# So the "swarms" that are supposedly coming over the border are they comitting murder and meyhem and are they the "trash" trump claims them to be **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 1, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397 "2024-06-01T22:55:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/61 "2024-06-03T21:38:38Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > That makes sense if you think about it. The problem is that fentanyl is still getting across the border, and it’s apparently hard to detect it. Homeland Security needs to come up with a better way of checking vehicles crossing the border legally so that we catch more of it. Building a wall from “Sea to shining Sea” isn’t going to really help that much. Yep. If the rightwingers truly cared about the issue, they would be funding the new x-ray scanners that spot the drugs. Instead, Republicans blocked the supplemental funding. Because neither the politicians nor the MAGAs give a shit about drugs coming across the border. It’s just a flimsy excuse to avoid being called the bigots they are. Why they think anyone’s fooled is beyond me. > **[Scanners that spot fentanyl sit unused because Congress hasn't provided cash...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/border-fentanyl-scanners-unused-congress-provided-no-money-rcna141432)** > > The money to install the screeners was in the supplemental funding request Republicans blocked. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/62 "2024-06-03T21:46:00Z")
If they did approve that funding they could then blame Biden for the 973% increase in fentanyl seizures! So dumb they can’t even play their own stupid games with counter factuals. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/63 "2024-06-03T21:50:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@silenus](#): > > > > “French?” Who’s ever written anything important in _that_ language? > > Yeah, they don’t even have a word for “entrepreneur”. They do, but they stole it from us! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/64 "2024-06-03T21:50:36Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > So dumb they can’t even play their own stupid games with counter factuals. It’s so easy to be a Republican. You don’t have to have facts on your side. You can just change them as you go along. You don’t have to be moral or even likable. You just have to be an asshole and they love every minute of it. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/65 "2024-06-03T22:10:27Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Do you have a cite for that? I was under the impression that the chemicals used for making fentanyl came from China, but that the drug itself was primarily coming from Mexico. According to the Secretary of the Treasury from last December you are correct. [Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen on New Treasury Actions to Counter Illicit Financing Tied to Fentanyl in Mexico City, Mexico | U.S. Department of the Treasury](https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1953#:~:text=Today%2C%20the%20majority%20of%20precursor,human%20and%20substantial%20economic%20costs). > Today, the majority of precursor chemicals for illicitly manufactured fentanyl come from China and are synthesized into fentanyl in Mexico. Fentanyl is then smuggled across the border into the United States. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/66 "2024-06-04T02:50:30Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Do you have a cite for that? I was under the impression that the chemicals used for making fentanyl came from China, but that the drug itself was primarily coming from Mexico. I know that the end drug is smuggled in mostly from Mexico. [https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl#:~:text=Patients%20prescribed%20fentanyl%20should%20be,on%20the%20illegal%20drug%20market](https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl#:~:text=Patients%20prescribed%20fentanyl%20should%20be,on%20the%20illegal%20drug%20market). BUT, not on the backs of migrants- > **[stop\_fentanyl\_at\_the\_border\_act\_one-pager.pdf](https://www.casey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/stop_fentanyl_at_the_border_act_one-pager.pdf)** > > 155.55 KB _Most of the fentanyl coming into the U.S. is trafficked_ _into the country through official land border crossings on the southwest border by transnational_ _criminal organizations. In fiscal year 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized_ _240,000 pounds1 of drugs at the southwest land border, which included an estimated 1.1 billion_ _doses2 of fentanyl. Forty-four percent of total drug seizures and 99 percent of fentanyl seizures_ _occurred at the southwest land border.3 While transnational criminal organizations smuggle illicit_ _drugs into the U.S, they also illegally export currency from drug proceeds and firearms. This_ _illegal trade occurs at official ports of entry, alongside legitimate trade and transit, and CBP_ _personnel need more resources to enforce U.S. law._ _The Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act would reduce the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. and crack_ _down on crime by providing much-needed funding, technology, and staffing increases at ports of_ _entry along the border. This bill would enable law enforcement officers to greatly expand_ _capacity for scanning vehicles and cargo to detect contraband before it enters the country, slash_ _access to supplies that dangerous drug cartels use to commit violence and crime, and prevent_ _illicit fentanyl and other drugs from entering the U.S. and harming American communities._ So, in other words- no Wall would stop it. It is hidden in normal products being brought in legally. Not so much in the trunks of cars, etc, altho of course that happens. In shipping containers, trucks, etc. From what I read, China makes the stuff or the precursors, ships to Mexico, then into USA. > [@Tfletch1](#): > > Instead, Republicans blocked the supplemental funding. Because neither the politicians nor the MAGAs give a shit about drugs coming across the border. Nor do they care about Border Security, except to _trump_et OPEN BORDER, OPER BORDER OPEN BORDER- every chance they get. It is just one of their three Big Lies- The economy is horrible and it’s Bidens fault! Crime is up, and it’s Bidens fault! We have an open border and it’s Bidens fault! All of which are lies. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/67 "2024-06-04T03:23:06Z")
> [@Tfletch1](#): > > [Scanners that spot smuggled fentanyl at the border sit unused because Congress hasn't provided the cash to install them](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/border-fentanyl-scanners-unused-congress-provided-no-money-rcna141432) No, this is simply incompetence by the agency–which has a multi-billion dollar budget. The appropriation bill does not specify several thousand specific line items the money can be spent on; instead there are a limited number of categories and the administrator has a lot of discretion in how money is being spent. So if the administrator thought the screeners would be useful he would have found the money to install them–and spent less on lower priority items. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/68 "2024-06-04T03:29:10Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > So if the administrator thought the screeners would be useful he would have found the money to install them–and spent less on lower priority items. Which are? Remember- Congress is in control of the budget, and Congress is screaming about “swarms”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/69 "2024-06-04T14:49:16Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I would think that Homeland Security would be more interested in checking a container from China than the trunk of a car from somebody returning from a vacation in Baja… Thing is, there are a lot of containers from China. It’s not practical to thoroughly inspect them all, or even a significant fraction of them. And fentanyl is extremely value-dense: You could have a fairly small package of it in with a bunch of other stuff in one shipping container, and still have the fentanyl be worth more than all the other stuff. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/70 "2024-06-04T17:42:30Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > It’s a lot harder to blame a container box than a human being with a face, for problems real and imaginary. I’m picturing a container bursting open and swarms of swarthy people with backpacks issuing forth, like a spider egg-case. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/71 "2024-06-04T20:04:52Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I’m picturing a container bursting open and swarms of swarthy people with backpacks issuing forth, like a spider egg-case. It happens actually. [![](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/migrants-guatemala-41.jpg) ](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/migrants-guatemala-41.jpg) Though that photo is of Haitian immigrants in Guatemala. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/72 "2024-06-04T20:25:53Z")
Or hundreds of legs popping out like a Flintstone car. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/73 "2024-06-04T20:53:00Z")
> [@Tfletch1](#): > > > [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > > > So dumb they can’t even play their own stupid games with counter factuals. > > It’s so easy to be a Republican. You don’t have to have facts on your side. You can just change them as you go along. You don’t have to be moral or even likable. You just have to be an asshole and they love every minute of it. As it’s often said, if you fiercely demand that your opponents breathe air that contains oxygen, they will then… ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397/74 "2024-06-06T04:23:26Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > No, this is simply incompetence by the agency–which has a multi-billion dollar budget. The appropriation bill does not specify several thousand specific line items the money can be spent on; instead there are a limited number of categories and the administrator has a lot of discretion in how money is being spent. So if the administrator thought the screeners would be useful he would have found the money to install them–and spent less on lower priority items. This looks to me like a special border control funding request that was blocked by Republicans in Feb 2024. It included the NII scanners and more border control agents. > **[FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Supplemental Funding Request |...](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2023/10/20/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-supplemental-funding-request)** > > President Biden continues to implement a migration strategy focused on enforcement, deterrence, and diplomacy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-swarms-that-are-supposedly-coming-over-the-border-are-they-comitting-murder-and-meyhem-and-are-they-the-trash-trump-claims-them-to-be/1002397.md?page=3)