WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) questioned U.S. Navy Admiral Craig Faller, Commander of the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) about ongoing immigration challenges at the southern border of the U.S., stemming from instability factors in the Northern Triangle of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador). During his questioning which came during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator King and Admiral Faller discussed the “push factors” that compel families to avoid depression-like circumstances by migrating north, and highlighted several additional resources needed – such as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and additional ships – to interdict drugs before they make it into the United States.

In addition, Senator King questioned U.S. Air Force General Glen VanHerck, Commander of the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, on whether or not the U.S. should accede to the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea Treaty, and underscored the importance of collaborating with allies to protect shared interests in the Arctic region amid Russian and Chinese efforts to further their own interests.

Senator King and Admiral Faller discussed push and pull factors that lead to migration from the Northern Triangle nations in Central America.

SENATOR KING: Admiral Faller, I think at the beginning of your testimony, you’ve pointed out that there were sufficient and significant what I call push factors as well as the change of administration which is a pull factor. But a combination of the impact of COVID, two major hurricanes, and the transnational gangs is making life intolerable for people in those northern triangle countries. Is that not also true?

ADMIRAL FALLER: Senator I’ve met with folks who have walked all the way to the border and come back and they’re drive was the violence, the fear for their life, their lack of food for their families, the insecurity. And in this past year, we’ve had that perfect storm of additional factors, COVID, and then back to back major hurricanes. The region is fragile. The conditions are on par with our Great Depression. And our engagement is critical to help our partner nations overcome this challenge.

SENATOR KING: It strikes me that whatever we do on border security – and I’m fully supportive of a secure border – as long as we have these three countries near our border, that are in such terrible shape, people are going to continue to try to find ways to escape. I’ve heard the term, we need a Marshall Plan for the region in order to try to stabilize these countries in terms of their own internal security, their own economies. Does that ring any bells for you?

ADMIRAL FALLER: Senator I think that a Marshall Plan would be a wonderful model as we look at the entire hemisphere really, and look at the sources of instability across the hemisphere. In addition to Central America, we see Haiti, Cuba, and Venezuela all sources of illegal migration to the United States. Venezuela alone, 5 million migrants now have swelled out of their borders. We need the big ideas, we need the sustained engagement of the all of nations and the whole of government of the United States, and the department of Defense plays a role particularly in that professionalism and institutional capacity building so their security forces do the right thing and contribute to overall sustainable security.

+++

This exchange between Senator King and Admiral Faller led into a discussion on Russian and Chinese disinformation efforts in the Northern Triangle region, and how these campaigns could be driving instability and migration to the U.S.

SENATOR KING:  You mentioned in your testimony the Russian and the Chinese disinformation campaigns in these countries. Are they also encouraging migration as a way to undermine the US? Do they see this as a weapon just as they did with the Syrian migration into Europe several years ago?

ADMIRAL FALLER: The disinformation by Russia seeks to discredit every act of goodness, and we do many, which the United States provides in the hemisphere, and to the extent that drives migration there is no doubt. China seeks their own influence, their own economic dominance. They seek clients while we seek friends and partners. I think their information campaign, best exhibited by a recent visit to a country where I was asked about the illegal and unregulated and unreported fishing in the region, and I cited the example of Chinese involvement off of Ecuador where their fleets for great periods of time would go silent and sweep into the ecological preserve and then…the Chinese proceeded to attack me in the media. That’s just typical of their disinformation globally, Senator. 

SENATOR KING: Well I’m out of time, but I think your testimony that you A) don’t have adequate intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) resources, and B) there are not enough ships to interdict the drugs that are coming and killing Americans, including more than one a day in my home state is very powerful, and that’s a matter – that’s within our control. That’s a matter of allocation of resources and I hope this Committee can bring some pressure on the Administration to allocate adequate resources for ISR and for interdiction because we’re not even interdicting the drug shipments we know about, let alone finding ones that additional ISR could provide.

In addition to the exchange with Admiral Faller, Senator King questioned General Glen VanHerck on U.S. compliance with the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea Treaty to maximize our nation’s posture in the Arctic region, as China and Russia work to further their own interests in the High North. In response to Sen. King’s questions, General VanHerck stated: “it’s never been more crucial for us with our like-minded nations and allies and partners that we come to agreement to not allow Russia and China to explode any seems or gaps.”

As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Co-Chair of the U.S. Senate Arctic Caucus, Senator King is an advocate for Maine’s interests in the North Atlantic and Arctic region. Throughout his career in the U.S. Senator, he has worked in Washington to advance Maine’s leadership in the High North. Senator King is also recognized as a leading voice on national security and foreign policy issues – in addition to his committee work, he serves on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, the Senate North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Observer Group, and the Cyberspace Solarium Commission.