The nation's border is "practically open" and the drug cartels know it, and it has led to the increase of fentanyl that is killing thousands of Americans, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said on Newsmax on Wednesday.
"The cartels will send certain people across the border, knowing that the Border Patrol is no longer a Border Patrol," Moody, a Republican, said on Newsmax's "National Report." "It's now border parole. They just welcome everyone and release them into the interior."
Just a small amount of fentanyl can kill Americans, she added, but the reports of the amounts of the drugs that are coming in reflect "just the amount we know that has been intercepted," Moody said.
"Just imagine all that came in without detection," she said. "It's enough to kill the entire U.S. population 10 times over."
The influx is hitting Florida hard, Moody said, noting that there were 19 fentanyl overdoses in one small, rural county over the Fourth of July weekend.
"We in law enforcement are speaking up," Moody said. "We're pleading with this administration to jump in this game and pay attention. You're losing Americans and President [Joe] Biden, he hasn't even said the word 'fentanyl' one time in one tweet since the beginning of this year."
Moody sent Biden a letter, outlining how the drug has been the primary cause of death from overdoses in 2021, including being the leading cause of death in adults between the ages of 18 to 45.
The open border is also leaving the U.S. vulnerable to dangerous people, Moody said, pointing out that in the past year, 56 people were detained who were on the terrorist watch list.
"Anywhere in this country, if you talk to anyone, they know someone that has died as a result of overdose," said Moody. "This is the biggest crisis in our country that our administration has not faced head-on.
"They refuse to tackle it because they know they'll have to start tackling the border, and we have seen it. There isn't an agenda at that border. They are doing nothing to secure this nation."
Further, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has "abandoned fully his role" in that agency, leaving the Border Patrol to try its best to catch up, said Moody.
"I feel for the men and women on the border right now," she sad. "They have no one in charge that wants to see to the security of this nation."
Meanwhile, the border situation is also causing law enforcement problems in the nation's cities, which is also making it difficult on members of law enforcement, and difficulty to find people to do "these really hard, difficult jobs."
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has actively recruited officers from the nation's cities to come to the Sunshine State, said Moody.
"As soon as we started hearing people talking about defunding the police, we started talking about how can we increase their salaries. How can we train them better? How can we help them move down here and have the resources to do that?" said Moody. "They have seen our message."
But officers aren't only moving to Florida for its beaches, but "for our values," she added.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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