Immigration, like a lot of societal issues that warrant debate, is a politically-charged topic.
Why don't we look at another societal issue that warrants debate and compare it to immigration - Drug use/misuse
We have an undocumented immigration challenge in this country.
- According to Pew Research in July 2023, there are an estimated 14 million undocumented immigrants (4.1% of the total U.S. population) and probably grew more through the end of 2024
- According to the Heritage Foundation, previous admins including the Biden admin have not done a good job locking up criminal illegal aliens where ICE estimates that before Trump began his 2nd term, 95% of criminal illegal aliens were allowed to roam free in the U.S. which they calculate to be 662,566 criminal illegal aliens
- Yet, per the Cato Institute in a late 2025 study, only 5% of People Detained By ICE Have Violent Convictions, 73% No Convictions, so it doesn't appear that ICE is focusing it efforts on "the worst of the worst," despite a near doubling of detention centers and ICE/CBP forces.
We also have a drug misuse challenge in the U.S.; technically people with drug dependence or misuse are breaking the law as the possession or use of most drugs is illegal in every state.
The U.S. does a decent job of locking up those caught with drugs or drug abusers who commit crimes, but there is still a majority of drug users/abusers that is not locked up that presumably is committing crimes, causing a lot of damage, and bringing chaos to families and communities.
- It's estimated that roughly 5% of the U.S. general adult population (about $265 mill.) or about 13.25 mill. people meet the criteria for drug dependence or abuse
- It's also estimated that roughly 3 million people with substance use disorders are "locked up" (arrested or incarcerated) in any given year
So we have about 10.25 million people with drug dependency in the U.S., a population that has a much higher potential to cause familial and societal damage in this country compared to 13.35 mill. undocumented immigrants (the ones who do not have major criminal records) who are much less likely to commit crimes and cause societal damage; yet, we're sending aggressive armed forces into major cities (not all cities equally btw) to canvas neighborhoods, break windows, and unleash brutality on these cities to find the illegals.
Why aren't we rapidly building up DEA/other forces to go after illegal drug users, who from a societal perspective are already causing damage to this country and who are much more likely to commit crimes from break-ins to robberies, and even murders. Why aren't we combing through residences and workplaces, breaking down their doors, smashing their car windows, and looking for drugs and abusers? Why aren't we grabbing and detaining suspected drug users by the way they look / are dressed and bringing them to detention centers and giving them drug tests to determine if they're clean or not?
). Sure Rage against the machine makes sense if you haven't experience the real world.
