Laura Guzman is acting executive director at the National Harm Reduction Coalition.

We have no time to waste.Ĭarlos Martinez is an assistant professor in the Department of Latin American and Latino Studies at UC Santa Cruz. To effectively confront the overdose crisis, we need to increase funding and access to evidence-based public health policies, not a continuation of the criminalizing approaches that have dominated drug policy for decades. Even in California, communities of color often have less access to life-saving medications, such as naloxone. Several states, including Texas, continue to criminalize all syringe service programs and drug-checking tools, such as fentanyl test strips. This is especially critical in California and Texas, the two states found to have the highest count of drug overdose deaths among Latinos in the country. Instead of erecting more borders, political leaders should be decreasing barriers to access among marginalized substance users to evidence-based drug treatment and harm reduction programs. In a study we recently conducted with over 100 Latino substance users in San Francisco, we found that a significant percentage of our participants did not access drug treatment services due to fears of being intercepted by police or immigration authorities.Īfter several decades of merging anti-drug efforts with immigration enforcement, it is clear that we cannot deport our way out of this mess. Fear of arrest may prevent witnesses of drug overdoses from seeking medical help. Several studies have shown that immigrant policing and fear of deportation strongly influence health-seeking behaviors among undocumented Latino communities. For example, Latinos with family members who have been deported or detained are nearly four times likelier to report problematic drug use. Quite the contrary, growing evidence demonstrates that deportations can have a detrimental impact on drug use rates. Read more about our transparency and ethics policies Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Supervisor Matt Dorsey recently proposed legislation that would add a carve-out in the city’s sanctuary policy to make it easier to deport individuals convicted of dealing fentanyl. In fact, Texas was among a minority of states that had an increase in overdose deaths in 2022 from the prior year. Civil rights organizations argue that this has led to dozens of deadly vehicle pursuits.ĭespite touting the operation’s success in seizing hundreds of pounds of fentanyl (a dubious claim based on shifting metrics), Abbott has been unable to demonstrate an impact on overdose deaths. Operation Lone Star has blanketed border communities with state troopers, resulting in pretextual traffic stops and car searches primarily targeting Latino drivers. Using the authority of a state disaster declaration, Abbott has authorized state troopers to detain migrants on trumped-up trespassing charges that have led to thousands of migrants being held in state prisons - many languishing behind bars for months without formal charges or attorney representation. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has consistently drawn on the fentanyl overdose crisis to justify his deployment of Operation Lone Star, a nearly $4.5 billion border security operation launched in March 2021 aimed at deterring unauthorized migration and drug smuggling into the state. There is little to no reason for someone seeking asylum to simultaneously be attempting to smuggle in drugs thereby threatening their asylum status.Īnd yet, the overdose crisis continues to be weaponized against migrant communities. After all, migrants who are crossing the border often turn themselves in to seek asylum. citizens and 84% of the fentanyl seized along the border in 2022 entered through legal ports of entry.

Sentencing Commission, 86% of those caught smuggling drugs into the U.S. Moreover, it’s dangerous - especially to the nation’s Latino and migrant communities.Īccording to the U.S. In January, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise tweeted that House Republicans would be passing border security bills that would force the Democrat-controlled Senate, “to go on record and say if they are for open borders or for ending the flow of deadly drugs.” Although much of their first attempt at legislative changes to immigration policy failed, the GOP doubled down on the false narrative during their first meeting of the new Congress last month and there are reports that the party is working (albeit not very successfully) on a second attempt at immigration reform.īut policy based on misinformation and scapegoating is bad policy.

Editra wont open