Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on Wednesday called for militarizing the nation’s southern border with more manpower, technology and a longer wall, saying that under the incoming Trump administration a “historic” defense system will be used to create total control of the border.
On “day one” under Trump, the new president should announce an “immediate border security surge,” McCaul said at the Heritage Foundation in a speech billed the State of Homeland Security. He said he is working in Congress on emergency legislation “to build a tough array of barriers we need to go along the border to close all the security gaps and defend American sovereignty,” adding that “we need more Border Patrol agents, new authorities, aerial surveillance.”
Photo: U.S. House of Representatives.
“I think we need 100 percent visibility down there because if you can’t see the threats coming in, you don’t know how to stop it with a smart border,” McCaul said. “We need sensors and other technologies to protect our territory. And we will take a military style approach to the problem by giving agencies the real command and control they need to get a handle on the situation.”
Under the administrations of President Barack Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush the United States increased the number of agents working to secure the nation’s borders at and between land ports of entry. Both administrations also took steps to boost security technology at the southern and northern borders, with unmanned aircraft systems, fixed towers cameras, radars and related command and control, various vehicle mounted and portable mobile surveillance systems, unattended ground sensors, and other technology, including aerostats that can conduct both ground and aerial surveillance. In some cases, such as the Integrated Fixed Towers, which are only being deployed along portions of the southern border, those deployments are ongoing.
McCaul said that under Obama the U.S. is less secure that when the president assumed office.
McCaul’s speech came the same day as the incoming administration leaked news that Trump plans to nominate retired Marine Gen. John Kelly to be Secretary of Homeland Security. Kelly retired earlier this year after serving more than three years as commander of United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which provides contingency planning, operations and security cooperation for an area that includes Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
In January Kelly conducted a briefing at the Pentagon describing his command’s mission as “all about broadening and deepening partnerships down there, to say the least.” Most of the command’s operations are centered on helping to stem and interdict illegal drug flow into the U.S., although humanitarian missions are also part of its mission portfolio. In his media briefing Kelly singled out Columbia as being the most important partner in effort against illicit drug trafficking.
At the time Kelly also said SOUTHCOM’s partnerships include the Coast Guard, CIA, FBI, other law enforcement organizations and the nation’s allies such as Canada, France, Britain and the Netherlands, who provide vessels that help with drug interdiction activities.
In March 2015, in prepared remarks for the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kelly said that it is very easy for smugglers to bring illegal aliens to the “doorstep” of the U.S., warning that these same routes could be used by terrorist organizations to bring “operatives…or even weapons of mass destruction into the United States.” He also said he supported Obama’s plans to increase assistance to countries in Central America, which have been the source of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants—particularly unaccompanied children—to the U.S. the past few years.
Kelly received support from at least one Senate Democrat on his pending nod to lead DHS. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, offered congratulations to his “friend,” pointing out Kelly’s experience working with Latin America on the root causes of illegal migration and drug smuggling.
Carper also said he wants to hear Kelly’s thoughts on fixes to the “broken” U.S. immigration system and how to help the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S. to pursue the American dream.
In his Heritage Foundation speech, McCaul also said that the Trump administration will build a wall along the border with Mexico, “Period.”
As for paying for the increased border security, McCaul said that upfront “Congress should fund this effort straightaway,” adding that ultimately U.S. taxpayers “shouldn’t be stuck with the bill.” Instead, McCaul offered that Mexico and America’s other southern neighbors need to “have skin in the game” providing security along Mexico’s border with Central America.
McCaul also said that immigration feeds from Mexico and border crossing tolls could be used to pay for border security. He also said that those drug cartel assets that are seized could be directed for border security as well.
McCaul also called for improving the nation’s cyber security, saying “The enemy is winning.” He also cited Russia’s attacks on the U.S. democracy, saying “We cannot allow foreign governments to interfere in our democracy. When they do, we must respond forcefully, publicly, and decisively.”
During his presidential campaign when U.S. intelligence and homeland security authorities said that Russia had hacked and stole emails from the Democratic National Committee that were then provided to WikiLeaks and hacker groups, Trump called for Russia to find missing emails of his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton that might contain classified information.
McCaul also called suspending the acceptance of immigrants from high risk countries, including Syria, because of the risk that Islamic terrorists could hide in the refugee flow. He also called for a Marshall Plan by the U.S. to help its allies with counter-terrorism.
Other measures that McCaul wants the Trump administration to pursue include extreme vetting of all foreign travelers coming to the U.S., a better counter narrative than the Obama administration is doing on countering social media recruiting of homegrown terrorists, better information sharing of potential terror threat with state and local law enforcement communities, and finding ways to stop terrorists from using encrypted applications and communications to avoid detection.