Blinken Says Fentanyl, Immigration Crisis ‘Mutual Responsibility’ Ahead of Mexico Visit

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on Aug. 1, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Ahead of a high-level security exchange with Mexican officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the current drug and immigration crisis are challenges that must be tackled through cooperation between the United States and Mexico.

Mr. Blinken and other Biden administration officials are set to discuss shared security, health, and public safety issues at the 2023 U.S.-Mexico High-Level Security Dialogue on Oct. 5. While in Mexico, Mr. Blinken is also set to meet with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

During an Oct. 3 event at the Baker Institute at Rice University in Houston, Texas, Mr. Blinken called the relationship between Mexico and the United States “arguably the most important we have in terms of the practical impact.”

He further stated that Mexico is now “our largest trading partner in the world” as of a couple of weeks ago.

While he acknowledged that close ties have a positive impact “in so many good ways,” he also said it comes with some challenges, especially around the importation of illicit drugs and mass illegal immigration to the United States.

Mr. Blinken said that on the other side of the border, the flow of weapons from the United States to the drug cartels—which are a growing problem for the Mexican government—has been of higher priority for his counterparts.

“We have a mutual responsibility to work together to deal with these challenges. It can’t—it’s not a one-way street; it’s a two-way street.”

Both Democrats and Republicans have expressed concerns over the number of Americans dying from fatal overdoses of synthetic opioids, including the deadly fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.

As of 2022, fentanyl has been responsible for 70 percent of deaths by overdose or poisoning in the United States.

Officials seize gallon-sized plastic bags filled with fentanyl pills and powder while executing a search warrant in Multnomah County, Oregon, on July 25, 2023. Courtesy of Multnomah County Sheriff's Office

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 70,000 people die yearly from fentanyl related overdoses.

Mr. Blinken said that overdose via fentanyl have become the leading cause of death for Americans aged between 18 and 49.

What to do about the current influx of illegal immigrants is also on the agenda for discussion as the U.S. and Mexican delegations descend on Mexico City.

Mr. Blinken will be joined by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, and their Mexican counterparts. Other senior U.S. officials including Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols and Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Todd D. Robinson will also participate in discussions.

Border Crisis Continues

According to figures released in September, Border Patrol made 181,509 arrests at the Mexican border throughout August.

Those figures are up 37 percent from July but below the more than 220,000 in December of last year.

Mr. Obrador said on Oct. 2 that the United States could soon see more than 10,000 illegal immigrants per day arrive at its border with Mexico.

He claimed that a large number of illegal immigrants are reaching Mexico’s northern border partly due to crossings from Guatemala into Mexico every day for the past week.

Mr. Blinken said the United States is cooperating with Mexico now more than ever, and that both countries want to solve the mass illegal immigration crisis.

“They, too, very much want to get a grip on this because they’re now the country that has the third largest number of asylum seekers in the world,” he said.

“This is affecting them. This is hitting them.”