More than any other issue, this election should center on this public policy failure | Opinion

There are almost 1,900 miles between my hometown of Pasco and Eagle Pass, Texas, but that distance does not make us immune to the effects of what’s happening along the southern border. Thanks to the policies of the Biden administration, every state is now a border state and Washington is no exception.

The drugs that used to seem so far away are now in our neighborhoods, in our schools and on our streets. I recently had the opportunity to speak with a local principal who shared with me the story of a boy who collapsed at school from a fentanyl overdose in Prosser — a town of just 6,400 people.

Just down the road from Prosser, in Yakima, federal agents arrested three men in early February who were transporting 370 gallons of liquid heroin across state lines. Another reminder that the border is now in our backyard.

In 2023, Washington had 1,802 fatal overdoses, a new record for the state and a 51% increase over the previous year. The enormity of the crisis drove the Washington legislature to unanimously pass SB 5804 — a bill that was brought to the Senate by a group of high school students. These students were determined to ensure that all schools, regardless of size, have Narcan on hand to save lives against accidental or intentional opioid exposure.

And if the countless overdose deaths weren’t enough, Washington state was rocked by another unnecessary tragedy when Washington State Patrol Trooper Christopher Gadd was struck by an illegal migrant and killed in the early morning hours of March 2nd. His passing marked the third high-profile death of an American at the hands of an illegal with a criminal history in as many weeks. A majority of Americans are now saying “Enough!”

The crisis at our southern border is the issue most on Americans’ minds as they head into the general election. A recent Monmouth poll shows 84% of respondents believe illegal immigration is a serious issue, and 53% now support building a border wall. address this crisis.

During this month’s State of the Union address, the president declared that passing the recent border bill would “be a winner for America.” But the border bill was not a “winner” for America. It didn’t even secure the border.

To end this crisis, we must stem the flow across the border — not codify the current rates as the new “normal.”

When it comes down to it, the president and the Democrats are not interested in securing the border. The president knows the power he can wield through executive action because he’s proudly used it before. In fact, one of those orders he signed, Executive Order 13993, protected illegal migrants who committed crimes from being deported by ICE.

Where does this leave Washington voters? This year must be a referendum on the border and the failures of those we elected to fix it. The time for platitudes is past and the time for action has come. We must elect leaders willing to enforce our current immigration laws, which include the deportation of illegal entrants. We must completely secure our border through both physical or electronic barriers. Finally, we must reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy and reimpose tariffs, if necessary, to encourage Mexican cooperation.

The border is no longer just a problem for southern states. It’s touching every state in our nation, and any candidate unwilling to do the hard work of securing our homeland is a candidate undeserving of your vote.