Immigration and National Security- Dr. Mackubin Owens

Earlier this month, some 12,000 illegal migrants crossed the United States southern border in one day, setting a new record. According to an October report of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered 269,735 illegal immigrants in September, an 86% increase from June 2023. The committee continued that since President Biden took office, there have been 7.5 million encounters nationwide, millions of whom have been “processed” and transported (often at taxpayer expense) across the country. But many more immigrants avoid detection and apprehension. The House Committee claims that the some 1.7 million illegals have evaded border control agents.  These figures are indicative of the greatest illegal immigration crisis the United States has faced in its history.

Opponents of restrictions on immigration routinely stress the humanitarian element of the ongoing crisis. Supporters of restrictions often focus on the financial strains that massive illegal immigration imposes on the country. But a very real problem with illegal immigration is its effect on national security.

In FY 2023, 169 migrants apprehended by CBP were on the US Terrorist Watch List. Who knows how many of the 1.7 million who evaded apprehension are potential terrorists? But when it comes to illegal immigration, there is an even greater threat to US national security on the southern border: the cartels. In June of 2021, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said that the cartels “dictate everything,” ensuring that nothing moves (families, unaccompanied minors, single young men, women, fentanyl, heroin, cocaine) unless the cartels say so.

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In this environment, the cartels have flourished. Their earnings have jumped from 500 million dollars in 2020 to an estimated 13 billion dollars last year. Much of the cartels’ earnings have come from the deadly opioid, fentanyl, which has killed 109,000 Americans over the last two years.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration has undermined border security. For instance, it has violated the Immigration and Nationality Act by releasing millions of dubious “asylum seekers” into the country before their claims were legally adjudicated. It has frozen all deportations—including those of criminal aliens guilty of manslaughter, vandalism, assault, and other offenses.

It has ended the “Remain in Mexico” program and Title 42 of the Public Health Service Act of 1944, programs put into place during the Trump administration that limited the overwhelming number of migrants entering the country and temporarily eased the burden on local communities and the outnumbered border patrol. It has violated immigration law by granting mass paroles to large numbers of illegal migrants.

In response to the crisis on the southern border, the House of Representatives has passed HR 2. A companion bill has been introduced by Republicans in the Senate and is still pending. Among other provisions, this legislation would: require the Biden administration to follow current law and detain, not release, illegal migrants; tighten rules to make sure that those seeking asylum are, in fact, genuine refugees; limit the parole authority of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); and protect vulnerable children from human traffickers and cartels by keeping families together during removal proceedings and reuniting children with their families back in their home countries.

HR 2 also criminalizes visa overstays, which traditionally account for about half of all illegal immigration, mandates (as required by current law) that asylum seekers have their finger-prints and DNA taken, and requires the resumption of construction on the border wall. In addition, it funds enhanced border protection infrastructure and more border patrol agents. And finally, it mandates E-Verify to insure that employers are not hiring illegal aliens.

Republicans have linked support for funding Ukraine and Israel to the Senate companion of HR 2. Opponents of what critics call the “draconian” nature of the immigration bill in the Senate have decried this action. But although there is a strong case to be made for US aid to Israel and Ukraine, the idea that securing the southern border is somehow less important than foreign aid is a dangerous illusion.

For most of its history, the United States has, thanks to the fact that our American neighbors have been weak and/or friendly, been able to focus on distant security threats arising from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Accordingly, we have sought to establish alliances and alignments enabling us to dominate the “rimlands” of Eurasia.

But we have always been vigilant regarding the possibility that our adversaries would exploit weaknesses in the Americas. France attempted to establish an American empire while the United States was involved in civil war. Germany sought support from Mexico during World War I. The Soviet Union sought to undermine US support for NATO by supporting Cuba and revolutionary movements in Latin America. China has established significant footholds in the Western Hemisphere.

Certainly, our ability to deal with crises abroad is undermined by weaknesses at home. Our inability to control our southern border is a major cause of such weaknesses, e.g. crime, drug use, economic dislocation. Regaining control of the southern border should be understood as nothing less than a major national security objective.

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