What is happening today at our nation’s borders is nothing short of a grave threat to our national security. The Biden Border Crisis has allowed millions of random, unvetted military-age men and women from places across the globe to cross the border with free access to America, and without question.
This crisis is being abetted by dictators across Latin America from places like Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, whose failing states are propped by remittances being sent back to those countries by immigrants and criminal gangs. We see it in our streets as the Venezuelan gang “Tren de Aragua” commits mass robberies in places from New York City to the Detroit suburbs, leaving destruction in their wake.
We have spent our careers defending the security of this great nation. Both of us served as officers in the United States Army and then in a variety of roles to protect our security. Mike served as a special agent in the FBI, as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and in private industry enhancing cyber security. Emilio served as a director of the National Security Council, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and in private industry focused on foreign affairs. We both understand national security and have devoted our professional lives to defending this great nation.
We see mass migration of military-age African men being trafficked on charter flights from Africa to Turkey to South and Central America before they team up with Mexican drug cartels to cross our southern border. A question that must be asked is who is funding this over 10,000-mile journey and for what purpose? Poor migrants seeking asylum certainly could not afford this, and they travel through multiple safe countries before ever reaching America. Yet the Biden administration allows this threat to continue unabated, further putting our security at risk.
Worst of all is the massive influx of illegal Chinese migrants across the southern border, with 37,000 crossing the border in fiscal year 2023 alone. That is up from just 450 in 2021 and from 2,100 in 2022. Already in fiscal year 2024, 18,000 additional Chinese migrants have been encountered at the border, setting the stage for another massive increase. Nearly all these migrants are also military-age men, and it is well known that China exploits our weaknesses to infiltrate spies into our nation. We see this fact as the gravest threat to our national security, and we can be certain that agents of the Chinese Communist Party have now been given free passes into our nation. China would never allow such a threat on their border, yet the Biden administration does nothing to stop it at ours.
Since day one of Joe Biden’s administration, his actions have thrown our border wide open and offered magnets for mass illegal migration, including the promises of work permits, free hotel rooms, healthcare, and debit cards loaded with taxpayer cash. And yet nothing to actually close the border.
Americans now can be certain that our nation has been infiltrated by human traffickers, drug dealers, criminal gangs, and potential terrorists from countries across the globe through both our southern border and our often-neglected northern border. Immediate action is needed to stop this flow, and we offer a few simple solutions.
First, reinstate the successful “Remain in Mexico” policy that allows the vetting and adjudication of asylum seekers before they cross the border.
Second, the Biden administration should stop making governors like Greg Abbott in Texas the enemy and start working with them to secure the border by building barriers to entry.
Third, catch and release must be ended immediately. Giving asylum seekers a court appearance eight years from now simply prolongs the threat.
Fourth, construction must begin immediately to finish the border wall, which has already been approved by Congress and has proven successful.
The Biden administration has been a complete failure at securing our southern border, and we can only assume their inaction is purposeful. The American people are demanding action, and this administration and Congress have totally failed to act. In the face of a clear and present danger, action must be taken today.
Mike Rogers is an Army veteran, former FBI Special Agent, former Chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan.
Emilio T. Gonzalez is a U.S. Army Intelligence veteran and national security expert who served as Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an undersecretary-level position within the Department of Homeland Security. He also served as Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the White House.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.