Sen. Roger Marshall and five sheriff from Kansas traveled to the Mexican border on Thursday. On Friday, Marshall wrote a news release from McAllen, Texas, a town along the southern border.

“It is places like McAllen that are being hit the worst by the ongoing crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border,” Marshall wrote. “Smugglers traffic deadly fentanyl, which is responsible for over 2,500 drug overdoses in Kansas this year, through McAllen and other border towns like it. It is simply unacceptable – in fact, it’s a dereliction of duty – that Joe Biden continues to maintain his open borders policies that have in turn enabled criminals to bring fentanyl into our state and poison Kansans at record rates. This includes letting Title 42, a critical policy our country uses to expel migrants on public health grounds, expire on May 23.

“The sheriffs and I will spend this weekend receiving briefings and tours from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials and Texas Department of Public Safety law enforcement officers who are on the ground fighting this crisis. What is happening at our southern border is our biggest, most immediate national security threat. With fentanyl pouring across the border, this has turned into a public health crisis as well. Fentanyl is the deadliest drug our country has ever seen and is effecting Kansans at record rates. With just one teaspoon of fentanyl having the ability to kill thousands of people and a deadly amount being able to fit on the tip of a pencil, we must do everything in our power to stop this terrible scourge. I look forward to traveling down to the southern border with these heroic sheriffs so we can continue to bring awareness and solutions to the crisis that has turned Kansas into a border state.

“Speaking of law enforcement, the country is currently celebrating National Police Week and I am proud a resolution expressing appreciation for our law enforcement officers unanimously passed the Senate on May 18. I want to say thank you to all of our nation’s officers. As the son of a former Police Chief, I know well the sacrifices our law enforcement officers make. I have and will always have a special place in my heart for each of you. Thank you for all that you do to keep us safe.”