by Chuck Owen
According to the website Statista, the United States has the third largest standing “Army” in the world. The website says that we have 1.3 million soldiers under arms. By “soldiers,” they’re referring to all of our armed forces—Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. Third largest in the world. Not bad, if you’re into measuring things. China and India are the only countries with larger militaries. Russia has one about the same size as us, as does North Korea.
In addition to our active force, Statista says we have over 760,000 reservists attached to our armed forces. For those unfamiliar, a reservist is also a soldier (generic term) who can theoretically be called into duty to do things the active forces do. They’re called reservists because they are the first line of replenishment for the active force. Reservists serve in various capacities in all of the branches of the US military. They train once a month with their unit and have a two-week annual training event where they go to an installation and ensure their skills are ready for wartime. Some call them weekend warriors. I call them heroes—many or most have other jobs and serve our great country because they want to serve. Of key importance is that all of these service members are federally authorized and work at the direction of the president.
We also have over 325,000 National Guardsmen in the United States of America. These people serve in all 50 states and hail from over 2,500 separate communities in our great republic. Their lives are very similar to those of reservists. The Guard is a dual-hat organization that works in peacetime primarily for the governor of each state and can be called into national service at the direction of the president. Our guardsmen are especially visible in times of crisis at home, most prominently during times of disaster. Their units are also frequently involved in overseas contingency operations in support of national commitments, like in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East right now. Once a guardsman goes on federal orders, he or she works for the president. When they’re in their home state, they generally work for their governor.
When you add these numbers up, we look pretty good on paper. We have about 2.3 million people serving in the armed forces in our country. Sounds like we’re set.
As a rule, the mission of our armed forces is to defend our country and national interests. At the outset of our country’s founding, our Army protected us. That’s kind of changed, in that we use our military primarily as an overseas arm of American policies—to defend our values and to help our friends. So, two million people who have the capacity to defend really aren’t here for us in the real sense of defending our country. Our Guard is here for that, but the mission of the Guard is a bit obscure in this day and age. We ostensibly have the Border Patrol and Homeland Security to protect our sovereign land. The federal Border Patrol is part of Homeland Security and is a 22,000 agent-strong unit. The Department of Homeland Security has roughly 260,000 people on its payroll.
But, hey, we have 2.3 million people in uniform and about 260,000 Homeland Security personnel. We have our own state and local police forces who are here for public safety. We’re all good, right? Our minds should be at ease.
Until you realize that in the past three years, we’ve had upwards of eight million people slip into our country, both detected and undetected. The Biden administration’s Border Patrol has caught and released into America a reported 2.3 million foreign nationals since 2021. There are informed estimates that as many as six million others have filtered in illegally during the same period. The thought of so many unaccounted-for and unvetted people sneaking into our country is a great concern. In December 2023 alone, more than 300,000 people have shown up at our border trying to get into the United States.
What a person knows about this topic is a function of the news they watch—or don’t watch. Many who zero in on left-wing media barely know this problem exists. CNN and MSNBC barely talk about the subject. Why they ignore it is mystifying. Fox News covers it, as does Newsmax. The Big Three networks cover it, but only when they’re covering something in an attempt to make Republicans or conservatives look like ogres.
In truth, we don’t know where most of these estimated eight million people have gone. Many or most appear to be military-age men. We don’t know where these people are from. Some are stopped by curious media, and most of those tell where they’re from. Migrants from Latin America make sense. They can walk here. Belize and Bolivia are on this side of the world. It’s a long walk, but it’s a walk. But what on earth are migrants from Southwest Asia doing walking across our southern border? How did an indigent person from Bulgaria, Pakistan, or India get here? How did a supposedly poor person from Senegal, Albania, or China get here, and who carted them to the border of America and Mexico?
A recent in-person report by news outlet Muckraker chronicled the trip from South America to here. The reporter documented the aid stations created by the United Nations along the route. He documented supplies from American organizations. The reporter even documented Chinese aid facilities created for Chinese nationals who are making the trek into our country. It’s all on tape. The young reporter almost lost his life on this trip, but it’s now there for all to see.
While Congress and the White House wrestle over this, the invasion continues.
What appears to be the case is that the Biden administration is happy to try to make Texas absorb the entire cost of this influx. Every time Texas tries to do something to protect its citizenry, the Biden administration brings up ambiguous terms about things like “comprehensive immigration reform.” Team Biden and the blue states apparently expect all these people to just come and settle in Texas.
I don’t know what you call a three-year influx of millions of people, but it sure seems like an invasion to me. If the Biden administration cared about this country, they would close the border. And yes, they have the authority and means to do just that. Right now. The president simply has to direct the closure.
The sad truth is that if there was ever a time to protect this country with our purported third largest army in the world, it would be now. Before someone soils themselves over posse comitatus, I refer anyone reading this to the War of 1812. We are being invaded, and our government is failing to do a single thing about it. Article IV, Section 4, of the United States Constitution states, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion;..” The Biden Administration is not fulfilling this obligation to the States.
And for the record, I have every faith in our local and state law enforcement. Their jobs are already tough enough, dealing with the influx of people who have come here over decades and other festering criminal and social ills. Putting this on their backs is not fair. For the record, I am not anti-immigration. People ought to be able to come here—but under our terms. The people of the United States ought to be the ones deciding who comes here—via the laws we pass through our elected representatives. Waves of foreign invaders do not get to determine if they come into our country. What concerns me most is how we, as a country, can manage literal human waves coming from who knows where. This is going to strain every element of our society.
For those who wish to claim that immigration is not an invasion, let me remind you that legal immigration is not an invasion–illegal immigration, on the other hand, is an attack on every American’s health, prosperity, and well-being. Ask any legal immigrant how they feel after having gone through all the difficult things required to become a legal citizen, only to see someone who paid a criminal to smuggle them across the border being treated as honored guests at their expense. You might be surprised by their answer.
How this all ends is anyone’s guess. It is my hope that law and order prevail. It is my hope that Congress will hold the line and not give the federal government a single dime to do anything until this invasion is halted. Congress has the power of the purse. The good folks at Statista like to compile numbers; I hope they’re compiling the numbers of people who have illegally crossed here and then start compiling numbers on how this is managed. I also hope that if you have a family member who is unaware of these facts, you’ll share this article with them. Many are deeply concerned. I hope you are too.
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Charles “Chuck” Owen is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, a Member of the Louisiana State House of Representatives and the Louisiana Freedom Caucus.
Photo “Illegal Immigrants” by John Modlin.
