by Sharon Rondeau
(Nov. 28, 2024) — On Wednesday evening, President-Elect Donald J. Trump wrote on TruthSocial that he shared a “wonderful” and “very productive conversation” with Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo on the subject of illegal entry to the United States through her country.
“Just had a wonderful conversation with the new President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo,” Trump wrote. “She has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border. We also talked about what can be done to stop the massive drug inflow into the United States, and also, U.S. consumption of these drugs. It was a very productive conversation!”
Sheinbaum Pardo took office on October 1, succeeding Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who served in that capacity for nearly six years.
Within the same time frame of his bold declaration, Trump posted two other statements, one focusing on the dangers of fentanyl, a deadly drug smuggled into the U.S. on a reportedly massive scale over the last several years, and another summarizing his agreement with Pardo to halt illegal-aliens entry “effective immediately” and expressing his thanks.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports:
- Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic (lab-made) opioid that is FDA-approved to treat severe pain related to surgery or complex pain conditions.1,2 Over the past decade, fentanyl that is made and distributed illegally (sometimes called “illicitly manufactured fentanyl”) and other illegally made synthetic opioids have been increasingly found in the drug supply.3,4 During this time, fentanyl and related substances have contributed to a dramatic rise in drug overdose deaths in the United States.5,6
- People both knowingly consume fentanyl and other synthetic opioids and unknowingly consume them when they are mixed into or sold as other drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, or counterfeit pills.4,7,8 Because fentanyl is about 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine9,10,11 and a lethal dose of fentanyl can be very small, using a drug that has been contaminated with or replaced by fentanyl can greatly increase one’s risk of overdose.6,7
According to the outgoing Biden administration in March:
In the first five months of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, DHS made over 2,000 arrests of subjects connected to fentanyl seizure events. Over 13,000 pounds of illicit fentanyl have been seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and over 1,500 pill presses have been seized in that same period.
Progress this year builds on our efforts in FY 2023, when DHS stopped over 43,000 pounds of fentanyl from hitting our streets and seized more than 3,600 pill presses and $16 million in currency. FY 2023 efforts by CBP and HSI also resulted in over 5,600& fentanyl seizure-related arrests.
According to the U.S. Justice Department in August 2022:
In the first nine months of FY 2022 (October through June), U.S. Customs and Border Protection law enforcement agencies in San Diego and Imperial counties (CBP Field Operations and Border Patrol) seized 5,091 pounds of fentanyl – which amounts to about 60 percent of the 8,425 pounds of fentanyl seized around the entire country…
Mexican cartels are increasingly manufacturing fentanyl for distribution and sale in the United States Precursors are imported from China and other countries and then pressed into pills, powder or mixed into other drugs at massive, industrial-scale labs.
Initially, drug trafficking organizations were adding small amounts of fentanyl to large loads of other drugs like methamphetamine. But more recently, these criminal organizations are moving significantly larger quantities of fentanyl pills and powder across the border. In a recent six-day period, CBP and Border Patrol intercepted four separate vehicle loads of fentanyl weighing between 100 and 250 pounds from July 13 to 18 in Campo and Calexico. Please see https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/five-days-six-busts-have-calexico-cbp-officers-seizing-494-packages and https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/border-patrol-agents-seize-over-200-pounds-fentanyl.
“A decade ago, we didn’t even know about fentanyl, and now it’s a national crisis,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “The amount of fentanyl we are seizing at the border is staggering. The number of fentanyl seizures and fentanyl-related deaths in our district are unprecedented.”
During his 2024 campaign, Trump pledged to impose 25% tariffs on imported goods from Mexico and Canada and a 10% tariff on China if those nations failed to curb the flow of illegals and drugs into the U.S. Illegal entry was also a key plank in his successful 2016 platform.
Following his re-election on November 5, Trump has reiterated his intention on tariffs to mixed reactions among politicians and economists but markedly negative reporting by the media.
In a post on “X” after her discussion with Trump, Sheinbaum Pardo wrote she had “explained to him the comprehensive strategy that Mexico has followed to address the migration phenomenon, respecting human rights.”
“Thanks to this,” she continued, “migrants and caravans are assisted before they reach the border. We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders but to build bridges between governments and between peoples.”
Trump has claimed the Biden regime permitted “21 million” illegals into the country with little to no vetting. Trump and his designated “Border Czar,” former Acting ICE Director Tom Homan, have promised to launch an unprecedented deportation effort once Trump is sworn in on January 20 in the wake of what he has claimed is a “national emergency.”
It remains to be seen. She keeps talking out of both sides of her mouth. When the remittances get taxed, she will fall in line. But the bigger issue is boiled down to two things: Close the border, kill the drug cartels. The big day willl be when they are finally declared to be terrorist organizations. Talk about belated.