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New Mexico senator pitches legislation that focuses on stopping fentanyl from entering the US, guns from leaving

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U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luj谩n, D-N.M.
Ben Ray Luj谩n

New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luj谩n is co-sponsoring legislation focused on stopping fentanyl from entering the U.S. at the Southwest border. The bill would create a new program focused on stopping people from smuggling firearms from the U.S. to Mexico.

Luj谩n introduced the Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act last week with Democratic Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Mark Kelly of Arizona. The bill would appropriate a total $5.3 billion.

鈥淔entanyl right now is the leading cause of death for younger people in the country 18 to 45. In New Mexico, both meth and fentanyl are the most common causes of drug overdose deaths as well,鈥 Luj谩n said.

In 2021, more than 56% of New Mexico鈥檚 overdose deaths involved fentanyl, according to the New Mexico Department of Health. The bill would appropriate $1 billion to increase drug interception and processing capabilities at the border.

The bill includes $300 million for extra civilian U.S. border patrol processing coordinators, $1.75 billion for additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection 鈥 or CBP 鈥 officers, border patrol agents and mission support staff, and $950 million in hiring and retention bonuses and retention-focused support services. It also would enhance criminal penalties for destroying or evading border controls.

鈥淭hey are short-staffed, but in addition to staffing to current levels, what鈥檚 clear is that there鈥檚 going to be more personnel that鈥檚 needed,鈥 Luj谩n. 鈥淎nd so whether you have a conversation about CBP specifically, officers and agents on the border and interior, but you also need judges, there needs to be a support through that Department of Justice, (Department of Homeland Security) apparatus, where there also is a dramatic backlog.鈥

The country needs to dramatically improve screening for ingoing and outgoing traffic at the southern border, Luj谩n said. There is very little screening of the outbound traffic right now, Luj谩n said.

鈥淭here鈥檚 almost $300 million for disrupting outbound flow of firearms and currency, which is also a major problem in the selling of fentanyl,鈥 Luj谩n said. 鈥淲hat goes back into Mexico is money and guns.鈥

The border security bill would introduce new screening technology to ports of entry at the Southwest border 鈥 technology similar to what the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, uses at airports but is for vehicles and containers coming into the 近距离内射合集 States, Luj谩n said.

Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-NM, introduced a package of immigration legislation in November, including the Smart Border Protection Act, which would appropriate funding for more CBP personnel, new screening technology and port-of-entry infrastructure improvements. Some of those immigration bills have been referred to House committees for markup, but none has reached the House floor.

鈥淭hat technology will now also be applied to noncommercial vehicular traffic, which is going to be a game changer, considering that 95% of illicit drugs, including opioids that we are able to apprehend, come from our ports of entry,鈥 Vasquez said.

Vasquez is critical of the Republican border bill, House Resolution 2, which would restrict the asylum process, roll back protections for migrant children and build a wall along part of the U.S.-Mexico border.

鈥淥ne of the things that we need is to actually expand visas in this country,鈥 Vasquez said. 鈥淲e need to match the workforce needs that we have to grow our economy with migrants that are willing to come and work in this country.鈥

Cathy Cook is a news reporter for the 近距离内射合集. Reach her via email at ccook@abqjournal.com