When Donald Trump declared an emergency at the southern border to secure funding to build his wall, those who had already been mocking the deployment of troops to the area laughed louder and harder, sure that the mobilization of military and the need for better border security was just a political game to boost the President’s ego.

Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill), as a member of the national guard, was one of those deployed last month. He has an interesting story to tell.

In a phrase: “Hell yes, there’s a crisis.”

His crew found and directed @cbp to a man crossing the border with 70 lbs of meth. Had we not been there, that deadly drug would be on the streets. Wonder the damage that would do in Milwaukee…

— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) February 25, 2019

GOP @RepKinzinger, who deployed to the southern border, will meet with the President today.

He says the situation "is deserving of a national emergency, not because of the immigration issue but because of the drugs and human trafficking,” he says. https://t.co/6QB85uIS1z pic.twitter.com/DQjK5egH6l

— New Day (@NewDay) March 6, 2019

There have been numerous reports since Trump declared the emergency — which Congress has already blocked in the House, is expected to block in the Senate, and that block will likely ultimately be vetoed by Trump — that indicate migration has increased by staggering numbers since the first of the year.

But as Kinzinger notes in his CNN interview, the drug and human trafficking problem may be of greater concern than the movement of migrants across the border.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), in a House Oversight Committee hearing, had two experts answer yes without much hesitation when asked if the situation at the border could be considered a crisis.

“In your judgment … is there an illegal drug crisis on our southern border?” committee ranking Republican Jim Jordan (Ohio) asked Jim Carroll, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. “My guess is a lot of drugs are moving across the border where there aren’t any good guys to stop them … it’s an emergency, and there’s no way around it.”

Is there a drug crisis on our Southern border?

Here's what two experts said: pic.twitter.com/IFmGx99Q9O

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) March 7, 2019

So if the crisis is actually the drugs and the horrific trafficking of human beings, are the waves of migrant caravans an attempt — as Rahm Emanuel was so fond of saying — to keep that crisis from going to waste?