Blake Masters: Mark Kelly Should Be Forced to Attend the Funerals of Teenagers Overdosing on Fentanyl

Neil Jones

Arizona Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters recently blasted his incumbent opponent Mark Kelly (D-AZ) for supporting the Biden administration’s open border policies, which have led to a flood of fentanyl entering the country.

“There are no words to describe tens of thousands of dead American teenagers, dead from fentanyl because of the wide-open southern border,” Masters said. “Mark Kelly should be forced to attend the funerals of each of those dead children, so he can better understand the consequences of his support for Joe Biden’s open borders. I truly mean that.”

Masters made this comment while speaking at the “Faith and Family Fest” rally hosted by Arizona’s Trump-backed gubernatorial nominee, Kari Lake.

A recent report from Breitbart News concurs with Masters’ claim about Kelly supporting open border policies. In 2021 alone, Kelly voted against three separate border security policies. The first would have prevented the Biden administration from canceling existing border wall construction, and another would have protected previously funded wall construction. Kelly also voted to end Title 42, despite later criticizing this plan, saying “it’s going to be a crisis.”

As reported by The Arizona Sun Times, Kelly has voted overall with President Joe Biden 94 percent of the time.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform shared that, as of mid-August, nearly 5 million immigrants have illegally crossed America’s borders since Biden took office, not to mention roughly 900,000 “gotaways” who avoided apprehension. This means approximately the population of Ireland has illegally entered the country in just 18 months.

As for the fentanyl Masters shared concern over, multiple reports from Arizona officials confirm that the drug is entering the state in large amounts.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) reported that troopers recently found 46 pounds of fentanyl in a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta sedan. Officers pulled over the driver, Izayah Ocasio, 20, for a traffic stop near Red Rock, where they found the drugs concealed within the vehicle. AZDPS stated that the drugs were being smuggled to the Phoenix area from Nogales, Mexico.

Director Michael Humphries has reported five separate seizures of multi-colored fentanyl in the Nogales port of entry since August 17. In the latest four incidents, officials have confiscated 76,300 of these “rainbow fentanyl” pills with a candy-like appearance, which Humphries said could be used to target younger users.

However, these multi-colored pills make up only a fraction of the total amount of fentanyl impounded just at Nogales. On August 22nd, an 18-wheeler was searched, and officials discovered 1.27 million fentanyl pills,104 pounds of fentanyl powder, and other illicit drugs within floor compartments and trap doors in the vehicle’s trailer.

In July, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents seized roughly 2,100 pounds of fentanyl at the U.S.-Mexico border, an increase of 200 percent compared to June. With the street price of fentanyl hovering at around $5-10 per pill in 2021, the cost of addiction is relatively low as the opioid continues to enter the country.

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS), there have been 1,937 non-fatal fentanyl overdoses in Arizona since the start of 2022. There are currently 372 confirmed deaths from a fentanyl overdose, although this number has not been updated since May due to internal data issues at the AZDHS. Most lethal overdoses involve fentanyl users between the ages of 25 and 34.

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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Blake Masters” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Photo “Mark Kelly” by John Klemmer. Background Photo “Fentanyl Pills ” by Dept. of Public Safety.

 

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