Advocacy group says Gen. Kelly can ‘stanch the threats of illegal immigration, drugs, and terrorism’
Immigration hard-liners on Wednesday praised retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, President-Elect Donald Trump’s apparent pick to head the Department of Homeland Security.
Kelly, 66, served as commander for the U.S. Southern Command until his retirement in January. A Latin America expert with extensive combat experience, he clashed with the Obama administration on a number of issues, including the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba and the security of the nation’s southwest border.
In his final statement to Congress, Kelly spoke of “transnational organized crime,” a threat he maintained that the U.S. government had underestimated.
“Unless confronted by an immediate, visible, or uncomfortable crisis, our nation’s tendency is to take the security of the Western Hemisphere for granted,” he wrote in prepared remarks for the Senate Armed Services Committee. “I believe this is a mistake.”
Advocates of stricter immigration enforcement said Kelly was well-positioned to shift the Department of Homeland Security in a different direction.
“General Kelly’s going to hit the ground running … He will back efforts to stanch the threats of illegal immigration, drugs, and terrorism,” said Dave Ray, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
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