If we really want to solve the problem of illegal immigration into the United States, end the War on Drugs.

The principal reason that Latin Americans give for seeking asylum in the USA is that they are fleeing criminal gangs.

South of our southern border, local authorities in many areas have totally lost control to drug cartels. The source of cartel power is the cash income from the sale of illicit drugs in the United States.

We have spent trillions on interdiction and incarceration, to no effect. There are more drugs on our streets than ever. The war on drugs is a complete and utter failure. All we have achieved is the creation of a very lucrative black market; mother's milk for criminal gangs.

The costs of manufacture of drugs like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl are incredibly low. The sale prices are relatively high only because of the black market our legal structure has created.

The massive profit potential in the drug trade has a magnetic draw on people looking for a way out of poverty. The cartels have no trouble recruiting operatives for all levels of their operations.

Like any business, a drug gang will naturally want to diversify their portfolio, becoming both vertically and horizontally integrated. In the vertical structure, the cartel control the product's entire production chain, from raw materials sourcing (e.g. poppy fields and coca plantations) to delivery of finished product (via boat, plane, truck, and underground trolley). Horizontal integration is manifested as a branching out into other illegal activities, including, but not limited to human trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, theft, and murder for hire.

The vertical element has a predictable effect on the local population. Many individuals will fall into drug addiction where drug manufacture is an important part of the local economy.

But it is the horizontal ventures that probably have the greatest negative impact on the local population. Honest, hardworking, clean-living people who never touch drugs or any part of the trade instead fall victim to extortion, kidnapping, etc. Flush with cash from the drug trade, the cartel can hire an army of gunslingers that simply overwhelm the local police.

Up against the wall and with nowhere to turn, desperate people will trek thousands of miles through the harshest conditions to find a better life.

In2023 more than 400,000 people, of all ages and genders, made their way northbound over the trail through the notorious Darien Gap, in the jungles of Panama. Their ultimate goal is entry into the United States.

If we want to have any hope of stemming this human tide, we must acknowledge the immigrants' plight, and address its root causes. Organized crime is driving them out of house and home. And US drug policy is empowering the the criminals.

What we can do on our end: decriminalize, regulate, and tax drugs that are currently available on the street. This will remove many of the harms caused by illicit drug use. Our current approach drives users into the shadows, away from the help they need to kick their addictions. The paradigm shift that decriminalization represents will bring them into the light, where they can get clean. The drug supply will become standardized, reducing overdoses and poisonings. Prices will fall, because the substances themselves have practically no intrinsic value. Addicts will not need to steal to support an expensive habit. At the same time, tax revenues can be directed into education and treatment. And society as a whole will benefit from not carrying the burden of warehousing people in prisons. This model is known as "reduction of harm," and has been successfully implemented in parts of Europe.

Americans have, for more than half a century, been fed the lie that the only way to combat drugs is through paramilitary interdiction operations and mass incarceration. The change that is needed will not come easily. The special interests that profit from perpetuation of the lie (e.g. arms manufacturers, defense attorneys, bail bondsmen, police organizations, and private prisons) are well represented by an army of lobbyists in Washington DC. To overcome these entrenched interests will require sustained and vigorous political action.

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We have tried the interdiction-and-incarceration model for over 50 years, resulting in trillions of dollars disappearing down a rat hole. It's time to try something else.

If we are truly serious about reducing illegal immigration, then we need to address the problem rationally. Our current policies perversely encourage the very thing we want to eliminate.

Criminalization is obviously ineffective as a deterrent to drug use. However, criminalization has been very effective at creating the black markets in which criminals gangs thrive. Decent people are driven out of their homes as drug gangs blight communities. People who would prefer to stay in their native lands instead become migrants.

Let's stop creating the conditions that encourage that migration. We can decriminalize drug use and simultaneously decrease demand through treatment and education.

Offer treatment programs to all addicts, and do a better job at helping them transition to a more productive, stable, healthy lifestyle.

Educate the populace on the dangers of drug use and drug addiction. Leave no doubt about the severe limitations that drug addiction can put on one's life.

Standardize the drug supply. Dispense only from licenced dispensaries. Register all users in a database. Connect that database to others such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, police departments, gun stores, hospitals, and other sensitive areas.

Depriving the drug gangs of their income will put them out of business, ending their reign of terror. And people who might otherwise risk life and limb to come north will instead remain happily in their native lands.