Tag Archive for: national security

Rubio: China Is ‘Most Potent, Dangerous Threat America Has Ever Confronted’

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Amidst the announcement this week of a major international operation to remove China state-sponsored malware from thousands of computers worldwide, U.S. officials and lawmakers are sounding the alarm that Xi Jinping’s communist regime is waging an increasingly malicious and aggressive effort to undermine the U.S. and other free democracies across the globe.

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced that it had completed a “multi-month enforcement operation” in which it was able to delete “PlugX” malware from over 4,200 computers across the globe, with the help of the FBI and French law enforcement. The malware was used by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hackers to “infect, control, and steal information from victim computers.” The operation comes on the heels of significant breaches by CCP operatives of U.S. internet service providers and the U.S. Treasury Department.

Over the weekend, outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray remarked during an interview that the Chinese government is “the defining threat of our generation.” He went on to detail how China’s cyberwarfare program “is by far and away the world’s largest — bigger than that of every major nation combined and has stolen more of Americans’ personal and corporate data than that of every nation, big or small, combined.” He further stated that state-sponsored hackers have burrowed deep within “American civilian critical infrastructure” and “lie in wait on those networks to be in a position to wreak havoc and can inflict real-world harm at a time and place of their choosing.”

Nominated officials within the incoming Trump administration are also signaling that they are clear-eyed about the threat that China poses to the U.S. During a Senate hearing on Wednesday with secretary of State nominee Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the lawmaker called the communist regime “the most potent and dangerous, near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.” He went on to observe that unless the U.S. takes a more offensive posture in confronting China within the next decade, “much of what matters to us on a daily basis — from our security to our health — will be dependent on whether the Chinese allow us to have it or not.”

Rubio’s comments echoed those of John Ratcliffe, whom President-elect Donald Trump nominated to serve as CIA director. During his confirmation hearing Wednesday, Ratcliffe, who previously served as director of national intelligence during the first Trump administration, commented, “I openly warned the American people that from my unique vantage point as an official who saw more intelligence than anyone else, I assessed that China was far and away our top national security threat,”

During Wednesday’s “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins,” Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) offered further warnings about the threat that Xi Jinping’s regime poses.

“[I]t is very serious,” he underscored. “We’ve seen the Chinese … monitoring people’s phone conversations at the highest levels of government. We’ve seen their hacking [of] public infrastructure. … And we’ve seen them spying on American territory. Right in our home state of Michigan, we had five Chinese nationals spying at Camp Grayling watching military exercises. So they are very aggressive, and they have a surveillance state that at home that oppresses 1.3 billion Chinese, and they’re wanting to export that around the world.”

Moolenaar, who serves as chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, went on to argue that the U.S. must be extremely careful with its economic partnerships with China.

“One of the goals of our committee, which is very bipartisan, is to make sure we aren’t funding our own demise,” he explained. “We’re not funding businesses that work with the People’s Liberation Army. We’re not funding technologies … that could be used against our American men and women in the armed forces. [T]his is an all-hands-on-deck effort to restrict an aggressive power. When you think of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, we never would have partnered with them on the kinds of things we partner with China on. And I think Ronald Reagan had it right: peace through strength. Let’s make sure we don’t help our adversaries succeed.”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins pointed to Americans’ consumer habits as contributing to the CCP threat. “[C]onsumers in this country that are attracted to cheaper Chinese products … are actually fueling our adversary, that they’re turning those profits into what we saw here, dispatching these hackers to break into U.S. databases and other infrastructures.”

Moolenaar concurred, noting that the CCP has “laws on the book, what they consider to be national security laws that require anyone … doing business in China to be accountable to the Chinese Communist Party. And if they require information, there is no such thing as a private sector. They have a military-civil fusion that gives priority to the military or the Chinese Communist Party. So it’s a very different framework than we’re used to dealing with. So that’s what makes it so serious when we trade or when we invest in Chinese entities that can all be used against us and our allies.”

Moolenaar additionally noted that there have been some recent successes in American entities separating themselves from the CCP. “[T]here were over 30 partnerships in universities in the United States that were partnering with Chinese universities and funded often by Department of Defense dollars, and they were collaborating on research in the highest technologies of physics, even weapons, all sorts of things. So we raised this issue, and fortunately, Berkeley, Georgia Tech, and most recently the University of Michigan have discontinued those.” He also reported that Congress is working on requiring Chinese tech companies like Huawei to be removed from “our supply chains for our defense industrial base.”

Moolenaar concluded by agreeing with Wray and Rubio’s sobering assessment of the threat posed by China. “Cyber is now one of the major domains for warfare … land, water, sea, space, cyber — all of those are key. … We need to make sure that we’re aware that China is trying to hack us every day and trying to pre-position malware on our devices that would threaten our way of living.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

RELATED VIDEO: Treasury Department breached by Chinese hackers | NewsNation Now

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

From Tariffs to Territory: Trump’s Expansionist American Vision

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Over the past month, President-elect Donald Trump has proposed annexing Greenland, admitting Canada to the American union, and reassuming control of the Panama Canal. To some, these proposals are jarring or confusing, and the left-wing media is only too happy to frame Trump — per usual — as a power-hungry, wannabe dictator. To find the truth, we must dig deeper.

Threats

When Donald Trump takes the oath of office on January 20, he will inherit a more dangerous world than he did in 2017. Not only are America’s adversaries more aggressive, but President Joe Biden has retreated from many of Trump’s foreign policy successes, leaving America weaker on the world stage.

Eight years ago, the only pressing threat was ISIS, which the Trump administration dismantled in 18 months. Today, Russia is in a hot war with a European democracy, China and North Korea are stronger and more belligerent than ever, and Iran is likely to develop a nuclear weapon at any time.

Meanwhile, America has fumbled its dominance in Afghanistan and the Red Sea, seen its military dwindle due to stupid social crusades, renounced the energy independence of 2019, and — from Trump’s perspective, at least — failed to benefit from the U.S.-Mexico-Canada [trade] Agreement (USMCA) that replaced NAFTA in 2020.

Now, as Trump thinks seriously about overcoming these challenges, he is proposing bold and creative solutions. But not every utterance of Trump’s public brainstorming session is wise, likely, or final. “What the president is doing is thinking long-term about our safety and security here in the United States,” explained Senator Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) on “Washington Watch” Wednesday.

Some of the criticism directed at Trump’s suggestions is due to a failure by the mainstream media and others to see how different policy issues are interconnected. Progressivism tends to rely too heavily on narrowly defined siloes of expertise. The Biden administration, in particular, often erred by failing to recognize how its decision in one area would have negative consequences somewhere else.

Canada

At least chronologically, Trump’s current train of thought seems to begin with ruminations on how to achieve his objectives on immigration and trade policy (his favorites). Trump was looking for a way to cajole Canada and Mexico into taking more responsibility for border security, as well as address what he perceives as a trade deficit with America’s northern and southern neighbors.

In November, Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico unless they stopped the cross-border traffic of drugs and migrants. Although dwarfed by southern border crossings, America’s porous northern border has still seen an unprecedented number of crossings under the Biden administration. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol recorded nearly 190,000 migrant encounters at the northern border in fiscal year (FY) 2023 and nearly 200,000 migrant encounters in FY2024.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded by warning that Canada would retaliate against the proposed tariffs by cutting off energy exports to the northern U.S. “We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy going down to Michigan, going down to New York State and over to Wisconsin,” he declared in December.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has more experience dealing with Trump, chose to avoid a confrontational standoff. Instead, he traveled to Mar-a-Lago to placate Trump and find out what Trump really wanted from the negotiations.

The visit was disastrous. At first, Trump described it as “a very productive meeting,” but he soon raised the temperature, publicly trolling Trudeau and openly contemplating the possibility of turning Canada into America’s “51st state.” Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned from Trudeau’s cabinet on December 16 over disagreements about how to handle Trump’s threatened tariffs, disagreements which continued to simmer within Canada’s governing Liberal Party. On Monday, January 6, Trudeau himself resigned as leader of the Liberal Party “due to internal battles.” Trudeau likely never suspected that his visit to Mar-a-Lago would end his political career.

As for making Canada the 51st state, both Canada and Congress would have to agree. Canadians may object to losing their public benefits, exchanging their parliamentary system for the American division of power, or combining their 10 separate provinces into one state.

For their part, U.S. representatives would likely balk at admitting a state with a population slightly larger than California, which would take approximately 50 seats from other states through reapportionment (the U.S. House is capped at 435 members). Democrats would be reluctant to follow Trump’s lead, while Republicans would be nervous that Canada’s progressive tendencies would swing the balance of power to the Left.

It’s difficult to see how Trump’s threat to use “economic force” (a.k.a. tariffs) against Canada would overcome these systemic obstacles. Although he will have no personal role in preventing it, Trudeau said there is “not a snowball’s chance in hell” Canada will join the U.S.A., and he’s probably right.

However, it is possible that the U.S. and Canada — who already share defensive and economic treaties — can reach new agreements to bring the two nations closer together, and this may be Trump’s real goal. “Trump is a negotiator, and he’s a disrupter. So, we shouldn’t be surprised that his negotiating style is very disruptive,” Ricketts pointed out. “Trump is certainly not going to give up anything in his hand before the negotiations have even begun.”

One possible Trump objective is to make Canada meet its defense spending obligation as part of NATO. “The president knows that Russia and increasingly China have been involved in the Arctic, and that we need to secure that northern flank,” said Ricketts. “Also, he knows that Canada has not been pulling its weight with regard to its defense spending. I think last year it spent 1.3% of its GDP on its defense, when it’s supposed to be spending 2%.”

Greenland

Trump’s interest in Greenland also flows from his concern about U.S. national security to attacks from the north. Earlier this week, Trump expressed an interest in the U.S. acquiring Greenland as well. “I am hearing that the people of Greenland are ‘MAGA,’” Trump said Monday on Truth Social. “Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our nation. … Make Greenland Great Again!” Donald Trump, Jr. flew to Greenland Tuesday to emphasize this point.

Greenland enjoys a strategic location on the Arctic Ocean and has large deposits of minerals such as cobalt, copper, and nickel. “It would be a way for us to help secure the northeast United States by making sure we would be able to put up our military bases there,” Ricketts explained.

The U.S. currently operates one airbase in northwest Greenland, but that may not be enough to counter a growing Chinese presence.

“We should be very concerned about what the Chinese are doing in the Arctic,” Ricketts added. There are “Chinese ships that are there that are dual purpose. They’re supposed to be doing research, but we know that there’s nothing in the Chinese Navy that … is just purely civilian. … They’ve all got [a] dual purpose. They all report to the same dictator who tells them what to do.”

After Trump’s comments, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (Denmark owns Greenland) responded that “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders” and that “Greenland is not for sale.” But Ricketts noted that “the negotiations for Greenland … haven’t even started yet.”

The proposal to furnish Greenland is probably the Trump proposal that seems furthest afield for many Americans. This proposal neither featured in his campaign nor expresses a deep-seated desire of ordinary citizens. In fairness to Trump, however, it is not unprecedented; the U.S. occupied the island during World War II to preempt a Nazi invasion after the Danish government capitulated, and President Truman made a secret offer to buy the island in 1947.

It seems that America’s interest in Greenland is primarily related to security, and leasing more military bases may be satisfactory alternative to outright purchasing the land.

Panama

Going from north to south, on December 22, Trump set his sights on the Panama Canal, complaining that “The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair.”

Trump’s concern about Panama is also related to security. “In the event of a conflict with Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Republic of China, we’re going to have problems because … one Chinese company owns a port on both ends of that canal,” Ricketts explained. “And you bet that they will try to shut that down if there’s a conflict and harm us from being able to respond to anything going on in the Pacific.”

The U.S. finished construction of the Panama Canal in 1914 to more quickly move naval assets from the East Coast to the West Coast. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty to surrender control of the canal to Panama, a process which was completed in 1999. “On the Panama Canal, we should have never given that back to Panama,” declared Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. “We should have retained control of that.”

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino responded that “every square metre” of the canal belongs to Panama, and that the country’s sovereignty and independence were not negotiable.

Trump has tussled with Panama before. In 2018, during his first term in office, a legal dispute resulted in Panamanian authorities forcibly seizing a 70-story Trump hotel in Panama City. How Panama and Trump might resolve this most recent dispute is not clear.

Doubling Down

During a Tuesday press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump made comments that his critics will distort to monger fear. When asked whether he would rule out the use of military force in relation to Greenland and Panama, Trump responded, “I’m not going to commit to that. It might be that you’ll have to do something. The Panama Canal is vital to our country. We need Greenland for national security purposes.”

It’s not difficult to imagine how a skeptical media will use this statement as evidence that Trump is about to embark upon wars of conquest. But there is a far more reasonable interpretation.

Trump stated that controlling Greenland and Panama is vital to U.S. national security. This remark surely anticipates a possible confrontation with China or Russia that spans the globe, not an isolated squabble with either country. In the event of a war with, say, China, neither Panama nor Denmark could defend themselves against a Chinese invasion, which would then use their territory as a forward base for launching attacks against the U.S. homeland.

In such a situation, a U.S. president would be forced to choose between allowing China to set up shop in Panama and Greenland to attack our homeland, or preemptively occupying these strategic chokepoints ourselves — as the U.S. did with Greenland during World War II.

This wartime scenario is the likeliest interpretation for Trump’s statement, “It might be that you’ll have to do something.” Trump is prudently keeping his options open. The breaking news here is not that Trump is about to embark upon a crusade against smaller nations who share our hemisphere, but that America is about to once again have a president who recognizes the dangerous world we find ourselves in and is willing to do whatever is necessary to keep Americans safe.

AUTHOR

Joshua Arnold

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

China’s Military Buildup Must Be Met with U.S. Strength, Experts Say

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A new report released by the Department of Defense is highlighting a vast military buildup being undertaken by China. Experts say the report is an important snapshot of the expansionist goals of Xi Jinping’s communist regime but warn that the true nature of China’s military ambitions is likely far more aggressive and poses a graver threat to the U.S. than what is commonly believed.

The report details that since 2023, China has added 50 new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that are capable of striking the U.S., increasing their total to 400. In addition, they have added 300 medium-range ballistic missiles, 100 long-range cruise missiles, and over 600 operational nuclear warheads. It also notes that hypersonic DF-27 missiles designed to evade U.S. defenses are positioned to potentially strike Guam, Hawaii, and Alaska?. As for China’s navy, which is already the largest in the world at 370 ships and submarines, it is expected to increase to 435 by 2030.

National security experts such as Lt. Col. (Ret.) Chuck DeVore say that “like Nazi Germany’s buildup in the 1930s, the militarization program ordered by the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] isn’t simply a great power buildup — it’s a weapon in service of a deadly ideology.”

The Pentagon report also notes that the CCP’s stated military objectives are to accelerate the modernization of its armed forces by 2027 for a possible invasion of Taiwan, to “complete the modernization of national defense and the military” by 2035, and to “fully transform the people’s armed forces into world-class forces” by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the CCP’s establishment of communist China.

But DeVore warns that “these timelines should be treated with skepticism. They are likely deliberate deceptions aimed at lulling adversaries into complacency or disguising China’s actual state of readiness. The pace of China’s missile expansion and cognitive warfare preparations suggests that Beijing’s capabilities likely exceed what is required for these projected milestones.”

Similarly, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Bob Maginnis, Family Research Council’s senior fellow for National Security, cautions that the DOD report does not accurately assess what China spends on its military.

“The PRC’s investment in its military is typically understated by the Pentagon,” he told The Washington Stand. “The 2024 Pentagon report understates the PRC’s defense budget at $330-450 billion. By comparison, the 2024 U.S. Commission on National Defense Strategy (CNDS) pegs China’s defense investment at $711 billion in 2023. That report cites Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, who has stated that ‘China’s military budget is likely three times what Beijing publicly claims, which would put it at about $700 billion annually.’”

Other experts say that the recent development of purges of top Chinese military officials for supposed corruption and disloyalty to Xi Jinping indicates that there is some ongoing instability within China’s armed forces. “Xi Jinping doesn’t trust his flag officers in the best of times, and now is certainly not the best of times,” Gordon Chang, distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute, told TWS. “There’s turmoil in the military. We know this because we can see the purges, we can see the suicides and the personnel rotations.”

Chang also pointed out that China’s communist chain of command is a weakness. “The problem with China’s military is that it’s a communist military, which means it has two reporting lines, which means that it’s not going to be able to respond in a wartime situation.”

Nonetheless, Chang acknowledged that “Americans probably are underestimating China’s military strength from any number of different perspectives. So we have to be concerned that the Pentagon report does not fully capture the capabilities of the Chinese military.”

Maginnis went on to contend that the U.S. military is currently not up to the challenge of directly deterring China. “The U.S.’s active military is two-thirds the size it should be, operates old equipment, and many of its operators lack the required level of readiness,” he remarked. “Overall, our armed forces are weak, and we accept significant risk should we fall into a global war.”

“A major shortfall is our defense industrial base, which continues to underperform,” Maginnis continued. “Our industrial base cannot be quickly upgraded, and our arsenals, which were emptied by the Biden administration to supply the Ukraine war, will take years to replenish.” He added that the U.S. “isn’t attracting sufficient numbers of capable recruits, which undermines our overall readiness.”

DeVore concurred, further arguing that the incoming Trump administration must prioritize rebuilding the military in order to counter the threat from Beijing.

“To effectively counter China’s ambitions, the U.S. must rebuild its fleet, modernize its nuclear arsenal, expand missile defenses, and restore maritime lift capability,” he asserted. “… In short order, President-elect Donald Trump’s national security team must start to rebuild the Navy with more surface combatants, submarines, and support vessels to counter China’s maritime dominance. America’s aging nuclear arsenal requires upgrades to ensure credible deterrence against China’s rapidly growing stockpile of advanced warheads and delivery systems.”

DeVore concluded by expressing confidence that Trump’s administration will “understand” the threat posed by China. “With Pete Hegseth at the helm of the Pentagon, and other key positions filled by people who understand the danger and the urgency of the situation, it comes down to whether Congress will join in the effort to preserve peace through strength.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Trump Ends The Week By Announcing Even More Major Cabinet Picks

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President-elect Donald Trump on Friday announced several key appointments for his upcoming administration, including the people he wants as his treasury and labor secretaries.

In a series of announcements, Trump appointed several new cabinet selections and key administrative positions, including key roles for the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Labor, and his national security team. Trump said his nominees have the expertise and commitment to dismantle bureaucratic overreach, restore fiscal responsibility and promote prosperity.

Trump appointed Russell Thurlow Vought as the director of the United States Office of Management and Budget. Trump highlighted Vought’s contributions during his first term, where he implemented significant regulatory cuts.

“Russ knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State and end Weaponized Government, and he will help us return Self Governance to the People. We will restore fiscal sanity to our Nation, and unleash the American People to new levels of Prosperity and Ingenuity. I look forward to working with you again, Russ. Congratulations. Together, we will Make America Great Again!” Trump said in a statement.

In the Department of Labor, Trump nominated Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the former congressional candidate, as secretary of Labor.

“Lori’s strong support from both the Business and Labor communities will ensure that the Labor Department can unite Americans of all backgrounds behind our Agenda for unprecedented National Success – Making America Richer, Wealthier, Stronger and more Prosperous than ever before!” Trump said.

Trump chose Alex Wong as the deputy national security adviser. Alongside Wong, Trump named Sebastian Gorka as the senior director for counterterrorism, citing his extensive background in national security.

“As Deputy Special Representative for North Korea, he helped negotiate my Summit with North Korean Leader, Kim Jong Un. Alex also led the State Department’s efforts to implement the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy,” Trump said. “Dr. Gorka is a legal immigrant to the United States, with more than 30 years of National Security experience.”

The administration’s health sector will also see new leadership with Janette Nesheiwat nominated as the U.S. Surgeon General.

“Dr. Nesheiwat is a fierce advocate and strong communicator for preventive medicine and public health. She is committed to ensuring that Americans have access to affordable, quality healthcare, and believes in empowering individuals to take charge of their health to live longer, healthier lives,” Trump said.

Completing the health leadership slate, former Republican Florida Congressman Dave Weldon was tapped to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Dave will prioritize Transparency, Competence, and High Standards at CDC. Dave will proudly restore the CDC to its true purpose, and will work to end the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and Make America Healthy Again!” Trump said.

Trump also appointed Marty Makary as head of the FDA. Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon known for his critiques of how the Biden administration handled COVID. In a statement, Trump said the FDA had strayed from its regulatory mission. He said he’s confident Makary, if confirmed, will steer it back on course.

Trump nominated Scott Turner, a former NFL player and White House aide, as secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Turner previously led the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council and is the highest-ranking Black appointee in Trump’s administration.

Trump announced on social media that he had nominated Scott Bessent as the 79th secretary of the Treasury. In his Truth Social post, Trump called Bessent a top international investor and a master of both geopolitics and economics.

AUTHOR

Mariane Angela

News reporter.

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‘A New Policy of Peace through Strength’: Johnson Renews Conservative Foreign Policy Vision

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On the eve of the 2024 NATO Summit in the nation’s capital, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) delivered a sweeping foreign policy speech that illustrated how the Biden administration’s “weakness” on the world stage has fueled global unrest, highlighted China as the “greatest threat to global peace,” and presented a conservative approach to once again attain “peace through strength.”

The speech, delivered on Monday at the Washington, D.C.-based Hudson Institute, marked the first major foreign policy-focused address of Johnson’s ninth month tenure as speaker. It concentrated broadly on the threats facing the U.S.-led world order and cast a vision for what a Republican-based foreign policy looks like, which he described as a strategy centered on both “realism” and “strength.”

“[T]he Republican Party is not one of nation builders or careless interventionists,” the speaker underscored. “We don’t believe we should be the world’s policeman. Nor are we idealists who think we can placate tyrants. We are realists. We don’t seek out a fight, but we know … we have to be prepared to fight. And if we must fight, we fight with the gloves off. And today, when our adversaries don’t need to cross oceans to harm our people, we need a new policy of peace through strength for the 21st century.”

Johnson starkly laid out the breadth of global threats facing the U.S., led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). “It’s an interconnected web of threats … a China-led axis composed of partner regimes in Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and even Cuba. Now, they each have their own cultures and their own specific, sinister aims, but they all wake up every morning thinking how they can take down America, and they are increasingly using their collective military, technological, and financial resources to empower one another in their various efforts to cut off our trade routes and steal our technology and harm our troops and upend our economy. Iran works with Russia to produce Shahed drones to hunt down … Ukrainians every day, while Russia launches North Korean missiles at Ukraine’s electrical grids using technology provided by the Chinese.”

The speaker further detailed how interconnected China and other countries are in fueling the crisis along the U.S. southern border. “China, our single greatest threat, is engaging in malign influence operations around the world and is even working with cartels now, backed by Cuba and Venezuela, to poison Americans with fentanyl. China, Russia, and Iran all work with Cuban intelligence outposts to target Americans and provide safe harbor for terrorists in transit. And all these enemies operate in our hemisphere … and they’re trading oil with Venezuela, which is pushing illegal aliens and violent criminals towards our borders.”

Johnson went on to lambast the Democratic foreign policy that laid the groundwork for where the world currently stands. “During the Obama administration, we saw eight years of international apology tours,” he lamented. “We saw the sequestration of our military, the buildup of ISIS, Russia’s invasion into Crimea, the spread of malign Chinese influence around the globe, and in a nuclear deal that gave Iran everything they wanted. And what are we facing today? The same failures we saw under Obama have happened under Joe Biden, because he’s empowered an out of touch foreign policy establishment who has an agenda very different than the one that we need right now.”

He continued, “Their agenda is about once again appeasing and apologizing and accommodating. Joe Biden doesn’t treat China like an enemy. He’s stopped supporting Israel and has cozied up to Iran to revive the failed nuclear deal. And in the most inexplicable policy imaginable, he’s opened our borders wide to spies and terrorists while reducing sanctions on Latin dictators who wreak havoc in our backyard. And the results of this were completely foreseeable, and we’re all living through it. Obama’s weakness invited aggression, and Biden’s weakness has fueled that aggression like nothing we’ve seen since World War II.”

The speaker proceeded to set forth the priorities that Republicans will aim for in order to stabilize national and global security.

“First, we have to strengthen our domestic position because national security begins at home,” Johnson emphasized. “[O]ur biggest national security challenge is our national debt. … I can promise you that come 2025, spending reform will be a top priority for our new Republican majority. … Congress has to prioritize the truly essential needs of our nation, and our national security has to be at the top of that list.”

First on the list is making sure the U.S. military is “a credible deterrent to our adversaries,” the speaker argued. “That’s why we invested $23 billion to restock essential weapons and rebuild our defense capacities in the April National Security Supplemental bill.” In addition, Johnson noted, “House Republicans pushed back on the Biden administration’s policy of Iran appeasement and secured the toughest Iran sanctions package in nearly a decade. We leveraged our economic influence against CCP-controlled TikTok. We passed the REPO Act that allows us to seize Russian oligarchs’ bank assets to pay for assistance in Ukraine, and in the Ukraine supplemental, we mandated cost matching for European allies.”

The Louisiana lawmaker further outlined legislation that House Republicans are putting forward to counter China.

“China poses the greatest threat to global peace,” he reiterated. “The House will be voting on a series of bills to empower the next administration to hit our enemy’s economies. On day one, we will build our sanctions package to punish the Chinese military firms that provide material support to Russia and Iran, and we’ll consider options to restrict outbound investments in China. We’re working on a piece of legislation to move this fall to do that very thing. We will vote on the Bio Secure Act, which will halt federal contracts with biotech companies that are beholden to adversaries and endanger Americans’ health care data. We’ll end the de minimis privilege for any good subject to Section 301 trade enforcement tariffs, and that will help stymie China’s attempts to exploit American trade. Our goal is to have a significant package of China-related legislation signed into law by the end of this year in this Congress featuring these priorities and many more, and we’ll work aggressively toward that package.”

Johnson also challenged NATO member countries to put a higher priority on military spending. “Every NATO member needs to be spending at least 2% of their GDP on defense,” he stipulated. “That’s the agreement. … There’s 10 or 12 of them that aren’t doing that yet. It’s no longer acceptable that not all NATO members have reached their current commitment. It may even need to be closer to levels during the Cold War. But if we’re all going to enjoy a future of peace and prosperity, we all need to have skin in the game.”

Additionally, the speaker reiterated the GOP’s support for Israel and the importance of standing with America’s allies in protecting trade routes. “Come November, we will be clear about our steadfast support for Israel, and we’ll build upon the Abraham Accords so the Jewish people can enjoy safety and freedom in their homeland. Likewise, in the Indo-Pacific, America must continue to build upon our military and economic relationships with India, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and the United Kingdom. We all have strategic interests in the region, and with a strong united front, we can protect our trade routes, our shipping lanes, and all of our shared interests.”

Invoking the Greatest Generation, Johnson urged a renewed commitment to peace through strength. “We can rearm, rebuild, reinvigorate, restore, and reinstate fear in our enemies. We can retake the summit of respect and thus look out on a landscape of peace and prosperity and security. We can show courage, we can show valor, and we can give our grandchildren the chance to grow up not in the shadow of tyranny, but atop our own shining city on a hill. Decline is always a choice, but that is not a choice that Republicans will be making any time soon.”

The speaker closed by quoting a former pope and president in stressing how the U.S. remains the free world’s greatest champion. “Pope Pius XII said it this way, ‘The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. Into the hands of America, God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.’ Reagan said, ‘We are indeed, and we are today the last, best hope of men on earth.’ By God’s grace, we will always be.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This The Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

U.S. at Second-Highest Threat Level for Terrorist Attack: Expert

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American soldiers abroad and U.S. citizens at home face perilously high odds of suffering a terrorist attack caused by the Biden administration’s policies, a national security expert has revealed. In his estimation, the American homeland stands at the second-highest level of terrorist alert.

His estimation comes days after U.S. European Command (EUCOM), which oversees 83,000 U.S. soldiers across the continent, raised the threat of a terrorist attack over the next week to “Force Protection Charlie,” the second-highest level.

“There are a host of issues that might be at play,” said retired Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis on “Washington Watch” Monday. “Certainly, the Olympics come to mind,” as they start later this month, as well as possible Russian activity in response to U.S. sponsorship of Ukraine. On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the Biden administration would give an additional $2.3 billion in taxpayer funding to Ukraine. That comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked President Biden for permission to use U.S.-donated Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles to strike deep into the interior of Russia, significantly widening the war.

But, Maginnis warned, the potential to suffer from some form of terrorist attack is far from confined to Americans overseas — and the primary danger comes from uncontrolled illegal immigration.

“Where would you suspect we are right here in the homeland?” asked guest host and former Congressman Jody Hice.

“Probably Charlie trending to Delta,” replied Maginnis.

The force protection levels, from lowest to highest, are: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta.

“We are at a very heightened level, even though it’s not acknowledged by Homeland Security,” said Maginnis, senior fellow for National Security at Family Research Council and author of the book “Kings of the East: China’s Plan to Eliminate America and Impose a Communist World Order.”

“The risk is high,” he said.

“The southern border has been wide open for a long time. Millions of people have come in” during the Biden administration — an estimated 10 million illegal border crossings, not including unknown gotaways. That includes “many thousands of military-age communist Chinese, many from the Middle East, many from northern Africa — where we don’t have any real friends — and then, of course an odd lot from Eastern Europe that we could very well have bad characters in sleeper cells posted around this country near our critical infrastructure.”

“As we saw on September 11, 2001, it only takes 19 bad dudes to disrupt the entire United States,” said Maginnis.

Potential terrorists continue to swarm over the southern border, a problem that has intensified with each passing month of the Biden administration. Last month, ICE agents arrested eight illegal immigrants from Tajikistan with ties to ISIS in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and New York City. At least two of the potential terrorists had background checks conducted at the southern border by agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), but nothing alerted CBP to the men’s nefarious connections — so they were released into the interior of the United States, in accordance with the Biden administration’s standard operating procedure. Another of the men used the CBP One App, created by the Biden administration to expedite the importation of illegal aliens into the U.S., to schedule a smooth entry into the U.S.

“The arrest of eight men affiliated with ISIS in the interior of the United States is enough proof to show that terrorist organizations are, in fact, exploiting our border to possibly carry out an attack on American soil,” wrote a group of Republican congressmen led by House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green (R-Tenn.) to the now-impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Unfortunately, the unacceptable security failures that have allowed individuals with terrorist ties to enter the United States through the Southwest [b]order have become an alarming pattern under this administration.” In addition to the eight Tajikis:

  • An ISIS-affiliated human smuggling ring reportedly brought 400 illegal immigrants into the United States. Only 150 had been arrested as of last week. The whereabouts of 50 of them remained unknown.
  • 48-year-old Mohammad Kharwin, a native of Afghanistan and a suspected member of the terrorist group Hezb-e-Islami (HIG), illegally entered the United States last March 10 near San Ysidro, California. Although he was on the U.S. terrorist watchlist, the information reportedly did not show up on his background check, so agents released him two days later, only to track him down and take him into custody this February.
  • A 2022 George Washington University report on Hezbollah activity inside the United States identified 128 individuals carrying out Hezbollah -related illegal activity in Michigan (55 cases), California (19 cases), North Carolina (16 cases), and New York (15 cases). Of those, 19 offered operational support for Hezbollah, “including as human smugglers, weapons procurers, pre-operational surveillance, and travelers who sought to join the group.”
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection has encountered 1,703 people on the U.S. terrorist watchlist since the beginning of the 2021 fiscal year (which began in October 2020): 173 in 2021, 478 in 2022, 736 in 2023, and 316 people so far this fiscal year.
  • Robert Lee, CEO of the energy cybersecurity company Dragos, testified before the Senate last March that it is “a very reasonable assumption” to believe Chinese and Russian sleeper cells have already penetrated the U.S. energy grid in preparation for a future attack. “If they’re not already in key parts of it, I don’t think they’re doing the job very well,” said Lee.

The Biden administration’s soft-on-crime “prioritization of catch, process, and release” at the southern border “presents a grave danger to national security,” the congressmen wrote.

Sleeper cells, which may lay dormant for months or years before engaging in deadly activity, have proven their lethality in every corner of the globe. Last week, a Russian official revealed that “sleeper cells” had carried out the June 23 Islamist terrorist attack on churches and synagogues in Dagestan, which left 22 people dead, including 66-year-old priest Fr. Nikolai Kotelnikov. The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church condemned the attacks as having “diabolic” origins.

“This is a dangerous time,” Maginnis told Hice.

AUTHOR

Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson is senior reporter and editor at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Biden Admin. Is Treating China with Kid Gloves while Bullying Developing Countries, Experts Say

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In the wake of a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday examining the influence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has gained within U.S. federal agencies, Republican lawmakers and experts are warning that the Biden administration has failed to confront China’s aggression while simultaneously pushing unwanted social policies on developing countries, which has driven them into the financial arms of the communist regime.

Witnesses at the hearing charged the Biden administration with failing to treat the CCP as an adversary for decades, leading to the unprecedented rise of China on the world stage. “The U.S. is now in a new Cold War,” argued James Fanell, a former U.S. Navy captain. “Over three decades, the U.S. had ample time to prevent [China’s] rise and to retard its growth, even to support the overthrow of the CCP, but it did not. Those strategic choices must be explained. Why did the U.S. assist, not prevent, the rise of its peer challenger? Was it entirely the result of a masterful, protracted political warfare campaign by the masters of deception, the CCP?”

Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), a member of the House Oversight Committee, agreed with Fanell’s assessment during Thursday’s edition of “Washington with Tony Perkins.”

“[W]hat we have to recognize is that they’re [engaging in] unrestricted warfare … against the United States,” he emphasized. “… [W]e keep talking of them as competitors. We need to recognize that they’re an enemy, and they do not have the best intentions for our nation. … [T]hem replacing us as the preeminent force on the world stage would certainly not be good for humanity as well. And so we have to stand up strong. We have to recognize the situation that we’re in, and we have to be willing to make the tough decisions to push back on this communist agenda that they’re trying to foist upon the whole world.”

As Mary Kissel, a former senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State, noted during the hearing, one way the CCP engages in this warfare is by conducting seemingly “innocuous and even friendly exchanges” with U.S. diplomats through “sister city agreements, business chamber meetings, think tank conferences, and ‘interviews’ with Chinese propaganda outlets.”

Kissel went on to issue a warning to American businesses regarding China’s infiltration efforts. “Educating Americans on grey zone Chinese influence operations is also deeply important for our business community,” she contended. “I serve as a director of two publicly traded companies. Few American executives and directors are aware that they, like our diplomats, are prime targets of Chinese influence operations, which aim to identify prominent Americans who may now, or in the future, be convinced to aid Beijing in some form or fashion.”

Erik Bethel, former U.S. Executive Director at the World Bank, further detailed how the communist regime is attempting to shape “global development, rules, regulations, and standards” through its involvement in the International Telecommunication Union, which “impacts global telecommunications standards, with significant ramifications for technology and innovation worldwide.” Bethel also revealed how a CCP member ran the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for eight years and “seamlessly integrated it” into China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a program that has saddled massive debts on developing countries in financial distress.

As Congressman Cloud observed, the Biden administration’s penchant for pushing controversial social policies onto developing nations has ended up helping China’s BRI.

“(O)ne of the very first eye-opening conversations I had as a brand new member was with an ambassador from another country,” he recounted. “They came in and said, ‘Hey, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for the aid your country sends our country.’ And then after some time of talking, he said, ‘Can I take my ambassador hat off for a moment? … Every dollar you send our country goes against Christian values and family values. And frankly, our country would be better off if we didn’t receive any.’ And I’ve heard that same situation from a number of countries where they say, ‘We appreciate what America has stood for, and we don’t want to align ourselves with China, but China [is] working to give us ports, bridges, and roads. We know that’s a debt trap.’”

Cloud continued, “But from our State Department, they get a lecture, and it’s things that undermine the society and values that they hold dear [and] not what they want to be involved with. And so it puts them in a difficult situation. … This is not advancing any sort of strategic interest of the United States at all. It’s frankly a false religion that they’ve decided to try to foist on the world. And we’ve got to make sure that we stop their efforts to do so.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Terror Threat on U.S. Soil Has Risen Dramatically under Biden, Experts Say

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Amid a rise in terrorist attacks across the globe in the wake of the October 7 massacre in Israel, national security experts are warning that the threat of attacks on U.S. soil has risen dramatically even as the Biden administration enacts policies that exacerbate the danger.

In December, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, remarking that before October 7, “we were already in a heightened threat environment.” But since the Hamas attack, he went on, “we’ve seen the threat from foreign terrorists rise to a whole other level.” Wray also highlighted the porous southern border as a primary security risk to the country, drawing attention to “a particular network [operating on the southern border]” with “ISIS ties that we are very concerned about.”

In the weeks following President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, he signed an executive order that reversed many of his predecessor Donald Trump’s policies that had tightened the flow of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border. As a result, an unprecedented 1.7 million unvetted individuals have crossed into the U.S. interior undetected since then, which is more than were able to sneak in in the entire previous decade.

As Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, explained during Tuesday’s “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins,” this breach could have devastating consequences for national security, especially in light of the security hole left by Biden’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2021.

“[T]here are foreign terrorist organizations like ISIS-K in Afghanistan and Pakistan that have been able to take advantage of ungoverned territories in that area, and … the U.S. is not striking them as much [so] that they’ve been able to grow,” he observed. “Chechens and Tajikistanis … in Muslim majority regions of Russia are free to attack. We’ve been seeing the Russian people victimized by some of these groups. They’re on the rise. … [T]he ideology of global jihad and Islamist supremacy under Sharia law isn’t going anywhere.”

Bensman continued, “[W]e’ve had tens of thousands of people from those regions crossing our southern border with very minimal vetting. And that is a significant issue to the homeland because we did kind of crack down on airport traffic and people coming in on legal visas after 9/11 quite a bit. But we haven’t done that much on the southern border for the last three years. And these Tajikistanis — [the] FBI rolled up eight of them in early June — who crossed the southern border … were planning some sort of a bombing attack. That would be the very first time that a group of terrorists — they caught them in three different cities — crossed the southern border to access their American targets on U.S. soil.”

Other senior U.S. officials besides Wray have also raised serious concerns over rising threats. General Erik Kurilla, commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has highlighted the growing capabilities of Middle Eastern and South Asian terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, the Islamic State (ISIS), and affiliates like ISIS-K. Former National Counterterrorism Center director Christine Abizaid illustrated “an elevated global threat environment” while speaking in Doha recently. In addition, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland acknowledged that the “threat level … has gone up enormously” during testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last week.

The recent Islamist attacks in Africa that have left dozens of Christians dead in Congo and thousands more massacred in Nigeria have also raised the ire of experts, who say that the Biden administration’s lack of focus on combatting terrorism abroad not only has deadly consequences for innocent civilians in foreign lands but will also allow terrorist activity to intensify overseas, which will only increase the danger of that activity eventually filtering into the U.S.

Bensman went on to note that the anti-terrorism policies put in place in the country since 9/11 have proven to be effective, but dangers remain.

“[W]e haven’t been immune from terror attacks … since 9/11,” he acknowledged. “San Bernardino, Boston, New York — there was a truck attack on a bike path there. … They’re not on the scale of 9/11, but the reason that we haven’t had them … is because over 20 years, we got pretty good at counterterrorism. We built up our FBI. We built up all of our federal law enforcement agencies. We started sharing intelligence between agencies. [T]he number of terror plots that we’ve thwarted … are far greater than the successful ones. The threat is not diminished. It’s just that we have stopped an awful lot of them over the last 20 years, and we will probably continue to do that. But they’re still going to get through every now and again.”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins further contended that the Biden administration’s “two-tiered system of justice” has caused the American people to lose confidence and trust in the Intel community.

“I think that’s something that we always should be concerned about,” Bensman responded. “When I was in the intelligence business, we underwent a lot of training about what you can and can’t do to make sure that we can maintain the trust of the people we served. I think that there’s still a lot of that going on, but you always have had a mistrust of government power, especially law enforcement power [and] especially surveillance authorities. I think that’s a healthy thing.”

He added, “I hope that they just don’t get sidetracked by political whims, such as, ‘Hey, we need to back off of Islamic terror threats and move all of it over to white supremacy’ and that sort of thing. We can do two things at once. The country’s perfectly capable of juggling several balls at the same time like that.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

RELATED VIDEO: Putin Rallies China, North Korea, Vietnam Deepening U.S. Tensions

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Comer: Biden’s Intelligence Agencies ‘Have No Plan’ to Counter CCP’s Infiltration Program

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The chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee is warning that despite the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) unprecedented level of infiltration of U.S. institutions, intelligence agencies under the Biden administration appear to be unprepared, with “no government plan” to counter the threat.

“[W]e’ve known for years [that] they’re stealing our patents, they’re stealing our intellectual property,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) pointed out during Thursday’s “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.” “They’ve engaged in creating spy centers all across America, not just at our public universities. By the way, China, we have learned, is funding anonymously a lot of our most liberal research universities, the ones which just so happen to be having all the campus protests against Israel.”

A report released Wednesday by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) confirmed that radical left-wing organizations heavily involved in the anti-Israel protests and encampments that have spread to numerous universities across the country have received considerable funding from a network with ties to the CCP. The report details how the Shut It Down for Palestine (SID4P) movement, which includes a coalition of three other left-wing organizations, “are linked through financial, personal, and ideological ties to CCP associates Neville Roy Singham and his wife, Jodie Evans.” Singham, who formerly served as a consultant to Huawei, a Chinese tech conglomerate, “is known for funneling hundreds of millions of dollars into pro-China progressive advocacy through his network.”

The report concludes that the CCP’s “foreign influence efforts” seek to support U.S.-based groups with a “revolutionary, anti-government, and anti-capitalist agenda” in order to “incit[e] unrest throughout the summer of 2024 and in the lead-up to the U.S. Presidential election.”

Comer went on to describe what his committee is doing to combat China’s infiltration efforts.

“[W]e also know that they’re spying on our military bases, and we’ve launched an investigation,” he explained. “We’re trying to learn every detail of how deep their spy rings go, how deep their theft rings go, as well as passing legislation. [O]ur committee yesterday [passed] the BIOSECURE Act, which targeted five Chinese companies that the United States can no longer do business with because they take our genetic data and our health care data and use it against us.”

As reported by the South China Morning Post, the bill was passed out of committee with almost unanimous bipartisan support. The legislation would restrict federal agencies from contracting with the Chinese biotech companies BGI Group, MGI, Complete Genomics, Wuxi AppTec, and Wuxi Biologics. As noted by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), BGI has been accused of “using DNA from millions around the world without their consent on genomic projects conducted by the Chinese military.” In addition, Wuxi AppTec allegedly stole the intellectual property of U.S. companies and ran genetic testing centers “in cooperation with the Chinese military.”

Despite the increasingly malicious activity directed at the U.S. by the CCP, Comer expressed profound disappointment in the performance and lack of initiative of the intelligence agencies under the Biden administration with regard to the threat.

“Right now, I have absolutely no confidence in our intelligence community whatsoever,” he emphasized. “… [W]hen they give a classified briefing to Congress, if you write that down and wait, their predictions never seem to happen. They’re always wrong in a lot of big things. … [W]ith respect to China, there’s no government plan right now to educate the heads of government cabinets, much less the heads of government departments and divisions as to what to look for, to realize when China has infiltrated your data system or when China has hacked into some type of computer program, or where China may have some employees that are there spying and taking sensitive or even classified information back to the CCP for China.”

Comer further highlighted the dangers of the U.S.’s growing financial dependence on China.

“[China] owns a lot of our debt,” he observed. “And one of the strategies that China uses in third world countries — and I fear that they may already be implementing this strategy in the United States — is a thing called ‘debt trap strategy,’ where they loan countries money on certain infrastructure projects … knowing they will never be able to pay it back. And then, like a bank, they go in and foreclose on that asset. … [A]nytime Joe Biden has a program to pay off student loan debt or has another stimulus program or … gives money to Ukraine, we’re borrowing from China, and I fear that in the back of China’s mind, they realize the United States is going to be just like some of these African [and] South American countries [who are] never going to be able to pay it back.”

“As Scripture says, we don’t want to be indebted because the borrower is slave to the lender,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins remarked.

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Citizenship Application Now Allows for ‘X’ Gender Designation

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The Biden administration is allowing immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship to identify as an “X” gender on their paperwork. U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Monday that, effective immediately, immigrants applying for naturalization may pick “male,” “female,” or “X” as their gender, denoting “Another Gender Identity.”

Furthermore, applicants do not need to provide any supporting documentation in order to select an “X” gender. “You do not need to provide supporting documentation to select X as your gender initially or to change your gender selection for Form N-400,” USCIS stated. “The gender you select does not need to match the gender listed on your other immigration documents or on supporting identity documents, such as your birth certificate, passport, or state identification.”

“Historically, USCIS forms and associated documents have only offered two gender options: ‘Male (M)’ and ‘Female (F),’” the USCIS announcement explained. “This has created significant barriers for requestors who do not identify with either of those options.” The agency cited the example of other federal agencies, such as the U.S. State Department, which have allowed for a self-identified “X” gender on official documents as justification for its decision.

The agency advised, “Form N-400 is the only USCIS form that offers the X gender option at this time. Therefore, until we complete additional form revisions that add the X gender option, naturalization certificates are the only USCIS-issued secure identity documents that can reflect the gender X.” Form N-565, a request for a replacement naturalization or citizenship document, is reportedly still being revised to include an “X” gender option. Those who have filed an N-400 form which is still pending need only contact USCIS to request a change to “X.”

USCIS also updated guidelines in its Policy Manual to reflect the new gender option available, adding that there will be “other forthcoming form revisions that will add a third gender option…”

Referring to the death of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) posted on social media, “I’m sure Laken Riley’s family is relieved to know that immigrants can now register as ‘Gender X.’” He added, “Biden’s Department of Homeland Security is too busy implementing woke DEI gender policies to protect Americans and secure the border. … Close the border.”

The USCIS decision follows similar moves by other federal agencies, most notably the State Department. In 2022, Biden’s State Department announced it was adding “X” gender marker options to U.S. passports, a decision explicitly cited by USCIS in its own announcement. Additionally, the State Department has spent its time issuing warnings to staffers about “misgendering,” funding training programs for LGBT “allies,” and endorsing LGBT “Pride” events across the globe.

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

General: Afghanistan Withdrawal Enhanced New Terror Threat to America

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Resurgent Islamist terrorism poses a threat to the U.S. homeland, experts warned after a deadly attack in Moscow. “The deadly attack … has raised concerns that the terrorist group could potentially move to carrying out attacks in Europe and even here in the United States,” Family Research Council Action President Jody Hice summarized on “Washington Watch” Monday.

On March 22, terrorists armed with rifles, pistols, and knives opened fire at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow and lit fires that caused the roof to collapse, killing more than 100 concertgoers and injuring more than 500. Russian authorities have charged four men from Tajikistan with terrorism in the attack, for which the Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) has taken credit.

General Erik Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, recently warned that ISIS-K “retains the capability and the will to attack U.S. and Western interests abroad in as little as six months with little to no warning.”

ISIS-K’s Rapid Expansion

ISIS-K “morphed from a series of radical groups that were in eastern Syria [and] northern Iraq years ago, during the Obama administration,” Lt. Col. (Ret.) Robert Maginnis explained on “Washington Watch” Monday. During the Trump administration, a U.S.-led coalition dismantled the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but not before its radical jihadis “spread elsewhere in the Middle East all the way to Afghanistan,” said Maginnis. Additionally, “they have tentacles not only in Central Asia, but all the way to northern and central Africa.”

The ISIS offshoot is “as radical an Islamic group as we’ve ever seen,” Maginnis described, to the point that they target other Islamists for their alleged compromises. Not only is ISIS-K “in contest with al-Qaeda and the Taliban,” as Maginnis said, but they have also attacked neighboring Muslim countries. In 2023, ISIS-K killed more than 60 people by bombing a political rally in Pakistan, and two ISIS-K suicide bombers killed 90 and injured more than 200 Iranians in January.

“They’ve got tentacles located in places like Tajikistan to the north … where the four suspects that were involved in the Moscow attack on the 22nd of March came from,” Maginnis continued. “One of the reasons I suspect they went after the Muscovites was because of the Chechnya battle that claimed tens of thousands of Muslim lives in 1990, but also because of the history of the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s.”

ISIS-K’s Deadly Tactics

From suicide bombings and assassinations directed primarily at the Taliban, ISIS-K “has grown more ambitious and aggressive,” according to Clemson University professor Amira Jadoon, launching an international, “multilingual propaganda campaign and expanding the types of attacks it conducts.” The Moscow terror attack is among ISIS-K’s deadliest and most hazardous operations to date.

“They’re a very vicious group of people, very radicalized with their radical version of Islamic faith,” Maginnis noted. “They’ve always had, like al-Qaeda, an interest in using weapons of mass destruction (WMD): chemical, biological, radiological instruments. … These things are very, very serious.”

Maginnis added that ISIS-K “would do everything they can to come to this country.” Even if they couldn’t bring a WMD to the U.S., he suggested they might “attack a nuclear facility, or they would let off some sort of bomb near a chemical site that would have a mass casualty impact.”

U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Terror attacks perpetrated by ISIS-K have already resulted in the deaths of American citizens. This group was responsible for the 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul airport, which resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers, among nearly 200 casualties. That terror attack occurred amid the chaos of America’s precipitous withdrawal from the country.

In fact, Maginnis said the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan is one reason why ISIS-K has expanded its reach. “With our departure, they had not only more equipment that the Taliban didn’t claim, but also more freedom of navigation,” he said.

General Frank McKenzie, former head of U.S. Central Command, offered a substantially similar analysis Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “The threat is growing. It began to grow as soon as we left Afghanistan and took pressure off ISIS-K,” he warned. “We should expect further attempts of this nature against the United States as well as our partners and other nations abroad.”

U.S. Vulnerability to Attack

To Maginnis, this expectation of a radical Islamist terror attack heightens the urgency of securing the southern border. “With the open southern border, we’ve had many, many people that have crossed over that don’t have our best interests in mind,” he said. Even more concerning, many illegal border crossers evaded capture, leaving U.S. authorities “totally clueless on who they are, what their intentions are,” Hice added. “You would think those who sneak in … [are] probably here for nefarious reasons.”

ISIS-K “has a strong desire to attack our homeland. We should believe them when they say that they’re going to try to do it,” McKenzie declared. Maginnis agreed. “They would like to attack the ‘Great Satan,’ the United States, and will do everything possible to do that.”

Maginnis predicted that “there will be an effort by ISIS-K, which likely already has a number of its terrorists deeply embedded in the United States.” These terrorists “would like to use any mechanism of terror that they could,” he concluded. “There’s no doubt we’re vulnerable.”

AUTHOR

Joshua Arnold

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

House Launches Broad Probe into China’s Infiltration of U.S.

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On Thursday, the House Oversight Committee announced the launch of a wide-ranging investigation into the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to infiltrate “every sector and community” in the U.S.

The probe, which has the stated objective to “thwart the CCP’s political and economic warfare campaign,” is being initiated with letters sent to nine different federal agencies requesting reports on what the agencies are doing to counter the communist regime’s efforts, along with how the agencies are coordinating their efforts with each other.

“Without firing a single bullet, the Chinese Communist Party is waging war against the U.S. by targeting, influencing, and infiltrating every economic sector and community in America,” Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) stated. “The lives and security of all Americans are affected. The Oversight Committee has a responsibility to ensure the federal government is taking every action necessary to protect Americans from the CCP’s ongoing political warfare.”

The sectors that the investigation will focus on include education, agriculture, critical infrastructure, research, energy, business, space, and technology. Examples of the CCP’s incursion into these sectors have been making headlines for decades. Here are some recent examples in each sector.

Education: Almost 150 U.S. K-12 schools have been linked to “Confucius Classrooms” which attempt to spread communist propaganda. In higher education, “Confucius Institutes” (which have now been rebranded but have the same communist goal) have popped up in dozens of American universities. In addition, the regime has given over $426 million to U.S. universities since 2011, which experts say has led to increasing influence behind closed doors.

Agriculture: Chinese companies have purchased hundreds of thousands of acres of American farmland, some of which are near U.S. military installations.

Infrastructure: The Chinese government is attempting to “covertly plant offensive malware inside U.S. critical infrastructure networks,” which is currently at “a scale greater than we’d seen before,” according to a report from FBI Director Christopher Wray in February.

Research and Technology: The CCP’s efforts to steal American scientific research and technology are well documented. Comer wrote to the National Science Foundation noting that the regime’s efforts to steal and influence research “takes a holistic approach and includes covert and legal means” and that it is attempting to weaponize “U.S.-backed research and technology for uses that are contrary to U.S. national security and competitiveness.”

Energy: In a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Comer writes that the CCP has “successfully pressured U.S. environmental players and industries into adopting initiatives that plainly benefit China at great costs to American businesses and consumers.”

Business: China’s influence over corporate America was illustrated quite clearly recently when a room full of U.S. corporate executives gave Chinese President Xi Jinping multiple standing ovations in his visit to the U.S. last November. Comer also noted the CCP’s efforts to launder money through America’s real estate and casino industries. “These activities allow the CCP to engage in corporate espionage, feed the fentanyl crisis in the U.S., influence our nation’s schools and culture, and otherwise advance destructive goals on American soil,” he wrote in a letter to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Space: As previously reported, the regime is currently pursuing “a ‘space coercion’ strategy that includes the use of both ground-based missiles ‘capable of hitting satellites orbiting at all altitudes,’ as well as orbital missiles — including nuclear warheads.” Comer argued in a letter to NASA that China’s space program should be “properly understood for what it is: an arm of its military, the People’s Liberation Army.”

Many other threats to the U.S. posed by the CCP abound, such as a massive influx of Chinese nationals of military age being apprehended at the southern border, balloon surveillance, the discovery of CCP “police stations” in U.S. cities, and the discovery of a suspicious biolab with ties to China in California. In a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Comer also voiced concern over the CCP engaging in “chemical warfare seeking to poison America with fentanyl, and how the Drug Enforcement Agency is responding.” Reports indicate that “nearly all the precursor chemicals that are needed to make fentanyl come from China.”

In a press release announcing the House investigation, Comer concluded, “Actions taken by the Committee today are just the beginning and I look forward to full cooperation from agencies as we work to thwart China’s efforts to influence and infiltrate the United States of America.”

In comments to The Washington Stand, ChinaAid Founder and President of Bob Fu stated, “It is indeed way overdue for the American people and government across the political spectrum to pay close attention and take an all of society approach to address the serious threat of the CCP’s well designed, decades in the making, comprehensive infiltration effort with unlimited warfare strategy.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

China Funnels Machine Gun Parts into U.S. while Expanding Space Weapon Arsenal

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A new book has revealed that the Chinese government is inundating the U.S. with illegal gun parts that transform handguns into fully automatic machine guns as part of a strategy to create chaos within America. The news comes as a report has surfaced indicating that the communist regime is pursuing a plan to use weapons in space to threaten U.S. satellites.

On Monday, Breitbart revealed that a new book by Senior Contributor Peter Schweizer details how Chinese manufacturers, under the watchful eye of the regime, are shipping “thousands” of boxes of illicit “auto sear switches” to America, which are small metal devices that can convert semi-automatic handguns into fully automatic machine gun-style weapons. The devices are illegal for virtually all gun owners in the U.S.

As Schweizer argues in “Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans,” the auto switch shipments are part of the regime’s “Disintegration Warfare” strategy, which seeks to undermine the U.S.’s “national will, values, and cohesion” by flooding the black market with the devices, which then fall into the hands of criminals, gangs, and drug dealers.

After U.S. authorities began discovering and blocking direct shipments of the switches from China, Schweizer observes that the porous southern border resulting from the Biden administration’s lax policies is aiding China’s efforts to get the switches into the U.S. via Mexico, just as the crisis is also aiding the distribution of Chinese-manufactured fentanyl. In recent years, the number of switches seized by law enforcement rose “570% during a period of 2017 to 2021, compared to the previous five years.”

Illegal auto switches aren’t the only illicit gun parts making their way into the U.S. via China, Schweizer writes. He reported that a “huge influx” of firearm suppressors, or “silencers,” began to hit America beginning in 2019. “[C]landestinely imported Chinese suppressors enabled criminal gangs and drug cartels in America to get around those requirements and buy them in large quantities,” he wrote. “And over the next three years, federal officials traced an astonishing 42,888 suppressors arriving from China. Those were only the devices they traced. How many more got through?”

Despite the high volume of illegal gun parts originating from China ending up on the streets of the U.S., Schweizer noted that the Biden administration and congressional lawmakers have been curiously silent on the topic. “President Biden has pressed for gun restrictions on ordinary Americans but has never publicly discussed this problem,” he writes, nor has Biden brought up the issue with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping during his recent visits. Similarly, a bill introduced by 11 senators to restrict the switches did not propose any action against China, nor did Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in their 2021 letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland expressing alarm over the switches.

Similarly, lawmakers have so far not expressed alarm over a Washington Times report published Monday that China is pursuing deploying weapons in space that threaten American satellites, including a nuclear warhead that currently orbits the Earth. The lack of reaction stands in stark contrast to what occurred two weeks ago with the uproar surrounding reports of Russia’s intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space.

The Washington Times story, based off of a U.S. Air Force think tank report, details how the Chinese military has adopted a “space coercion” strategy that includes the use of both ground-based missiles “capable of hitting satellites orbiting at all altitudes,” as well as orbital missiles — including nuclear warheads — which would target “reconnaissance and early warning systems, communication hubs, and command centers; logistics systems, military-industrial bases, electric power and energy systems, and other infrastructure; and counter-force targets, including missile positions, airfields, naval bases, nuclear bases, and information warfare installations.”

While reducing conventional U.S. military power, the report notes that the biggest threat of China’s “space coercion” strategy would be its ability to undermine U.S. nuclear deterrence through a precision-strike nuclear warhead “backed by spaced-based intelligence and tracking,” which would give China’s military “a greater ability to track, target and attack American nuclear forces.”

In addition, the strategy calls for non-nuclear “electronic warfare strikes against satellites, radars, and communications nodes and computer network attacks.” These “[k]inetic attacks would be conducted suddenly, used in short duration, and limited,” according to the report.

During testimony before the House in January, FBI Director Christopher Wray gave a succinct summary of the threat he believes the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses to the U.S. “The CCP’s dangerous actions — China’s multi-pronged assault on our national and economic security — make it the defining threat of our generation.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

The TikTok Tussle of Concerns and Legislation

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The TikTok Tussle of Concerns and Legislation

BY SUZANNE HARP

Currently, the TikTok ban debate is swirling through the USA and raising concerns about national security and parental frets. Like vigilant conductors, the concerned moms lead the chorus against TikTok’s potential negative influence on their children.

The composition includes worries about inappropriate content, age appropriateness, psychological impact, behavior influence, and safety, as well as the content maestros at TikTok potentially exposing their little ones to unsuitable tunes. Indeed, on the parental front, it is the age-old melody of parental anxiety that echoes, questioning the appropriateness of content and its potential influence on the impressionable minds of children.

A trio of lawmakers is tuning their instruments to legislate a ban on TikTok. The proposed bill to ban TikTok, known as the RESTRICT Act, aims to prevent transactions with social media giants from countries deemed foreign adversaries. The bill seeks to empower the Secretary of Commerce to decide which technologies Americans can or cannot access, and it could potentially exempt lawmakers from providing details about their decision process.

A new movement begins as lawmakers draft legislation forcing app owners to disclose ownership information. Transparency becomes the critical refrain, potentially harmonizing trust among users and attracting a larger audience to the app.

In the ongoing symphony of the TikTok debate, the security movement takes the lead, orchestrating concerns about data safeguarding from the Chinese government. The FBI has also raised the curtain on national security concerns surrounding TikTok’s U.S. operations. The potential for the Chinese government to sway American users or gain control over their devices is immense. FBI warnings give rise to apprehensions about data collection, algorithm manipulation, and the ominous prospect of device compromise on a massive scale.

The ability to compel data sharing upon request and concerns about gathering intellectual property and personal data add a dissonant note to the melody. TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, acknowledges a potential breach in fortifying U.S. user data by allowing non-U.S. employees access – a revelation that resonates like a haunting refrain.

However, there are several legal and constitutional challenges to this bill. The First Amendment protects American freedom of speech, and the Berman Amendment restricts the President’s power to regulate or forbid the free flow of information in and out of the country. These laws make banning TikTok for all American citizens an unconstitutional decision. Another critical point is who owns the data garnished from these apps or any other platform? I strongly believe Congress should pass laws or a Data Bill of Rights into the constitution as inherent no different than our identity or image.

Moreover, the RESTRICT Act could be used to challenge these constitutional protections. It would require any ban to be justified by a significant governmental interest and would have to be narrowly tailored to address that interest. This means that ByteDance, the Chinese-based company that owns TikTok, could easily challenge a possible ban in court on constitutional grounds.

China’s National Intelligence Law, a law with an absolute stance on supporting national intelligence efforts, injects an element of suspense. Skepticism surrounds the law’s potential for punishment, raising questions about the compliance dance that foreign and domestic firms may be forced to perform.

The symphony turns unexpectedly as critics argue that the data issue is merely a prelude. The genuine concern lies in TikTok’s potential to manipulate opinions, a potential front-runner in controlling political discourse. The platform’s influence on shaping public sentiment becomes a haunting refrain in the minds of skeptics.

The accusation that TikTok allows access to American data, including sensitive biometrics, heightens the concerns about national security. The risks posed to individual privacy and the broader national security landscape amplify the circumstances surrounding this digital symphony.

Amidst the security overture, proposed legislation emerges as a regulatory intermezzo, introducing potential impacts on app owners and their operations. This legislative sonata could reshape the tech industry’s landscape in significant ways.

The curtain rises on the Increased Transparency Act. App owners may need to pull back the curtains on their ownership structures and operational bases, creating a more transparent tech industry. This shift could harmonize trust among users, potentially attracting a larger audience to the app.

The demand for increased regulatory compliance will only increase, and due to this, App owners may find themselves at the center of this regulatory maelstrom, necessitating robust data security measures and policy updates and potentially altering their business models. Like echoes through the concert hall, the impacts could be felt across financial, operational, and strategic dimensions.

The concerns and legislation continue as the TikTok turmoil reaches its zenith, leaving audiences anticipating the final movement. Will the security overture find a resolution, or will the discord persist, impacting the digital stage? Only time will tell as this intricate symphony unfolds its final notes.

ABOUT SUZANNE HARP

Suzanne Harp (Republican Party) candidate for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas’ 3rd Congressional District. She declared her candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on March 5, 2024.

©2023. . All rights reserved.

Border Patrol Calls In Reinforcements To Help Area Overwhelmed By Migrants

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Border Patrol called in reinforcements to help as agents grow increasingly overwhelmed by migrants in an area of southern Arizona, according to an internal Sunday message to agency officials obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Border Patrol agents from the Douglas, Arizona, station are being called up to help agents at the Tucson migrant processing center, which temporarily holds migrants who illegally cross the border. Border Patrol has roughly 4,600 illegal migrants in custody as of Sunday evening in all of the Tucson sector compared to nearly 20,000 nationwide, two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials, who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, told the DCNF.

The agents in Douglas are being called up for “processing and transportation support,” according to the memo. The assignments will also entail sending specialized units, such as horse patrols, and manning sensors for illegal aliens running from law enforcement.

“Until further notice, all specialty units (Sensors, HPU, BCL) will report to the Douglas Station and attend musters on their scheduled shifts,” the memo reads. “HPU will maintain one agent to care for the horses, but all others will be deployed as needed by the Watch Commander.”

The situation in the Tucson sector has become so dire that the Tucson Border Patrol announced Sunday it was temporarily shutting down its social media.

“At this time, all available personnel are needed to address the unprecedented flow,” John Modlin, Chief Patrol Agent of the Tucson Sector, tweeted late Sunday. “The social media team will return once the situation permits.”

Border Patrol has recorded record illegal immigration at the southern border in recent years. In fiscal year 2022, Border Patrol encounters topped 2.2 million, followed by more than 2 million in fiscal year 2023.

“This is embarrassing,” one of the DHS officials said, adding that the blame is on the Biden administration.

“Everybody is getting pulled off the line for processing,” the official added.

CBP didn’t immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

JENNIE TAER

Investigative reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©2023. All rights reserved.

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