INL Should Fight Crime, Not Fight Conservatives

House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security and Trade

2025-03-27

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Summary

This meeting of the subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere convened to discuss the reauthorization of the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) programming, focusing on its effectiveness and future direction in addressing security challenges across the region, particularly in Central America and Mexico. The discussion highlighted concerns about INL's past priorities, the impact of recent funding decisions, and the ongoing fentanyl crisis, leading to a debate on the optimal approach to U.S. foreign aid in the hemisphere.

Themes

INL's Mandate, Effectiveness, and Future Direction

The hearing aimed to re-evaluate the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL), whose motto is "security through justice," but which has been accused of prioritizing "security through ideology" in recent years, particularly under the Biden administration.[ 00:26:22 ]

The Chair criticized INL for focusing on "seminars to teach pronouns, and workshops on gender diversity" instead of combating narcotics, which was seen as damaging to national security.[ 00:26:32 ] Witnesses from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted significant gaps in INL's performance management, program monitoring, and evaluation, hindering its ability to demonstrate the effectiveness of its $3 billion investment in countries like Mexico.[ 00:33:49 ] There was a general consensus that INL needs to evolve and be reformed to tackle contemporary challenges like synthetic drugs and cyber-enabled fraud. A different perspective suggested that INL has appropriately shifted focus to rule of law, supporting prosecutors, judicial institutions, and police academies, emphasizing that security requires more than just police, but also robust justice systems and civil society engagement.

Impact of Funding Freezes and Cuts

The subcommittee expressed significant concern over the Trump administration's recent funding freezes and cuts to foreign assistance programs, including those managed by INL. The Ranking Member highlighted the administration's pattern of "executive overreach and undermining of congressional authority" by attempting to dismantle congressionally established agencies and freezing vital U.S. foreign assistance.[ 00:32:10 ]

The GAO confirmed that a similar freeze in 2019 led to adverse effects for 39% of INL programs, reducing their geographical reach, beneficiary numbers, and overall quality. It was noted that the current freeze is potentially more damaging as programs cannot access prior year funding, leading to complete cessation rather than just reduction. These cuts were described as "hamstringing our response to fentanyl" and "incredibly disruptive" to U.S. cooperation with partner nations.

The Fentanyl Crisis and U.S.-Mexico Cooperation

A major point of bipartisan concern was the devastating fentanyl crisis, with 70,000 Americans dying annually from overdoses.[ 01:00:14 ]

The discussion centered on Mexico's role as a synthesis point for fentanyl using precursor chemicals from China.[ 00:59:55 ] Concerns were raised that INL and the U.S. government were "not adequately acting" to stop the flow of fentanyl, partly due to a lack of pressure on Mexico during the Biden administration, which resulted in "almost non-existent" security cooperation and Mexico rejecting offers for port security support. While some progress was noted with a decrease in fentanyl seizures at the border over the past two years, the need for continued pressure and a functional security relationship with Mexico was emphasized. INL's role includes deploying cargo scanners, drug testing equipment, and training police to disrupt illicit drug trafficking.

Ideology vs. Practicality in Foreign Aid

A contentious theme was the perceived shift in INL's focus from practical security to ideological concerns. The Chair specifically criticized INL's emphasis on "gender diversity" and "pronouns" in Central America, questioning their relevance to combating crime like MS-13.[ 00:26:32 ]

An example of perceived waste included INL funding "hip hop classes in Guatemala." Conversely, it was argued that addressing issues like human trafficking, where most victims are women, necessitates a "gender focus," and that "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) does work" in international cooperation, as demonstrated by successful multi-national campaigns like Operation Orion.[ 00:49:30 ] The debate underscored a fundamental disagreement on the appropriate scope and priorities for U.S. foreign assistance programs.

U.S. Approach to Latin American Leaders

The subcommittee also discussed the U.S. government's engagement with leaders in Guatemala and El Salvador. The Chair strongly criticized the Biden administration's refusal to work with Guatemala's Attorney General, Consuelo Porras, due to her conservative views and subsequent sanctions, arguing this prioritized "politics and ideology before safety."[ 00:27:46-00:27:50 ]

In El Salvador, INL's budget was reportedly diverted to NGOs critical of President Bukele's security plan, despite his success in dramatically reducing homicide rates.[ 00:30:11 ] The Ranking Member countered by stating that the U.S. should support leaders who uphold "democracy, freedom, respect for human rights," irrespective of their political ideology. He also pointed out that Porras was sanctioned for "severe corruption" and Bukele's methods involved imprisoning a significant portion of the male population without due process, raising human rights concerns that led to aid cuts.

Tone of the Meeting

The tone of the meeting was largely contentious and critical, marked by ideological divides, particularly between the Chair and the Ranking Member.[ 00:26:22-00:26:32 ]

The Chair's opening statement was highly critical of past INL policies, using phrases like "woke ideology" and "alien ideology."[ 00:26:24 ] The Ranking Member responded with a strong rebuke of the Trump administration's actions, calling them "executive overreach" and lamenting the committee's "total surrender" of oversight responsibilities.[ 00:32:10 ] Despite these differences, there was an underlying bipartisan concern regarding the fentanyl crisis and the need for effective solutions, though approaches varied.[ 01:07:36 ] The witnesses provided a more neutral, fact-based perspective, offering recommendations for improving INL's effectiveness without taking sides on political debates.

Participants

Transcript

Michael Vincent Lawler

Welcome to all of you. Thank you for staying after votes. Yep. And the subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere will come to order. The purpose of this hearing is to discuss the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement for the purposes of the subcommittee's reauthorization of J family programming at the State Department. Now I'm going to recognize myself for an opening statement. And once again, thank you to the witnesses for coming and giving us your time and your expertise. Always welcome. So the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, INL, acronym, the motto is security through justice. But unfortunately, for the last four years, they have been more interested in security through ideology. trading, fight against narcotics for seminars to teach pronouns, and workshops on gender diversity. I believe that the result of this alien ideology has been damaging to our national security, especially in a region which is very close to my heart, Central America. As some of you know, I was the Central American Bureau Chief for Univision Network during the Civil War in El Salvador. I lived in that country for many years. until 1992 when they signed a peace treaty. Central America, don't I know it, has suffered for decades and this was the perfect time to help them. Let's go to Guatemala. Almost 9 million migrants passed through their territory trying to come to the United States in the last four years. The Guatemalans needed INL's assistance to tackle the human trafficking and narcotics. But unfortunately, the Biden administration refused to work with the attorney general of that country because apparently she was too conservative. They sanctioned her. Her name is Consuelo Porras. I don't know her, but I do know that she is the head of Ministerio Publico, which is for us, the United States, the attorney generals.

Michael Vincent Lawler

the attorney general. Unfortunately, the previous administration refused to work with her. I believe that if the Guatemalans put her there, the Biden's bureaucrats don't have any business in telling her that she was not fit for the job. And they attacked her over and over again. This is the perfect definition of putting politics and ideology before safety and respect for our neighbors' political views. If the Guatemalans are conservative, well, so be it. We've got to respect it. Let's talk now about El Salvador, the country which has been tackling a terrible gang problem for 30 years. I was killed, I mean, I was killed here. I was about to be killed in few instances. I lived it, I know it. And things were terrible in El Salvador until President Bukele arrived in the picture. El Salvador should have been a perfect partner for the INL Bureau, which by the way, it says that its mandate is to bring down transnational criminal organizations like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua. But instead of training the Salvadorian police forces, INL, Law Enforcement Academy, taught gender and inclusion as one of their main goals for El Salvador. I believe I'm sure that at that moment, the Salvadorians were going to be saying the gringos have gone crazy. I am no law enforcement expert, but I am fairly confident that getting MS-13 to learn how to pronounce correctly pronouns is not going to destroy them from committing any crimes. I am a witness. I have spoken to him that Bukele wants to work with the United States, but instead the Biden administration cut funds to the Salvadorian police by 50%. Why? And INL concentrated its budget for El Salvador to give it to NGOs that attack his security plan.

Michael Vincent Lawler

With or without us, Bukele was successful. His strategy reduced one of the world's highest homicide rates to nearly zero. He presented this strategy to INL, and they said, no, we're not going to work with you. During the last four years, unfortunately, woke ideology has replaced common sense, but thankfully, things have changed under President Trump. And we're going to return the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs to its original mission, which is helping our allies fight crime, dismantling gangs, restoring law and order. They have a budget of $2 billion a year, and I think we owe it to the American taxpayers to commit

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