CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey worries that the change in immigration policy by President Joe Biden could spell disaster for the drug problem in the state.
"The change in Immigration policy not only affects asylum-seekers, we think this could be devasting for the drug problem in West Virginia," Morrisey said. "You can't have a porous border and expect that the drug problem won't fester in West Virginia."
Morrisey penned a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, criticizing the decision to rescind a Trump-era policy, known as Remain in Mexico, without considering its impact on drug smuggling.
“West Virginia has already lost far too many people, including young parents and children, over the past decade to fatal drug overdoses," Morrisey wrote in the letter. "The federal government must secure the border to prevent another decade of senseless death."
Morrisey wrote that West Virginia can't police its own borders alone and relies on the government to secure the border against illegal drugs like fentanyl.
“This is a pressing and urgent matter impacting West Virginia and every State suffering from fentanyl abuse and illegal drug trafficking," Morrisey wrote in the letter. "Lives are being lost every day. There is no time for delay.”
Morrisey wrote in the letter that Mexican cartels have built an entire industry on manufacturing and trafficking fentanyl, which is concerning because, between 2019 and 2020, fentanyl overdoses increased 39% in Cabell County and 100% in Kanawha County.
Morrisey is worried that ending the Remain in Mexico policy will make the drug problem worse by increasing the illegal fentanyl supply, he said in the letter. He argues in his letter that Mayorkas failed to address this issue when he provided his justification for ending the policy. He asked for Mayorkas to provide a response by June 20.