Happy Fact Check Friday!

During President Biden’s State of the Union Address, Scott Perry inaccurately blamed asylum seekers for fentanyl deaths, while most of those caught trafficking it across the border are actually Americans.

“Want to drive down fentanyl deaths? SECURE THE BORDER,” he tweeted. Perry had previously told Breitbart News “aliens coming across the border” were responsible for the influx of fentanyl into the U.S.

This isn’t entirely true.

In 2021, Customs and Border Protection reported 90% of fentanyl seizures at legal crossing points and 86% of convicted traffickers were U.S. citizens, much higher than asylum seekers convicted for the same crime.

Quantifying drug trafficking is difficult, including fentanyl trafficked by asylum seekers. Only 0.02% of those arrested for illegal crossing had any fentanyl. Blaming asylum seekers simply lacks supporting data.