Wicker Touts President’s Border Security

Sometimes what is not said at a Senate hearing is nearly as noteworthy as what is. My Armed Services Committee colleagues and I recently spoke with General Gregory M. Guillot, who leads the American military forces stationed across North America. We discussed a number of ways General Guillot's command protects the homeland, but one topic stood out simply because it was barely mentioned. Under the Trump administration, we had no reason to question our witness about the state of the southern border.

Trump Secured the Border

This was a 180-degree turn compared to the Biden era. The former president was so reckless with immigration policy that even our military hearings were overtaken by the issue. On his watch, border crossings grew every year from 2021 to 2023. Crossings peaked at 300,000 in December 2023-the highest month on record. In that same timespan, the number of people trying to enter the United States by boat increased more than 400 percent. President Biden put Border Patrol agents and Coast Guard members under pressure they should not have had to handle.

Since President Trump returned to office, the chaos has been reined in. February marked the tenth consecutive month with zero illegal aliens released at the border. Customs and Border Patrol encountered 88 percent fewer illegal aliens than they had in an average month during the previous administration.

Cartels Lost Cash

Under President Biden, cartels ran border towns. But by enforcing the law at the border, President Trump has tightened the funding spigot that empowered these sophisticated criminal operations.

President Biden's lax policies incentivized migrants to undertake extremely risky journeys to the United States. Cartels would promise safe passage to migrants, at times charging hundreds of thousands of dollars to "help" a migrant cross the border. Often, these cruel gangs would simply take the money and then mistreat or even traffic the migrants. At the same time, they would send fentanyl across our border, sending their profits soaring and tragically killing 100,000 Americans every year. When President Trump restored border security and enforced our immigration laws, he cut the cartels' income streams and limited the harm they can do to migrants and U.S. citizens.

Military Focusing on Homeland Defense

Instead of discussing the border at our hearing, we talked with General Guillot about his command's work. Today, the U.S. military is devoting more time to a range of other threats facing the homeland. Our armed forces stay vigilant to Russian and Chinese nuclear and conventional weapons attacks, and they work closely with domestic law enforcement to prevent terror plots of Iran and Sunni jihadis. A giant bullseye sits atop our nation's cyber networks. Our best and brightest cyber warfighters are constantly thwarting attacks from our foes.

America's adversaries want to reduce our influence in the Western Hemisphere and to harm Americans at home. The Trump administration and congressional Republicans have been working to combat their schemes, including by building the Golden Dome. This ambitious undertaking is meant to shield the homeland from advanced long-range missiles.

Democrats Throttle DHS

I am glad that President Biden's self-inflicted border crisis no longer distracts us from important committee matters. But looming over the recent hearing was the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown. At that moment, Democrats had been maintaining the shutdown over a month-blocking paychecks for airport security workers, Coast Guard members, and more.

Their shutdown did not stop President Trump's border enforcement efforts. Last summer, Republicans provided both Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with more than enough funding to continue operating while Congress debates. I am hopeful that my colleagues will come to a quick agreement to reopen the department and bring financial relief to the other public servants working at DHS.