Joe Biden’s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border has devolved into a humanitarian crisis. The UN’s International Organization for Migration recently labeled our southern border the most dangerous land migration route in the world. It’s a shameful label, but unfortunately it’s deserved.

In the first half of 2022, more migrants died attempting to enter the U.S. (493) than in all of 2020 (476), 2018 (448), and 2017 (414). The deadliest human smuggling case in modern U.S. history claimed the lives of 53 migrants just a few weeks ago.

It’s not just illegal immigrants, though. The border has become ripe territory for drug smuggling.

Fentanyl, which is pouring over the southern border in record amounts, is ruining an entire generation of Americans who have become hooked on the highly addictive synthetic opioid. The CDC said in December 2021 that fentanyl overdoses are the number one cause of death for U.S. adults age 18-45.

Elected officials across the country have sounded the alarm on the fentanyl epidemic, including Senator Susan Collins of Maine, one of the many states whose healthcare services are overwhelmed by the problem. “I cannot help but conclude that our inability to secure the border has an adverse impact and contributes directly to our inability to stop the flow of drugs into this country,” Collins said.

The uptick in these problems is a direct result of Biden’s border policies and his undoing of virtually all of Donald Trump’s effective measures as soon as he took office. He did away with the “Remain in Mexico” rule for asylum seekers, halted construction of the border wall, and restarted catch-and-release.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimates that nearly three million illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border since Biden took office.

The starving of ICE for funds is a perfect example of the Biden border strategy in action. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will run out of money before October if the Department of Homeland Security doesn’t step in with some emergency funds.

“Instead of seeking enforcement resources, the Biden administration is putting more money into so-called Alternatives to Detention, but more specifically into what they call ‘case management’ and ‘wraparound services’ which means endless taxpayer handouts for illegal aliens,” said former ICE Chief of Staff Jon Feere.

One of the services that taxpayers fund is abortion on demand for migrant women in detention, even if they are detained in a state that prohibits the procedure.

How bad can this catastrophe get? Even Democrats in New York City and Washington, DC, have called upon Biden to address the issue. Mayors of these and other cities who once proudly proclaimed themselves sanctuaries where illegals could come and live freely have had a change of heart. Why? Because illegal immigrants are showing up in their cities by the busload from Texas and Arizona.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser preside over cities that are besieged with illegals shipped north by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. Bowser is even seeking the help of the National Guard to handle the influx.

“Washington, D.C. finally understands what Texans have been dealing with every single day, as our communities are overrun and overwhelmed by thousands of illegal immigrants thanks to President Biden’s open border policies," said Abbott. "If the mayor wants a solution to this crisis, she should call on President Biden to take immediate action to secure the border — something he has failed to do. The true ongoing humanitarian crisis is along our southern border.”

Well said.