They've opened Arizona's floodgates to protect the border wall, but who's protecting us?

Aug. 21 was National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs used the occasion to issue an executive order announcing the continuation of the Arizona Substance Abuse Partnership.

“As a social worker, I have seen how important a holistic and comprehensive support system is to those struggling with substance abuse,” she said. “In order to keep Arizona children and families safe and healthy, we must provide them with the tools they need to do so.”

Pity she didn’t make her announcement while standing at the border, specifically in front of one of those gates now open along the U.S.-Mexico border.

As Hobbs was announcing the continuation of her substance abuse council, the New York Post was reporting on the migrants streaming through some of the open floodgates along the border near Lukeville.

Trump's folks opened border floodgates

This, naturally, prompted Arizona Republican legislators to accuse the Biden administration of intentionally leaving the nation’s back door open.

“As reported this week, Biden administration officials have literally opened the floodgates along the Arizona border, welding open 114 massive gates, allowing tens of thousands of illegal crossers into our country each month who are coming from throughout the world, including India, Egypt and China,” they said, in calling on Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes to take action to secure the border.

Nowhere in their letter or accompanying news release did they mention that those 12-foot floodgates are opened every year during Arizona’s monsoon season, to prevent runoff and debris from damaging the fence.

Or that even the Trump administration opened them.

Still, the Republican legislators have a point.

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Shouldn't we target cartels at these gates?

Shouldn’t somebody be guarding those open floodgates?

I’m not so concerned about the migrants, crossing in full view of reporters and searching out a Border Patrol agent in order to request asylum.

It’s the people you don’t see that we should worry about, the human trash who are infecting our state with enough fentanyl to kill off the country.

The drug is cheap, available and the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49, according to a Washington Post investigation.

Fentanyl is killing young Americans: 6 out of 10 fake prescription pills are laced with fentanyl. Warn your kids.

Only a fraction of smuggled drugs is stopped

And Arizona has become the gateway to America for these death dealers.

Analysts and activists who keep up with this stuff will tell you that most of the fentanyl seized is being brought into the country, often by U.S. citizens, at legal ports of entry. More than half of the fentanyl pills seized have been in Arizona.

Authorities also acknowledge they are catching only 5% to 10% of the fentanyl being brought into the country.

Which brings me back to those open floodgates, which have been welded open. Do you really think the drug smugglers haven’t noticed?

Opioid epidemic an American crisis: COVID has been hiding another epidemic. We have to do more for our opioid patients.

Gov. Hobbs shouldn't wait for the feds to act

Forget waiting on President Joe Biden.

If Hobbs really wants to keep Arizona children and families safe and healthy, she should act less like a social worker and more like a governor.

Order out the National Guard or the Department of Public Safety to guard those open gates until the monsoon season is over and they can be closed.

Surely, any “holistic and comprehensive support system” for those at risk of dying should start by cutting off the cartels at the pass ... er, floodgate.

Laurie Roberts is a columnist for The Arizona Republic and azcentral, where this column first ran. Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @LaurieRoberts