In an Oct. 15 press conference announcing his Fentanyl Task Force, Gov. Spencer Cox took a page out of Donald Trump’s playbook. He took a highly emotional and timely topic, the fentanyl overdoses ravaging our community, and used it to whip up fear and blame federal immigration policy.

“Of the many ways that the Biden administration’s border policies have been a failure, the fentanyl crisis is the most stark and dangerous,” he said.

I have no problem criticizing the current administration — I have done so on many occasions. But I do draw the line at misinformation, fearmongering and parroting false, Trumpian rhetoric in a desperate bid for approval.

There’s no denying fentanyl is and has been a crisis in Utah, with this year breaking records in fentanyl seizures by June, and anything that helps keep our community safe should be applauded. But in a moment when Cox could have showcased how he’s addressed this burgeoning crisis during his two gubernatorial terms, and discussed what changes he’s making moving forward, he chose to stoke anti-immigrant sentiment.

If you’re going to name a villain, name the correct ones: chemical manufacturers, cartels, loopholes in United States trade regulations and American citizens who profit off the drug trade.

A recent Reuters report on the sneaky shipping loopholes cartels use to smuggle the chemicals through the U.S. into Mexico and then back into the U.S. for sale is telling. Despite the nasty lies Trump tells about immigrants, the fentanyl in the U.S. mostly “comes through legal ports of entry in vehicles driven by American citizens.” And U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that 85% of the convicted smugglers are U.S. citizens.

Cartels and U.S. drug smugglers are clearly not the same as immigrants, and illegally smuggling drug is not the same as illegally crossing a border. So why all this talk of immigration policy? It’s easier to inflame emotions rather than focus on policy and facts. This is not the first time immigrant communities have been maligned and used as political fodder to fearmonger and distract from weak policies, and it has devastating consequences.

In the aftermath of Trump’s comments about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, the town received at least 33 bomb threats. And on a national scale, we’ve seen a more than 80% increase in hate crimes since 2015, as individuals and white supremacy groups are emboldened by hateful rhetoric.

This is the true “crime wave,” and it’s not coming from immigrants, it’s coming from those that have a vendetta against them. No one should have to live in fear that their family could be targeted for hateful violence, regardless of their background. To accept that would be reminiscent of a 1940s Germany-esque dystopia in the “land of the free.”

Immigration is a complex and emotional topic. Maybe you’re affected by it personally or perhaps it triggers a deep fear of change that lurks in many of us. Talking about change can often make us wonder if we will make the cut in the new world we find ourselves in. Perhaps reflecting on the crazed advancement of technology, of social media, of new faces on the block, of shifting gas prices and confusing new language makes your heart race. Breathe. Not everything that feels like a threat is one.

What is a threat? Using specific groups of people — our neighbors, friends and community members — as pawns in a political grab for power. When politicians press emotional buttons instead of doing their job — working for the public good — we all lose.

Elizabeth Hutchings is the communications director at Alliance for a Better Utah, a government watchdog and political transparency advocacy group. She is a passionate affordable housing advocate, avid mountain athlete and persistent voice for civic engagement in her group chats.

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