Inhofe Questions Top Military Commanders About U.S. Response to Influx of Illegal Immigrants at Southwest Border, China’s Presence in South America
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), today delivered opening remarks at a SASC hearing to receive testimony on the posture of United States Northern Command and United States Southern Command.
Witnesses included: General Glen VanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command; and General Laura Richardson, Commander of U.S. Southern Command.
Inhofe: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I said in my opening statement, the crisis at the border has worsened considerably under the current administration. We’ve had 12 straight months of over 150,000 illegal migrants, which is a 63 percent increase from February 2021, and a DHS record for the month of February. According to the internal Border Patrol estimates from January through August of ‘21, over 273,000 migrants avoided apprehension and entered our country illegally. These are new records. This has not happened before. I’m deeply concerned that the crisis will soon get even worse. As we discussed in my office, the Biden administration ends the title 42 border policy in April, illegal immigration will surge even beyond the current record-setting levels. So General VanHerck, given the worsening conditions and the crisis at the southwest border, are you aware of any discussion within the administration or DHS that could result in any requests for additional troops at that border?
VanHerck: Senator Inhofe, there is a request from the Department of Homeland Security. It’s in the planning stages right now of the department to provide additional capability or capacity based on other potential for additional immigration or folks coming to the southwest border. I don’t have the details of that right now, and I haven’t been tasked to provide any additional support to the Department of Homeland Security.
Inhofe: And I understand that but it is reality that that’s in discussion.
General Richardson, it’s clear that SOUTHCOM continues to be under-resourced despite all the threats in your AOR. That’s something we need to take a closer look at as we develop our NDAA, and we’ll have to do that. China, as we discussed in my office this week, I’m concerned about their growing presence in SOUTHCOM and consequences for our military. So General Richardson, what do you find most concerning about China’s growing presence in your AOR, and how could it undermine DOD’s ability to operate in the years to come?
Richardson: Thank you, Senator. And then, my concern regarding China in the region is just the presence, and the access and presence, that they have and they’ve been able to create, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic rollbacks that this has had in the region. So 8 percent of the world’s population is in SOUTHCOM AOR; 33 percent of the world’s COVID deaths were suffered. So they’ve had a hard time with that. The economy has contracted 8 percent, plunging 22 percent of the population into poverty. So when these 28 like-minded democracies in this region, out of 31, are trying to deliver for their people, it’s hard, and when China has the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 21 of the 31 countries in this region have signed up and are signatories to that BRI. They need to show that they’re delivering for their populations, and infrastructure projects is probably the best way that, you know, with the BRI, that shows progress, but as we know the work is not done to standard. A lot of times that leaves these countries with even more debt than when they started. A highway in Jamaica, Jamaica now has six loans as a result of this. They lost 1,200 acres of land, and, oh by the way, the highway has a toll on it that most Jamaicans can’t even drive on. The Chinese don’t bring in and don’t hire host nation workers. They bring in Chinese laborers so they don’t invest. It looks like they’re investing; all they do is they take, they extract, and they have strings tied to what they offer.
Inhofe: Yeah, you know, we, you and I, talked about this in the office. It’s so similar to what the Chinese have been doing now for about 15 years in Africa. No surprises here. But I think it’s important we get into the record what is happening now because it’s happening in your AOR, something that you didn’t anticipate, I didn’t, none of us anticipated the gravity of that situation. I’m glad you’re there.
Richardson: Senator, what I would like to mention, are my two greatest concerns strategically, and that’s what the Panama Canal, the projects that the Chinese have around the Panama Canal, which is a strategic line of communication that we want to keep free and open for the global economy but also for our global war plans. Also the Straits of Magellan down around the tip of the southern cone from Argentina, and the presence of China and projects and things like that. So that’s what bothers me most are those two strategic global lines of communication, areas that the Chinese have projects in and around those areas
Inhofe: With everything that’s going on now, I think it’s important that we, and you particularly, need to keep reminding us of that because that’s something that people are just not aware of. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
