Biden-Harris administration has enviable record on fighting crime

Two weeks ago, as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas stood onstage at the Republican National Convention lying through his teeth and stoking fear about the need to “make America safe again,” DEA agents operating under the direction of Attorney General Merrick Garland were quietly trying to convince Joaquin Guzmán López, one of the leaders of the infamous Sinaloa drug cartel, to surrender to U.S. authorities.

Guzmán López knew that U.S. officials were closing in on him. His father, the elder Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, is currently locked up in a supermax prison in Colorado after undercover DEA agents operating under the guidance of the Obama administration captured him in 2016.

Then last year, the Garland Justice Department and Biden State Department worked with government officials in Mexico to arrest and extradite Guzmán López’s brother, Ovidio. And in January, the Justice Department arrested almost 200 people in coordinated raids across 10 states that were designed to disrupt the flow of drugs that had already arrived in the U.S.

On Thursday, Joaquin finally accepted that his time was up. He made arrangements to fly to a small private airport outside of El Paso, Texas, where he surrendered to U.S. officials.

In a last-ditch attempt to obtain leniency, he tricked Sinaloa cartel co-founder and longtime fugitive Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada into joining him on the flight. In a serious blow to the Sinaloa cartel and a significant victory for U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officers, the two men were arrested without incident Thursday morning. On Friday, Zambada pleaded not guilty to drug, money laundering and weapons charges and was ordered to remain in custody without the opportunity to post bail.

The arrests demonstrate that although the lethal potency of synthetic drugs like fentanyl have driven overdose deaths to disturbingly high levels in recent years, the policies of the Biden administration and Garland are successfully taking out drug cartels and other criminal syndicates, and reducing crime in the United States.

Despite GOP rhetoric, the Biden administration has not been “soft” on drug traffickers. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in fiscal year 2023, 97.2% of all people convicted of a drug trafficking-related offense received prison time. It is also worth noting that during this same time frame, 81.9% of the people convicted of drug-trafficking offenses were United States citizens, not migrants arriving at the southern border as Donald Trump would like you to believe.

Contrary to Trump’s tough talk, a higher percentage of convicted federal drug traffickers was released early during the final year of the Trump administration than the most recent year of the Biden administration. 

Moreover, violent crime generally is down substantially in the United States since Biden took office.

Data compiled from nearly 14,000 local law enforcement agencies and released in June by the FBI showed that the rate of violent crime dropped by more than 15% in the United States during the first three months of 2024, compared with the same period in 2023. That includes a 26.4% decrease in the murder rate, a 25.7% decrease in reported rapes, and a 17.8% decrease in robberies. 

Nonviolent crimes, such as burglaries and motor vehicle thefts, decreased in every region of the United States, with an overall national drop of about 17%.

Those drops continue a multiyear downward trend that has occurred every year since 2021 — the same year Biden took office. Trump’s GOP knows the crime data is against them, which is why they’ve tried to shift the argument to imaginary terrorist groups creeping across the border. Trump will say anything to stoke irrational fear.

There is certainly more that can be done to combat violent crime in the U.S., especially violent crime related to the trafficking of illicit drugs. But effective policymaking starts with understanding the problem and acknowledging what is working and what isn’t. In this case, while fentanyl is unusually deadly, the Biden administration’s policies are working to slow fentanyl trafficking and dismantle drug cartels.

Biden and Garland have successfully reduced violent crime, captured numerous leaders of foreign drug cartels and brought them to justice, worked to dismantle the distribution networks that help drugs move across the country, and held those who lead criminal syndicates accountable under the law. Perhaps most impressively, they’ve accomplished these goals without sacrificing opportunities for low-level drug users to overcome their addiction and be rehabilitated.

Once we understand the situation as it is now, it’s easy to see that the intensity and success of these policies are likely to continue or even expand if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the election for president.

As a former prosecutor and California attorney general, Harris has spent decades working directly with law enforcement and other state attorneys general to take on drug cartels and other criminal syndicates while also fighting for a justice system that is fair and equitable for every American.

Her experience and credentials in fighting to reduce crime, eliminate the drug trade and create safer communities stand in stark contrast with Trump, whose only “solution” to the fentanyl crisis is to scapegoat migrants by portraying them as dangerous criminals instead of people seeking a better life for their family. Not to mention that Trump is a convicted felon who, by all appearances, couldn’t care less about following the law.

Americans who believe in law and order should celebrate the arrest of Joaquin Guzmán López and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada by thanking the brave officers who risk their lives with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Then, we should look beyond the lies and empty rhetoric offered by the GOP and reward those who champion effective policies that actually stop the flow of drugs into the country and punish those who try to bring them here. This means voting for Harris in November.