People hold up photos during a Senate Judiciary committee hearing on fentanyl, and the need for permanent class scheduling, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

There’s no denying that the United States has an opioid crisis. Unregulated, deadly drugs have found their way into our urban centers, our suburbs, and even our rural main streets. Every year, these fatal substances indiscriminately kill hundreds of thousands of Americans regardless of age, race, or creed. There is no questioning what needs to be done. We must cut the flow of these drugs, often manufactured by foreign adversaries like China, and secure our borders.

In 2023, nearly 110,000 Americans died of drug overdoses. Almost 70% of these untimely deaths were due to synthetic opioids like fentanyl and other illicit, man-made drugs. Fentanyl-related deaths are now the number one cause of death among adults 18-49 and the drug is responsible for 77% of adolescent overdose deaths. These drugs destroy our most vulnerable and wreak havoc on our families.

That’s why I voted for, and the U.S. House of Representatives passed, the HALT Fentanyl Act, which intends to cut the flow of these illicit opioids into American communities. This legislation would permanently establish the class-wide scheduling order for fentanyl related substances (FRS) — which is currently temporary and soon to expire. The bill also ensures that law enforcement agencies have the tools and resources that they need to keep deadly drugs like fentanyl out of our communities. If the scheduling expires, many of these substances would become street-legal and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would no longer be able to seize these drugs as they cross our borders.

But protecting our communities from external threats isn’t limited to drug trafficking. In 2016, 21-year-old Iowan, Sarah Root, was tragically murdered in a drunk driving accident caused by an illegal immigrant — who was driving three times over the legal limit and had prior arrests. However, due to an egregious loophole in federal law, the illegal immigrant posted bail, was released from jail, fled our country, and was never seen or heard from again. Without a doubt, this tragedy — and many more like it occurring around the nation — demanded serious legislative action to keep our communities safe from violent illegal immigrants.

That’s why Senator Ernst and I introduced Sarah’s Law – in honor of Sarah Root – to ensure that illegal immigrants who harm or kill American citizens are swiftly detained and brought to justice. Fortunately, our legislation was included in the Laken Riley Act, which President Trump signed into law on January 29th. We were glad to be joined by Sarah’s father, Scott Root, for the signing ceremony at the White House and even had the opportunity to talk to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Vice President J.D. Vance about Sarah’s story.

The passage of this law — the first law signed by President Trump — is symbolic of the new administration’s commitment to the will of the people. Throughout his campaign, President Trump made promises to secure our border and protect our communities from drug trafficking and criminals. Just a matter of weeks into his presidency, President Trump has kept these promises, and I’m thrilled that we could work with him to honor Sarah’s memory and deliver real solutions to our border crisis.

But President Trump will not rest. After talks with Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, President Trump negotiated Mexico’s mobilization of 10,000 soldiers to the Mexican side of our southern border. He later spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who pledged to send additional personnel to secure our northern border and address drug trafficking. In conjunction with the service men and women on our side of the border, the members of the Mexican National Guard and border personnel from Canada will assist in cutting off the flow of human trafficking, drug trafficking, and violent criminals seeking to harm our citizens and profit from our suffering.

Since I’ve taken office — and with every subsequent oath that I have sworn to the American people — bolstering our border security has been a top priority for me. I’ve supported legislation ranging from the SAVE Act, which prevents illegal immigrants from voting in our elections, to the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, which ensures that illegal sex criminals and domestic violence offenders are deported from our country, to supporting efforts to keep building the border wall on our southern border. We must do everything in our power to keep our families and communities safe.

For the last four years under the Biden administration, the effects of an unsecured, open border have seeped their way into every facet of the American way of life — it must be put to an end. I look forward to continuing to work with President Trump — and our new Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem, respectively — to restore law and order in our country.

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Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, represents Iowa’s Fourth District in the U.S. House.