It is a mistake to claim that drug smuggling and addiction are causally related to immigration. Immigrants to the United States have significantly lower rates of drug abuse and addiction than the native-born population. Domestic demand for drugs, not foreign influence, is what makes the illicit drug trade profitable.
The real connection between immigration and drugs is that transnational criminal organizations profit from smuggling both human beings and illegal drugs. The way to sever this connection entirely, and to defund criminal enterprises, is to end the War on Drugs and to end policies that severely limit immigration. So long as gangs can enjoy an effective monopoly on making money from smuggling contraband, they will continue to operate and create the other social problems attendant to organized crime, including crimes of violence.
These criminal enterprises are not only a threat to destination countries, which are typically wealthy and enjoy relatively low crime rates. They are an even greater threat to residents of the regions where the smuggled contraband originates and is transported on its way to export markets in North America and Europe. For example, Ecuador saw its homicide rate increase by more than 500 percent between 2020 and 2023, with prison massacres and targeted assassinations on the rise, as narcotics traffickers sought out new territory with locations for storing, processing, and exporting drugs.
This question is from Faith Seeking Freedom: Updated & Expanded, available in paperback, PDF, and Kindle.