MEDIA ADVISORY: Pfluger Announces Hearing on Threats Posed to the Homeland by Nation-State Actors in Latin America

WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX) announced a hearing next Wednesday, June 21, to examine the threats posed to the U.S. homeland by malign nation-state actors in Central and South America.

“Border Patrol is already overwhelmed by a record-breaking number of encounters with illegal aliens under Secretary Mayorkas’ leadership, and now, encounters with individuals from authoritarian countries hostile to the United States, such as China, Russia, Cuba, and Venezuela, have increased dramatically,” Chairman Pfluger said. “While their motives for crossing are unknown, Border Patrol has apprehended nearly 10,000 Chinese nationals crossing the Southwest border illegally so far this fiscal year, with one sector seeing an increase of around 900 percent compared to the previous year. As Russia and the Chinese Communist Party continue to demonstrate their intent and capability to conduct strategic activities against the U.S. in the Western Hemisphere by colluding with countries in Latin America, it is vital that this Subcommittee understands the multitude of ways malign nation-state actors could take advantage of our porous Southwest border.”

DETAILS:

WHAT: A House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence hearing entitled, “Countering Threats Posed by Nation-State Actors in Latin America to U.S. Homeland Security.”

DATE: Wednesday, June 21, 2023

TIME: 10:00 AM ET

LOCATION: 310 Cannon House Office Building

WITNESSES:

Elaine K. Dezenski
Senior Director and Head, Center on Economic and Financial Power, Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD)

Christopher Hernandez-Roy
Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Americas Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

Jessica Brandt 
Policy Director, Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative; Fellow, Foreign Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, The Brookings Institution

The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be livestreamed on YouTube. Press must be congressionally credentialed and must RSVP by Tuesday, June 20 at 6pm ET.