Week 3: What All Four Candidates Said About Border Security

Given the connection between border security and national defense, what specific policies would you support to enhance the protection of our borders while also ensuring that our military installations in Virginia remain secure from potential threats?

Kaine responded:

I am prepared to work with anyone to secure our southern border, restore order to our immigration system, and increase resources to combat the fentanyl crisis. In 2012, 50 Virginians died from fentanyl overdoses. In 2022, that number was nearly 2,000. That’s why I recently supported a tough bipartisan border security bill, which would have provided critical resources to combat the fentanyl crisis and impose order to a chaotic situation at the southern border. That bill failed when Donald Trump encouraged Republican legislators to oppose the bill because they would rather complain about the problem than fix it. The Republican failure to join in bipartisan solutions is nothing new. Over the course of my Senate career, I’ve voted for nearly $300 billion in funding for border security and worked across the aisle to pass the FEND Off Fentanyl Act and Disrupt Fentanyl Trafficking Act, which became law through the FY 2024 NDAA. But three efforts at more comprehensive reforms—in 2013, 2018, and 2024—fell apart when Republican leadership opposed even stronger bipartisan proposals. We need Republican leadership to work together to find solutions and quit using the issue as a political talking point.

As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, I have used my perch to spotlight threats to our military operations and worked across the aisle to keep our servicemembers safe. Moreover, I have passed meaningful legislation such as the EMBRACE Act, which authorized the Department of Defense to carry out stormwater management projects at military installations to protect our military bases and environment from the effects of climate change.

Cao responded:

Our open border is a national security threat as tens of thousands of military-aged males from China, Yemen and Syria enter daily. When I’m elected, my first priority is to secure our border by supporting efforts to finish the border wall system. This wall system has integrated fiberoptic cables for ElectroOptical and Infrared (EO/IR) cameras and seismic sensors. We will root out terrorists who entered the U.S. illegally. As a 25-year Navy combat  veteran, I believe we also need to protect Virginia’s military installations from potential threats, and that begins with closing our border to terrorists, gangs, and military-aged males seeking to undermine us. Everything that’s going wrong in our country stems from our open border. Housing costs are at an all-time high because there’s millions who were not here a few years ago for which we need to provide housing. The Biden-Harris administration spends a billion dollars a day which includes free cell phones and gift cards upon arrival, driving up costs. We need to put the American people first and that begins with closing our border.

Anderson responded:

We need a complete overhaul of the current open borders approach, which has brought crime, drugs, and national security threats to Virginia’s 7th District. This is a big contrast in this race: my opponent supports the current open borders policies, and I oppose them. The list of actions we need to take is long: round up illegal border-crossers and deport them, with a particular focus on national security threats and criminals. Increase funding and support for Border Patrol — both in terms of agents and technology. Overhaul the gridlocked legal system. And our leaders need to make it clear that illegal immigration into the US will not be tolerated. Look at the fentanyl crisis in Virginia: 5 people overdose each day here. We have to recognize that the current policies have failed America, and we need change. Instead, my opponent wants to continue the failures of the past.

Vindman responded:

Our country deserves leaders who are committed to securing our border, and keeping our men and women in uniform and their families safe. In Congress that is exactly what I will do.

As a 25-year Army veteran and a former White House National Security Council advisor, I know how important it is to defend our sovereign territory. We must have a strong border, with the necessary investments in infrastructure, technology, and human capital to ensure that we know who and what is crossing our borders on land and at sea and stop illegal immigration and the trafficking of drugs like fentanyl in both domains. In Congress, I will be proud to support the bipartisan border security legislation that would invest over $20 Billion to strengthen our border and has been endorsed by the Border Patrol union. This proposal would hire thousands of additional border patrol agents, deploy state-of-the-art monitoring technology, and provide funding for border security infrastructure.

As a former Army JAG prosecutor, I worked all the time with law enforcement on military bases. There is a robust threat assessment and response mechanism at every military installation including the four installations within or on the borders of the 7th congressional district. Besides the sensitive military assets on these installations, there are thousands of servicemembers and families. Their security is a top priority. In addition to meeting with installation commanders and stakeholders on the installation, I would get a threat assessment brief from leaders in the Pentagon. If warranted, I would sponsor legislation to supplement security on our military installations. Our security must be sufficient to eliminate physical, cyber, and intelligence penetration or threats. In Congress, I will work across the aisle to ensure our military installations have the resources necessary to physically harden against threats both foreign and domestic, as well as the intelligence resources to stop these attacks before they happen.

In Congress, I will work with leaders from both parties and across the military and intelligence communities as well as state and local elected officials here in Virginia, to identify vulnerabilities and stop breaches or attacks before they happen. Recently Marine Corps Base Quantico had an attempted breach that was effectively stopped by base personnel – this attempted penetration was just another example of the need to provide our domestic military installations with the resources necessary to protect themselves.