On Sept. 17, a one-year-old boy died at his Bronx daycare center after being exposed to fentanyl. Two other kids at the center were also found unconscious and unresponsive at the center, and after running some tests at the hospital, it was found that there were traces of fentanyl in their systems. In the face of this undeniably tragic event, conversations have taken an inappropriate shift to discussing immigration in the U.S. instead of remaining focused on the death of a one-year-old boy.  

Many Republican politicians have fed their supporters the incorrect idea that whenever drugs are involved, and especially cases surrounding fentanyl, immigrants from Latin American countries are to blame for bringing that drug to the U.S. The reality is that 80% of drug dealers are United States citizens. This is not a problem that can be blamed on an outside factor from the U.S. This is a crisis that American citizens are fueling themselves, so creating stricter immigration parameters isn’t going to solve the problem. The U.S. has long had a problem of not supporting their immigrants and instead villainizes migrants which creates a pervasive xenophobic perspective with Americans.  

The focus of this conversation should be on how this child’s death could even happen in a place he was supposed to be safe and cared for. How could a caretaker allegedly expose children to a drug that is 50 times more potent than heroin? How can she allege that she had no knowledge of fentanyl being on the premises when traces were found all over the building and not just within the apartment she was renting out? And why did she waste those few minutes that could have potentially been life-saving and not immediately call for an ambulance? 

These are the questions and concerns that people should be voicing. This is also the time to be evaluating how the U.S. is offering support to drug users. In this case, it was lucky that Narcan was quickly produced on the scene. Without it, there may have been even more casualties at the daycare. Health officials are hopeful that with the drug being available over the counter that it will become a more commonplace household staple. The hope is to combat increasing overdose rates and save more lives with the over the counter availability of Narcan. This is a positive step forward for ordinary citizens to be able to help while lawmakers work to find a solution to the growing number of overdose rates and the opioid crisis ravaging the nation.  

The wake of this tragedy is not the time to launch a smear campaign against immigration in the U.S., specifically on immigrants coming from Latin America. However, some have used this time to take to social media to validate their discrimination against immigrants in the U.S. with the false belief that they are creating and fueling the drug crisis in the states. 

The disrespect for immigrants in the U.S. doesn’t end with the drug debate. Take, for example, what has been dubbed the migrant crisis here in New York. New York City has a larger migrant population than they can support right now, and Republicans have taken this as an opportunity to try and point to Democrat stronghold cities being unable to support the immigrant population they are fighting to give rights to in the U.S. However, this is another example of the wrong questions being asked, and how the humanity of the situation has been lost yet again. 

What’s ignored is the luring of these migrants onto buses, paid for by Republican lawmakers, such as Texas Governor Gregg Abbott, with the false promise of jobs and housing at their destination. The immigrants are then transported from Texas to New York where none of these promises are being fulfilled due to lack of support, resources and funding in one city for the 118,800 immigrants who have arrived since spring 2022. This influx will cost the city $12 billion by the three-year mark and space in shelters and housing is running out. 

Instead of addressing Abbott’s cruelty, all people point to is New York’s request to be relieved from their mandatory shelter requirement for migrants seeking refugee in the city.

Where is the humanity in pointing fingers at a city who was considering housing migrants on a cruise ship instead of turning them away and not instead asking what kind of despicable person would purposefully send people into a situation where they don’t have enough resources to support the demand? 

Scenarios like these show the lack of compassion and empathy that Americans have in relation to our immigrant population. These are not opportunities to send a political message by steamrolling over vulnerable populations. Our humanity, or lack thereof, is showing, and it is, quite frankly, appalling.