The directors of the US intelligence agencies appeared before the Senate to present the main global threats facing the country, including China, Russia, the use of artificial intelligence, the social network TikTok and the entry of “dangerous individuals” in the country.
But also security on the border with Mexico, the scene of a migration crisis that has become a central campaign issue for the November presidential elections. As expected, it was one of the recurring themes.
National security
Are there migrant smuggling networks run by people linked to the Islamic State or other “terrorist” organizations? Republican Senator Marco Rubio asked the FBI director during a session of the intelligence committee.
“There is a particular network with some foreign facilitators… who have links to ISIS, which is very concerning to us,” Wray said, using the English acronym for IS. He specified that he could not give details in open session.
“We have dedicated an enormous effort to the investigation with our partners” into “what that network is doing,” added the FBI director.
“Is there a network that has facilitators involved who have links to ISIS and other terrorist organizations?” Rubio insisted with the question.
“That’s correct,” Wray responded.
More threats
Republicans, who accuse Democratic President Joe Biden, a candidate for re-election, of not doing enough to stop the influx of migrants insisted that the situation on the border with Mexico represents a danger to national security.
The US border patrol has intercepted migrants or asylum seekers more than 9.2 million times since January 2021, when Biden entered the White House.
“From the FBI’s perspective, we are seeing a wide range of very dangerous threats emanating from the border” and that includes drug trafficking, Wray said. who recognizes that “dangerous individuals” have entered the country.
Drug epidemic
The United States is experiencing a drug epidemic, which killed more than 100,000 Americans in 2023, most of them from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
Washington claims that Mexican cartels make most of the fentanyl that enters their territory with chemicals from China, known as precursors.
“We’re seeing a wide range of very dangerous threats emanating from the border, and that includes drug trafficking. The FBI alone seized enough fentanyl in the last two years to kill 270 million people. That’s just on the border side. fentanyl. A large portion of violent crime in the United States is in the hands of gangs, which in turn are involved in the distribution of this opioid,” said the head of the FBI.
“Who controls Mexico?”
“Who controls Mexico? The government or the drug cartels?” asked independent senator Angus King.
“It is a challenge for the Mexican government to deal with the cartels and There are parts of the country that are effectively under the control of cartels in certain respects, and yet at the same time, we would say that our cooperation with them has improved over time,” responded Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence.
The growing arrival of Chinese migrants has also come to light. According to the United States Customs and Border Protection, authorities have intercepted Chinese migrants more than 37,000 times on the border with Mexico in 2023, almost ten times more than the previous year.
“We don’t know how many Chinese citizens may be” among those entering the country, said Republican Senator John Cornyn.
“Within that group there are not only people who may want to harm us” but also others who are fleeing the communist party, the FBI director said.
“I’m just suggesting that this is a huge vulnerability in our national security for which we have no answers,” the senator replied.
Train from Aragua
Are we seeing follow-up by local authorities to (members of the Tren de Aragua in particular). For example, the assault on police officers in New York, all the reports say that these people have ties to this particular gang. There is no doubt that people who were criminals in their country of origin have crossed that border and are now in the United States committing crimes? Rubio questioned.
“That’s correct,” the FBI chief responded.
Source: AFP and DLA Editorial Team
