Border securityState collapse in the hemisphere an “existential” threat to U.S.: Southern Command chief

Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, commander of U.S. Southern Command, is asking Congress to allocate more resources to help combat the flow of illegal drugs, weapons, and people from Central America. “In comparison to other global threats, the near collapse of societies in the hemisphere with the associated drug and (undocumented immigrant) flow are frequently viewed to be of low importance,” Kelly told Defense One. “Many argue these threats are not existential and do not challenge our national security. I disagree.”

Kelly said that last year his task force was unable to act on nearly 75 percent of illicit trafficking events. “I simply sit and watch it go by,” he said.

The Obama administration has called the flow of young migrants from Central America to the United States a humanitarian crisis, but military analysts fear that the violence in Central America, which is fueling the flow of migrants, will open up America’s southern border to terrorists, making the crisis a national security issue.

More than 52,000 children have illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border since October 2013, up from 26,000 in fiscal 2013. Current U.S. law makes it difficult to repatriate children back to Central America without an immigration hearing, so, in the meantime, children are housed in emergency shelters, and some military bases. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who visited Guatemala and Mexico in April to reaffirm U.S. commitment to the region, authorized the Department of Health and Human Services to house some children at military bases. Secretary of State John Kerry has met with leaders of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to discuss security concerns and how to reduce the number of young migrants entering the United States.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Senator Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), along with other Democrats, proposed a plan last month to address the crisis. “While the deployment of U.S. military assets and personnel rightfully prioritizes national security challenges in the Middle East and Central Asia, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is only sourced at five percent of the capacity it needs,” the group said in a statement. “This is a humanitarian and refugee crisis. It’s being caused in large measure by thousands in Central America who believe it is better to run for their lives and risk dying, than stay and die for sure,” Menendez said. “The bottom line is that we must attack this problem from a foreign policy perspective, a humanitarian perspective, a criminal perspective, immigration perspective, and a national security perspective.”

For fiscal 2015, the Obama administration requested $130 million for the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) and last month, DHS agreed to allocate $161.5 million toward the program which is meant to “respond to the region’s most pressing security and governance challenges,” but the administration has not committed additional resources for the U.S. military’s involvement.

Kelly insists that drug cartels and human traffickers are taking advantage of the perceived enforcement vacuum made available by the Pentagon’s reduced focus on security in Central America and the U.S.-Mexico border. “This region does not ask for much…. Some of my counterparts perceive that the United States is disengaging from the region and from the world in general,” Kelly said. “We should remember that our friends and allies are not the only ones watching our actions closely. …And in the meantime, drug traffickers, criminal networks, and other actors, unburdened by budget cuts, cancelled activities, and employee furloughs, will have the opportunity to exploit the partnership vacuum left by reduced U.S. military engagement.”