Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently visited Poland to observe the border security measures the United States has provided in the wake of the renewed Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The assistance has been deployed along the Polish-Ukrainian border, to ensure safe passage for people going to and from the war zone as the intense stage of the conflict is about to reach the one year mark.
The Secretary also met with & received briefings from foreign officials, marking the nearly one year since Russia’s invasion of 🇺🇦 Ukraine. @SecMayorkas highlighted DHS’s efforts to prepare for & respond to any impact the Russian invasion could have on the American homeland. pic.twitter.com/j1nshzWpxh
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) February 18, 2023
In their press release about Mayorkas' visit, the Department of Homeland Security said the agency supports "Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation in helping to build international and industry relationships and improve the security of Ukraine’s infrastructure. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is assisting Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service and Customs Service with capacity building efforts via coordination with Department of State to improve and enhance Ukraine’s border security."
"Our assistance is diverse. It is not only the assistance of technology and military assistance, but we have been very active in providing cybersecurity assistance to people of Ukraine. And this is not an effort just, of course, of the Polish people, of the United States, in supporting our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, but it is an international effort for a community of allies that has come to fight against unprovoked aggression, and stand for the values that define us and unite us," Mayorkas further explained.
The efforts to secure Poland's border comes as Mayorkas is facing investigations from House Republicans over his failure to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, with millions of illegal immigrants being able to enter the country in only a short amount of time. In addition to the people being brought over, there is also great concern of deadly drugs, like fentanyl, being smuggled into the country in historic amounts. When it comes to technology at our southern border, due to President Joe Biden ordering a halt on the border wall system construction, there are gaps not only physically, but also in terms of technology because there are systems built into the barrier that are not being used. In one case in the Rio Grande Valley, lights on the wall are not being powered because they were not plugged in before the work stoppage came down from the Oval Office.
