Small-business owner who will speak at RNC plans on detailing border crisis: ‘Looks like a war zone’

PHOENIX — The Republican National Convention will continue to feature powerful warnings about the Biden-created border crisis and its impact on Americans — including record overdose deaths from imported illicit drugs — during Wednesday night’s program.

David Lara, a small-business owner and Yuma Union High School District board member, spoke with The Post by phone about his planned speech and what he’s hoping Americans will take away from it.

One of the “everyday Americans” the RNC is featuring during primetime, he plans to focus on the fentanyl crisis and drug trafficking in his own community of San Luis, which touches the border with Mexico next to a city by a similar name, San Luis Río Colorado.

“What we go through and what we’ve been through as far as the influx of migrants, drugs is very unique as to what Yuma goes through or any other city,” Lara said, adding the city is considered a strategic hub for drug activity. “Now, yes, there is a drain on resources, but just like big cities, New York, Chicago that end up with migrants and asylum seekers, everybody in every city that’s taking them in is taking the hit, and it’s taking the hit on the programs.”

“I also have an office in San Luis, Mexico, so that’s why I’m back and forth almost every day. Looks like a war zone because the Mexican Marines had to be called in to help out the local law enforcement. That’s how bad it is. And that, of course, filters over to the United States,” he added.

Arizona is ground zero for illicit-drug trafficking in the United States through both legal and illegal points of entry. Migrant encounters have played a major role, with more than 477,000 so far in fiscal year 2024 in Arizona alone, per Customs and Border Protection data.

Lara said that although he believes there are very few undecided voters left in the race between President Biden and former President Donald Trump, people should reflect on their quality of life over the past four years.

“Anybody that says that they’re better off now than they were when Trump was in office, it’s not accurate,” Lara said.

“Doesn’t matter if the unemployment rate drops, but if your check doesn’t buy the same amount of groceries, the same amount of gas as previously when Donald Trump was in office, that catches your attention. That is one of the reasons the Latinos are now going Republican and supporting Trump, even those Latinos that criticized Trump in 2016,” he continued.

Arizona rancher Jim Chilton will also address the convention Wednesday night, right after Lara in the 7:30-8 p.m. Eastern block. Other border-related speakers include former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

US Senate candidate Kari Lake also touched on fentanyl-related deaths in her RNC speech Tuesday night.