Young, Hagerty Reintroduce Legislation To Help Stop Fentanyl Trafficking Into The U.S.

Fentanyl smuggled across the southern border is taking more than 70,000 American lives per year.

U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) in reintroducing the Stop Fentanyl Border Crossings Act, legislation to add drug smuggling as an additional basis for Title 42 immigration enforcement authority, thereby preserving for Border Patrol agents an essential tool to quickly remove illegal border crossers and stop the drug trafficking that is fueling the overdose epidemic in America, now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18-45.

“The flow of fentanyl into Indiana from our southern border is causing Hoosier families to lose loved ones far too soon. Fentanyl is now killing more young Americans than cancer, car accidents, or COVID. This is a crisis that cannot be ignored,” said Senator Young.

“70,000 Americans are dying annually from drug overdoses—most from deadly fentanyl flooding across our collapsed southern border. With the Biden Administration pushing to end Title 42 in May, it is unconscionable for Congress to stand aside and do nothing to preserve it. And while I agree that the pandemic is over, there is a new epidemic plaguing our nation—one that demands immediate action. We cannot afford to allow this shockingly-lethal drug to continue wreaking havoc on our communities and killing our youth. Congress must take up and pass this commonsense legislation without delay—too many innocent American lives hang in the balance,” said Senator Hagerty.

In addition to Senators Young and Hagerty, Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) also cosponsored this legislation.

Along with the Stop Fentanyl Border Crossings Act, Senator Young recently helped to introduce the HALT Fentanyl Act and the Cooper Davis Act to address the fentanyl epidemic and spoke on the Senate floor about the magnitude of this crisis.