreaking havoc in Kansas and across the nation. Following the trip, Senator Marshall issued this statement:

“After visiting the southern border with Sheriffs Hayden, Hill, Soldan, Richards, and Morse, it’s clear that what is going on is a human tragedy in every sense of the word. At nighttime, it even looks like a war zone and there is a humanitarian crisis here that is lived out every day,” said Senator Marshall. “Border patrol officers are simply overwhelmed and this is an unsustainable situation. President Biden needs to get down to the southern border and see this crisis for himself. He needs to spend time on the Rio Grande River helping save migrants who have traveled thousands of miles. He needs to go up the interstate and pick up people who have been traveling for two or three days without water. He needs to go talk the farmers and ranchers who are finding dead bodies on their property almost every day. And he need to meet face to face with Border Patrol officials who are doing everything in their power to stop the drug cartels and the flow of fentanyl from the border to Kansas.”

You may click HERE or on the image below for b-roll of the trip.

Sen. Marshall and Sheriffs Receive Briefing from Texas Department of Public Safety on the Border Crisis and Fentanyl

Sen. Marshall and Sheriffs Receive Tour on Rio Grande from Texas Department of Public Safety

Sen. Marshall and Sheriffs Receive Briefing from Local Farmer on the Border Crisis

Sen. Marshall and KS Sheriffs receive Night Tour with Brooks County Sheriffs on the Border Crisis and Human Smuggling Efforts they Deal with Daily

Sen. Marshall and KS Sheriffs Receive Briefing from Local Farmer Dealing with the Border Crisis

Sen. Marshall and KS Sheriffs Receive Briefing from CBP Officers at Falfurrias Checkpoint

Sen. Marshall Receives Briefing From CBP Officer on the Drug Crisis Happening at the Southern Border and in our Communities

Background:

Senator Marshall recently announced support for the HALT Fentanyl Act. The legislation would permanently give law enforcement the tools to help combat the fentanyl crisis currently wreaking havoc in Kansas. The legislation permanently places fentanyl-related substances as a class into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. A Schedule I controlled substance is a drug, substance, or chemical that has a high potential for abuse; has no currently accepted medical value; and is subject to regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act. Fentanyl-related substances’ current Schedule I classification is temporary and set to expire later this year.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80-100 times stronger than morphine.
Kansas suffered a 54% increase in drug overdoses during the first six months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.
Of the 338 people in Kansas who died of drug overdose between Jan. 1 and June 30 of last year – 149 involved fentanyl or fentanyl analogs.
Overdose deaths from fentanyl-related substances topped all other drug-related overdose deaths in Kansas in 2021
In the first three months of 2022, Kansas saw more than 2,500 drug overdoses.
While not on the Kansas side, the Kansas City Police Department announced that accidental overdoses from fentanyl-related substances had climbed nearly 150% from 2019 to 2020 in the metro area, particularly noticeable among ages 15 to 24. Last year, out of 129 overdoses, 50 were fentanyl-related.
In March, Wichita officers seized 7,000 fentanyl-related substance pills during a traffic stop.
The Wichita Police Department also said that they recently worked five suspected overdose cases in a 24-hour period – two of those were juveniles.
Nationwide, four in 10 pills examined by DEA labs contain a deadly amount of fentanyl-related substance, an amount that can fit on the tip of a pencil.
In the past 14 months, more than 12,000lbs of fentanyl-related substances were seized from criminals at the southern border – much more made it over the border undetected.
15,000lbs of fentanyl-related substances were seized in 2021 – enough to supply a potentially lethal dose to every member of the U.S. population.
64% of overdose deaths in the U.S. involved synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl-related substances.
4 out of 10 DEA-tested fake pills with fentanyl-related substances contain a potentially deadly dose.
12 month period ending in October 2021: 105,000 overdose deaths – 66% were due to fentanyl-related substances, synthetic opioids.

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