Joe Raedle/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, retired four-star Marine Gen. John Kelly, said during his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday regarding a border wall that “a physical barrier in and of itself will not do the job. It has to be really a layered defense.”
“If you were to build a wall from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico,” you would still have to back that wall up with patrolling by human beings, sensors and observation devices, he said.
Kelly, the former commander of U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military activities in Central and South America, said that the defense of the southwest U.S. border starts about 1,500 miles south, and includes partnering with countries as far south as Peru to go after drug production and transport.
He also said that technology would also have to be a big part of border security — unmanned aerial vehicles, sensors, etc.
As DHS secretary, Kelly would face ongoing issues of dealing with issues of immigration, border security, domestic terrorism threats and cyber-security. DHS is a notoriously large and complex department that was established after the 9/11 terror attacks in an effort to better coordinate within the federal government. Multiple independent agencies were moved under its domestic security umbrella.
DHS was at the bottom of the 2016 big agency list among the annual “best places to work” in the federal government, despite the first increase in its rating in years. Outgoing DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson made employee engagement one of his priorities during his tenure.
Kelly enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1970. His first military deployment was to Guantanamo Bay in 1971 when he was just 20 years old. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts before returning to the Marine Corps and working his way up the ranks, with stints on aircraft carriers, in the nation’s capital and at Camp Pendleton in California.
Unlike some of Trump’s other cabinet picks, Kelly has already been confirmed by the Senate five times for previous positions.
In addition to his experience leading troops overseas, he is known for his strong knowledge of border issues and the drug trade in South and Central America.
Kelly is also a Gold Star father. He lost his son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, in an IED explosion in Afghanistan in 2010.
“I have a profound respect for the rule of law and will always strive to uphold it. I have never had a problem speaking truth to power, and I firmly believe that those in power deserve full candor and my honest assessment and recommendations,” he said in opening remarks during Tuesday’s confirmation hearing.
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