'It Is Unconscionable': Dale Strong Confronts Mayorkas About Response To Cartels' Use Of Drones

6 months ago

At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. Dale Strong (R-AL) questioned DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas about the use of drones by cartels.

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Transcript

00:00from Alabama, Mr. Strong for five minutes of testimony or questioning. Thank you. Secretary

00:05Mayorkas, thank you for being here to speak on the FY25 presidential budget request. The

00:12president's budget request reflects the administration's priorities, correct?

00:17It does, Congressman. I'd like to talk about the threats to Homeland and DHS that we see

00:23according to your budget request. I was pleased last year that you acknowledged the threat that

00:29unmanned aircraft systems pose at our southern border, saying in part that, I quote,

00:35drones are being used in a myriad of ways, a number of different ways to create a public safety risk,

00:44close quotes. You and I agree on this point. The cartels use the drones at the border

00:49and is alarming. From using them to track the movement of border patrol agents to providing

00:56overwatch for human smuggling to transporting narcotics and even outfitting them with

01:01explosive payloads. For each drone that the CBP flies, the Mexican cartel flies 17,

01:10based on the last information I got. This issue hasn't improved since last year. In fact,

01:16last month in a Senate hearing, NORAD Commander General Geo testified that the number of drone

01:23incursions alarmed him, saying that he has, quote, talked to CBP, who are responsible for UAS

01:31incursions at the border, and they put the number of incursions at thousands. He went on to say that

01:39he sees the potential of a threat posed by drones to the national defense as only growing. Secretary

01:47is counting the illicit use of drones at the border a priority for DHS and CBP?

01:54Congressman, it certainly is.

01:58It's very concerning and very confusing to me. This is your budget request for CBP's

02:04counter-UAS program. You see it right behind me. Zero. Not one penny. Not one penny,

02:13and the threat is unbelievable. As the use of drones by bad actors at our border evolves and

02:19continues to bring a threat to our homeland, it is unconscionable that you wouldn't request a

02:25single penny for CBP to carry out its counter-UAS mission. You requested zero. Thousands of UAV

02:35flights into U.S. airspace by Mexican cartel have the ability, you know, we've got the ability to

02:42block, drop, or intercept these drones. Moving on, I want to revisit the ice detention bed

02:49issue that my colleagues have mentioned today. As illegal aliens continue to pour across the

02:54southern border, your FY25 budget requests funding for just 34,000 ice beds, barely half

03:01of the 60,000 beds requested by the Trump administration in FY21. In May of 2021,

03:09you testified in a House subcommittee hearing that you are, quote, concerned about the overuse

03:15of detention, close quote. Is it safe to presume that this is why you want to cut bed space and

03:22release illegal aliens on the streets of America? Congressman, it is not my desire to cut detention

03:29beds and I should say returning the counter-UAS authorities. We are seeking to harness artificial

03:36intelligence to amplify the strength of our counter-UAS capabilities. Well, I'll tell you

03:42this right here on the UAS. We have the technology, matter of fact, in my community where I live in

03:48Huntsville, Alabama, where we could block them, drop them, or intercept them. It's being used in

03:54Ukraine. It's being used in Israel. The only thing is that capability, you've got to request it to

03:59make sure that it happens. So, I'll promise you, I hope that we can come to a reason because when

04:04those UAVs are coming into America, setting down, dropping fentanyl, being stuffed full of cash,

04:10and flying back to the Mexican cartel, it's totally unacceptable and I take you for your

04:15word that you're going to do something about it. If Congress is willing to fund even more ice bed

04:20space or near Trump-era levels, would this be a solution to detaining more illegal aliens?

04:26Congressman, the greater the detention capacity, the greater our ability to detain

04:33more people. The bipartisan Senate legislation funded 50,000 detention beds and that's a

04:41powerful example. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Mr. Secretary, at the beginning of 2022, you testified

04:46to Congress that you had operational control of the border. Then, the following hearings,

04:51you backtracked to alter the definition of operational control. Now, in 2024,

04:58in a hearing last week, you testified that we have a crisis at the southern border. Are you

05:03finally admitting to what the American people have known to be true, that your border policies

05:08don't work? Mr. Chairman, I yield back. The gentleman's time has expired.

'It Is Unconscionable': Dale Strong Confronts Mayorkas About Response To Cartels' Use Of Drones

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