SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — An investigation conducted by the Project on Government Oversight shows migrants are rarely found carrying illicit drugs when apprehended by Border Patrol agents between ports of entry.
POGO says its analysts studied data “buried deep within U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s massive spreadsheets” from the 2022-2024 fiscal years.
According to the research, migrant Border Patrol drug seizures between ports of entry were analyzed to include the types of drugs seized and citizenship status of the people carrying drugs.
“Only a minuscule fraction of migrants stopped by Border Patrol are found to be carrying drugs — of the over 5.8 million migrants stopped by Border Patrol between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, drugs were seized from only 249 people,” a POGO news release said.
The data also shows that only 11 migrants were found to be carrying fentanyl, POGO said.
“That’s a rate lower than the odds of dying from a bee sting. Despite political rhetoric linking migrants to drug trafficking, the numbers tell a very different story.”
On Feb. 1, the Trump administration said the “influx of illicit opioids and other drugs has profound consequences on our nation, endangering lives and putting a severe strain on our healthcare system, public services, and communities — gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illicit drugs of all kinds have poured across our borders and into our communities.”
Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow in homeland security and civil liberties at the Cato Institute, says the Trump administration’s narrative of drugs entering the country via migrants is an example of “deliberate falsehoods” intended to justify border security efforts.
“We’re talking about a tiny, tiny, tiny slice of people,” Eddington said. “In contrast, Trump and people in his administration are trying to claim that these individuals are actually the drivers of the problem.”
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