WASHINGTON, D.C. — Since losing her 15-year-old son Weston to a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl, Anne Fundner has been determined to use her voice and her family’s nightmare tragedy to expose the deadly cost of negligent policies that fail to protect America’s borders and citizens. Upon taking office for his second term on January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed numerous executive actions that addressed the previous administration’s lax border policies that allowed millions of illegal aliens and deadly drugs into America.

Independent Women’s Features (IW Features), the grassroots storytelling and original journalism division of Independent Women, today released the latest episode of its documentary series, “Collateral Damage: Voices of the Angel Moms.” Fundner’s story is the second in the series of mothers reliving their darkest day and why they are fighting to ensure no other family endures the same devastating loss.

IW Features partnered with The American Border Story (TABS) to produce the docu-series.

Watch Anne Fundner’s story HERE.

At the time of the tragic incident, American citizens, like Fundner and her family, were governed by disastrous pre-Trump border policies. Had immigration laws been enforced and the threat of fentanyl taken seriously, Fundner told IW Features that Weston’s death would have been “completely preventable.”

“After my son died, I just had my face in my hands going ‘I don’t understand why they’re not doing anything,’” Fundner said. “Where is the COVID response? [Fentanyl] is the number one killer–more than cancer, more than car accidents, more than guns.”

With President Trump now serving his second term, Fundner expressed her gratitude that she has been able to work with the administration “to be an advocate against the scourge of fentanyl that was coming over the border.” She worked directly with President Trump on the HALT Fentanyl Act, which closed loopholes and granted law enforcement proper authority to prosecute drug traffickers when signed into law in July 2025.

No matter how painful it may feel to recount her story, Fundner said that with the support of this new administration and side-by-side with her fellow Angel Moms, she’s not going to stop.

About her son’s memory and the love and support her family has received as she has shared their story, Fundner told IW Features: “It wasn’t just about Weston making a bad decision and dying. God had a plan for my son’s life—because I know that my son is saving lives through his story.”

Angel Moms like Anne Fundner are pushing through the pain to tell their stories in hopes that they can raise awareness on the harms of illegal immigration and drive lasting policy change to save others from the loss they have endured. In an effort to bring attention to mothers in America who have lost their children at the hands of illegal aliens, IW Features’ “Collateral Damage: Voices of the Angel Moms,” underscores the need to enforce lasting border security to protect American families and our communities from the imported crime that became so rampant under the previous administration. 

“Anne’s story is every mother’s worst fear, and should serve as every policymaker’s wake-up call,” said Andrea Mew, IW Features Managing Editor. “Her son didn’t die because he made one bad choice. He died because Democrat leaders refused to protect American families. When fentanyl floods across an open border and prosecutors look the other way, kids like Weston pay the price. But Anne’s courage to raise awareness is proof that even in heartbreak, truth and accountability matter immensely.”

“Anne’s story of heartbreak reveals the devastating human toll of fentanyl, a poison that has seeped into every community in America,” said Meaghan Mobbs, director of Independent Women’s Center for American Safety and Security. “Her loss puts a face to a tragedy that has destroyed far too many families, a scourge unleashed by years of open-border policies and neglect. The consequences are catastrophic, and the full scale of the damage to our nation, to our sons and daughters, is still not yet known. President Trump has taken decisive steps to close the border and force accountability, offering hope that we can turn this tide and protect American lives.”

“The life of Anne Fundner’s son, Weston, was stolen by a lethal dose of fentanyl, a poison that crossed our borders unchecked due to failed border policies,” said Nicole Kiprilov, visiting fellow with Independent Women’s Center for American Safety and Security and Executive Director of The American Border Story (TABS). “This documentary exists so that no other family has to endure what Anne and so many more Angel Moms have gone through – the loss, the heartbreak, and the unanswered questions. Telling Anne’s story is critical to putting a human face on a national tragedy, one that was ignored for far too long.”

IW Features previously released a trailer for the docu-series that also highlights Anne Fundner’s story, in addition to Marie Vega whose son was killed by an illegal immigrant who had ambushed their family.

Watch and read Anne Fundner’s story: One Mom’s Crusade Against The Fentanyl Crisis That Stole Her Son.

More from IW Features on the fallout of open borders:

For media inquiries or booking requests, please email [email protected]. 

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