In this testimony supporting Senate Bill 659, Ammon Blair, Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, draws on his 22 years of military and border security experience to reveal the alarming reality of cartel infiltration within U.S. security forces.
Blair shares firsthand accounts of corruption he witnessed among fellow agents and soldiers who betrayed their oaths by aiding Mexican cartels. He explains how these cartels operate like foreign intelligence services, compromising officials through bribery, blackmail, and coercion, turning them into assets in their criminal enterprises. Blair makes a compelling case for SB 659, which would create stronger legal tools to prosecute compromised officials who abuse their authority to serve cartel interests. This testimony highlights an urgent national security threat that goes beyond border management failures.