A Syracuse-area congress member says the United States is a much safer country than it was during 9/11. Representative John Katko is a ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee.
He says improved communication has helped battle security issues.
“The exchange of information and the flow of information is much, much better than it was and I think we’re a much safer country because of it,” said Katko.
Katko adds that with more shared information, it makes it easier to find trends and identify threats. Still, there are plenty of new threats that need to be dealt with. He says foreign incursions are more likely now than ever before. This is because of cyber attackers who can operate from their home rather than entering the country. Katko says Biden’s executive order to ease immigration restrictions have emboldened the cartels at the Mexican border. He says drug traffickers have found new ways to threaten security.
“They see a weakness based on what happened with the president’s executive orders on January 20th and they’re exploiting it. By all estimates, they've made as much as $400 million in the month of February alone trafficking 100,000 people across the border at an average of 4,000 a person. It’s almost like the drug traffickers making just as much if not more money on human trafficking now than anything else,” said Katko.
Katko says the department has also been looking into the storming of the capitol building on January 6th. He believes there was a breakdown of communications among levels of law enforcement that day. He’s in favor of creating a new commission dedicated to investigating what went wrong.