The U.S.-Mexico border, where President Trump is building a wall and to which he has dispatched troops, is not among the nation’s top homeland security concerns, a bipartisan group of former secretaries of homeland security said Monday.
Former DHS Secretaries Janet Napolitano and Jeh Johnson, who worked for Barack Obama, and Michael Chertoff, homeland secretary under George W. Bush, told senators Monday they worry about cybersecurity, global warming, domestic terrorism, and mass shootings more than anything else.
“I would like to address a topic that I do not believe is a threat to the homeland — the U.S. border with Mexico,” said Napolitano, the most outspoken on the issue during the hearing. “I have worked on issues related to that border for nearly 30 years as a prosecutor, a Governor, and as Secretary of Homeland Security … There have been times during my three decades of public service when I did argue that the border was a threat, but now is not such a time.”
The three former Cabinet officials opinions appeared before an unusual session of the Senate Homeland Security Committee held at the 9/11 Museum in New York City.
Their views conflict with the Trump administration’s view that the southwest border is a critical homeland security priority. Trump as a candidate and in office has characterized the border as a hotbed for drug smuggling, people, firearms, and other items.
But Napolitano described the border as a “zone where millions of dollars of lawful commerce, trade, and travel traverse every day.”
Her comments triggered incredulity from Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri.
“I heard you say you did not think the border represents any threat to the homeland. I must have misunderstood you because the people in my state who are losing their lives, the law enforcement who are completely overwhelmed by this [drug] epidemic that is coming across the border — surely that constitutes a threat to the security of the people of this country. Don’t you agree?” Hawley asked.
Napolitano clarified the border “is a zone to be managed” and that when managed well, it is not intrinsically a threat.
“What I mean to suggest is that the border itself is not the number one threat to the safety and security of the American people despite the overwhelming public attention being drawn to the border as the function of DHS,” she said.
“You think that it is a threat?” Hawley replied. “You said in your testimony this morning you did not think it was a threat at all. Not the number one threat, but no threat. I cannot understand that.”
Napolitano said the two should focus on “areas of agreement,” which include “that we deserve a safe and secure border.”
“It is a zone to be managed in terms of threat. It is not the number one threat to the safety and security of the American people,” Napolitano said. “When you talk about drugs, and I understand the opioid epidemic and the meth epidemic … What I think we need to be looking for is, ‘How do we prevent the importation of drugs? How do we deal with addiction as a disease as a country? That is really where the threat is, not in terms of overall border management, not in terms of a wall between the United States and Mexico.”
