The grand strategy must begin with the defense of the homeland

Foreign policy experts have debated which of America’s geostrategic interests in Asia, Europe or the Middle East should be prioritized. But recent polls tell us that the American people have a completely different top priority. They want our leaders to focus more on the security of our US-Mexico border.

Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Harris have a track record on border issues. Trump increased border protection and reduced the influx of illegal aliens. He is credible when he promises a strong border and mass deportations of illegal aliens. The Biden-Harris administration caused and encouraged the current invasion-like 10 million border encounters involving people from more than 160 countries. As border czar, Harris did nothing to address this emergency. Her only border plan is to revive a bill that failed to pass the Senate and was rejected by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

It is clear what is causing the US border problem. Immediately after the inauguration, the Biden-Harris administration halted construction of Trump’s border wall and announced a complete reversal of his border policies. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) put it well during the vice presidential debate: “We have a historic immigration crisis because Kamala Harris came out and said she wanted to undo all of Donald Trump’s border policies. Ninety-four executive orders suspending deportations, decriminalizing illegal aliens, and vastly increasing asylum fraud in our system have opened the floodgates.”

The problem is multifaceted and serious. It affects the safety of Americans. Just last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement admitted that there are currently as many as 425,000 illegal alien criminals in the United States. More than 60,000 have been convicted of assault and 16,000 of sexual assault. Nearly 57,000 people are guilty of crimes involving dangerous drugs.

Due to the collapse of law and order at our southern border, our border agents are spending their time processing the relentless flow of illegal aliens instead of stopping the flow of illegal drugs. As a result, fentanyl from Mexico has caused the deaths of more than 100,000 Americans and can rightly be viewed as a weapon of mass destruction wielded against our fellow citizens.

The FBI believes that many threats to public safety and national security are at high levels simultaneously. At the top of the list are a terrorist attack and cartels pushing fentanyl “to every corner of our country.”

These and other risks are compounded when millions of illegal aliens are allowed into the country without proper background checks. Just last month, a House Judiciary Committee report documented that “during fiscal year 2024, Border Patrol encountered tens of thousands of illegal aliens across the country from countries that could pose a threat to national security, including 2,134 Afghan nationals, 33,347 Chinese nationals, 541 Iranian nationals, 520 Syrian nationals and 3,104 Uzbek nationals.” Even worse, the report also reveals that “the Biden-Harris administration released at least three illegal aliens with potential ties to ISIS into the United States after the aliens used the government’s CBP One app to enter a port of entry to arrive and be processed into the country. .” In this environment there is an increased risk of another 9/11-type attack.

The immigration problem also has a welfare side. There is ample evidence that adding large numbers of low-skilled immigrants to the workforce lowers the wages of the American working class. In the 1990s, Milton Friedman noted, “You can’t have a welfare state and free immigration at the same time.” The current immigration crisis proves him right that illegal aliens are a net tax burden and a heavy burden on social services like schools and health care. In addition, Americans must pay more to buy a home as demand for housing from millions of illegal aliens has driven up prices.

In a groundbreaking article entitled “The Return of Peace Through Strength,” former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien argues that President Trump’s purposeful and decisive foreign policy has promoted peace for America and the world. He contrasts this with the Biden-Harris administration’s weak policies that encouraged bad actors to start hot wars in Europe and the Middle East, and sharply escalate tensions in Asia. The weak border policy is right on target: “The Biden administration’s failure to secure the southern U.S. border may be its greatest and most embarrassing failure.”

America needs a second Trump presidency to urgently implement a decisive and comprehensive border security plan. Among the actions to consider should be the following.

Start with the extensive work on the wall first, because walls are effective. Countless countries around the world have come to the same conclusion. The Biden administration itself reluctantly approved limited wall construction in Texas and Arizona. Even Harris himself has taken the step to build a wall and is now in favor of it.

Second, restore the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy that the Biden-Harris administration recklessly abandoned. Asylum seekers who cross the southern border illegally should not be released on parole into the U.S. and face justice in a few years, as the Biden-Harris administration has done. They should be processed at the U.S. border and asked to wait in Mexico for action on their asylum claim. This policy would discourage those who are not legitimate asylum seekers seeking protection from persecution, but are simply economic migrants trying to game the system. Government data shows a success rate of just 15 percent for those seeking asylum.

Third, the United States must fight the Mexican cartels. These criminal organizations increase their wealth and power by smuggling people and drugs, especially the deadly fentanyl, into our country. The stronger the cartels are, the more they damage the security and prosperity of the American people.

Proposals in the House of Representatives and Senate would designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations. There are many issues to consider in this matter, but the arguments for outweigh the arguments against. Importantly, it would give the US government stronger monitoring and sanctions tools.

Trump declared his willingness, at the request of the Mexican president, to involve the US military in the fight against the drug cartels. He noted that “the cartels have become so big and powerful that sometimes it takes an army to defeat an army.” He tweeted: “If Mexico needs or requests assistance in cleaning up these monsters, the United States stands ready, willing and able to step in and get the job done quickly and effectively.” This would be a repeat of what was successful Plan Colombia of the early 2000s, in which the United States helped the Colombian government financially and militarily to defeat its drug cartels.

Some believe the US should go further and attack the cartels, even without the consent of the Mexican government. They claim that these narco-terrorist groups are more like ISIS than the American mafia. Because they are killing Americans with their drugs, we should view the cartels as threats to national security, not treat them as a law enforcement issue. If the US had taken this approach against Islamic terrorists like Al-Qaeda in the 1990s, we could have prevented September 11th. We cannot afford such a mistake again. Action in this direction is a joint resolution proposed by Representatives Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) and Michael Waltz (R-FL) that would give the President the authority to deploy the U.S. military against Mexican cartels trafficking in fentanyl.

The chaos at our southern border and the resulting serious harm to the American people must be at the top of the next American president’s list of national security concerns. Achieving results takes perseverance and perseverance. Who do you trust with this job, Trump or Harris?