Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) says that while the establishment media stay focused on the war in Ukraine, nearly 6,000 miles away, there is “carnage happening in America” as drug trafficking at the United States-Mexico border translates to more than 100,000 Americans dying every 12 months from drug overdoses.

Hagerty, who gave an exclusive interview to Breitbart News following a trip to Laredo, Texas, said he had first visited the border in 1992 when “a crisis was mounting” with an “inadequate response” from the federal government.

Today, Hagerty said the region is far more dangerous with deadly consequences for American counties, cities, and communities.

“This isn’t folks cutting the line — this is about big-time crime,” Hagerty said. “The cartels are a multi-billion-dollar operation. They operate like an army that is working with the Chinese Communist Party that generates profits for the cartels through fentanyl trafficking.”

On Sunday, a report out of Ukraine detailing the finding of a mass grave filled with nearly 300 people spread like wildfire across the international media outlets. While horrific, Hagerty said the number of Americans dying every year from drug overdoses is the equivalent

“The lack of attention on this is really disturbing,” Hagerty said. “I’m checking my newsfeed and there’s been a mass grave uncovered in Kyiv … last night, in America we had over 300 overdose deaths … as many deaths last night in America that were found in that mass grave.”

“We have carnage happening in America … I’m hearing that each month every day is worse in terms of overdoses in America,” Hagerty continued.

From April 2020 to April 2021, the U.S. recorded more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths — the first time in American history that annual drug overdose deaths have surpassed the 100,000 mark. The rate of overdose deaths is also more than the annual number of Americans who die in car crashes and gun violence combined.

As President Joe Biden ends Title 42, the border control order that has helped federal immigration officials quickly return border crossers to their native countries, Hagerty said the cartels and China are “going into overdrive to ship more drugs” into the U.S. market while officials are occupied with merely processing border crossers into the U.S. interior.

“When Joe Biden collapsed our border, he started what is the next war on America’s youth,” Hagerty said. “It’s game on for the drug cartels and the Chinese communists and its war on America’s youth.”

Biden officials admit that anywhere from 500,000 to 540,000 border crossers and illegal aliens are expected to show up at the border every month with the end of Title 42. This is the equivalent of a population the size of Atlanta, Georgia or Fresno, California arriving at the border over the course of just 28 to 30 days.

The first of a series of legislative solutions if the GOP takes back the House and Senate next year following the November midterm elections, Hagerty said, includes codifying former President Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy into law and reinstating Title 42.

Like Title 42, Remain in Mexico ensured border crossers were sent back to Mexico while awaiting their asylum and immigration hearings in the U.S. — effectively ending the Catch and Release policy that allows border crossers to be released into the U.S. interior with only a promise that they show up to their hearings in the future.

Finishing construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall is also a top priority, Hagerty said.

“I found zero wall in Laredo,” Hagerty told Breitbart News.

Another part of that GOP agenda, Hagerty said, is transparency when administrations are releasing hundreds of thousands of border crossers and illegal aliens every few months into American communities.

“I’d like to know, our schools need to know how many are coming, our hospitals need to know, the law enforcement needs to know, it’s going to take a toll on our infrastructure so we must know who is coming to our states,” Hagerty said.

“We’re dealing with adversaries that are stronger than we’ve ever seen,” Hagerty continued. “It’s not a matter of more funding for the border and funding technology. We’ve got to change policies.”

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.