Most Sentenced for Trafficking Fentanyl are U.S. Citizens

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In campaign speeches, Former President Donald Trump has routinely blamed undocumented immigrants for a rise in drug trafficking and overdose deaths across the U.S.-Mexico border, including bringing in more fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is responsible for more than 72,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. last year alone.

But most fentanyl is being trafficked by American citizens, not migrants. Data from the United States Sentencing Commission shows that 86.4 percent of those sentenced for trafficking fentanyl were U.S. citizens. Among non-citizens, the data includes those lawfully present and undocumented. Fentanyl traffickers were 34 years old, on average, mostly men, and for about 4 in 10, this was their first offense. As of January 2024, about 65,000 people—mostly U.S. citizens—were serving a sentence in federal prison for drug trafficking.

The amount of fentanyl seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection close to doubled in one year, rising from 14,100 to 26,700 pounds from FY2022 to FY2023. About 2 mg of fentanyl can be lethal, according to the DEA (1 pound = 453,592 mg).

Efforts to stem the supply of fentanyl are one piece of trying to address the opioid epidemic - along with reducing demand for the drug through increasing treatment and public awareness.

To further restrict supply, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has proposed expanded border security and investing in technology at borders and ports—adding to the supply-focused policies implemented during the Biden/Harris administration. Trump, the GOP nominee, proposes tightening border policies and increasing punishments, including seeking the death penalty for “drug smugglers and traffickers”—most of whom are U.S. citizens.