Substance abuse and crime are on the rise in the U.S., including in Wisconsin, which has the fourth-lowest violent crime rate in the Midwest and 20th-lowest nationwide, | Joe Biden/Facebook
Substance abuse and crime are on the rise in the U.S., including in Wisconsin, which has the fourth-lowest violent crime rate in the Midwest and 20th-lowest nationwide, | Joe Biden/Facebook
Substance abuse and crime are on the rise across the U.S., including in Wisconsin, which has the fourth-lowest violent crime rate in the Midwest and 20th-lowest nationwide, according to a Center Square report.
In 2020, Wisconsin recorded 18,861 violent crimes, or 323 per 100,000 residents, whereas the metropolitan region of Milwaukee reported 678 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, significantly above the national average.
Marc Thiessen, a Washington Post opinion columnist, argues that Biden's open border policy is one of the reasons for this trend.
"One major reason we are facing a surge in crime is the disaster Biden unleashed on our southern border, Thiessen stated in an op-ed article, "Last year, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized enough fentanyl to provide a lethal dose to every American."
Additionally, Biden has said in recent months that he intends to repeal Title 42, a pandemic law that has been used to swiftly remove migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a CBP press release.
If this law is repealed, border patrol personnel anticipate a significant increase in illegal border crossings.
Thiessen argues that repealing Title 42 will "open the floodgates for the cartels to traffic illegal drugs into the United States," and require Border Patrol officers to be redirected from the front lines for migrant processing.
However, U.S. District Judge Robert R. Summerhays of Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction on May 20 that prohibits the Biden administration from repealing Title 42.
In addition, twenty-one states have filed lawsuits to prevent the repeal of the policy.
Thiessen adds that the surge of illegal migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021 has prompted U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) to redirect resources and staff from drug enforcement to migrant processing.
In 2020, the Department of Health Services (DHS) of Wisconsin recorded 1,227 fatalities linked to opioids, according to a WPR report.
According to technical forensic director Sara Schreiber, Milwaukee County recorded 643 drug overdose fatalities in 2021, an increase of approximately 18 % from the 546 deaths recorded in 2020.
Additionally, Schreiber told WPR that around 80% of the drug-related fatalities included the opioid fentanyl.
The New York Times reported a significant increase in fentanyl-related drug overdose fatalities, stating that"supplies of tainted pills, crudely pressed by Mexican cartels with chemicals from China and India, have escalated commensurately."
In 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recovered 20,4 million counterfeit pills, which, according to experts, represents just a tiny portion of those manufactured.
Scientists believe that approximately 4 out of 10 capsules contain fatal quantities of fentanyl.
These 20,4 million counterfeit pills confiscated by the DEA in 2021 are sufficient to administer a deadly dosage of fentanyl to each American, according to a DEA press release.
In 2021, there were over 108,000 drug-related deaths in the United States.
According to CBP data, 10,763 criminal noncitizens were arrested during the fiscal year 2021.
This is a 341% increase from the 2,438 people arrested in the fiscal year 2020 when President Trump was still in office.
The current number of criminal noncitizen arrests for the fiscal year 2022, which spans from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022, is 5,985.
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