Congressman August Pfluger warns of rising terrorist watchlist crossings from Canada, calls for stronger counterterrorism posture as USMCA uncertainty looms
West Texas Congressman August Pfluger is turning his attention north, and the timing couldn't be more urgent as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement deadline passes.
The San Angelo Republican, who chairs the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, co-led a joint congressional hearing last week examining what he called a "troubling shift" in how dangerous actors are attempting to enter the United States -- through Canada. The hearing came just one day after the Trump administration declined to renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, putting a fresh spotlight on Canada’s border failures.
"For those of us who come from border states, the consequences of insecure borders are not theoretical, they are a lived reality," Pfluger said in his opening statement. He invoked the Biden years as a cautionary tale, saying communities across Texas bore the brunt of federal failures to enforce immigration law. "Public safety deteriorates, law enforcement is pushed past operational limits, and national security vulnerabilities expand in ways Washington should never have allowed."
Pfluger's subcommittee joined forces with the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement for the June 30 hearing, which examined growing security gaps along the nearly 4,000-mile U.S.-Canada border. The hearing highlighted a sharp uptick in individuals on the federal Terrorist Watchlist attempting to cross the Northern border, record drug seizures, and the risk that cartels -- increasingly squeezed at the Southwest border -- are hunting for new smuggling corridors.
The hearing also comes amid a growing chorus of conservatives demanding that Canada do more to secure its side of the border. Tricia McLaughlin, who served as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration, argued in a recent op-ed that the USMCA review is "the most significant strategic lever the White House holds to secure our nation's frontiers." McLaughlin called the northern border "a sieve for organized crime," pointing to cartels and Chinese state-linked actors exploiting Canada as an entry point into the United States, and wrote that if Canada wants continued access to American markets, it must "prove they are willing to be active, responsible partners in the war against fentanyl and illicit trade."
On the day the USMCA renewal deadline passed, McLaughlin put it bluntly on social media: "Canada and Mexico have had years to get serious about fentanyl and illicit trade. They turned a blind eye."
The USMCA question adds another layer of complexity. As those trade talks unfold, Pfluger's work on the Homeland Security Committee underscores that the northern border conversation is about more than commerce, it's a national security issue.
Pfluger pressed that urgency further, pointing to this summer's FIFA World Cup and other major international events as potential high-value targets for hostile actors. He called for stronger defenses against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats at Northern ports of entry, and demanded more rigorous monitoring of cross-border financial flows tied to terrorism financing.
"As cartels, transnational criminal organizations, and violent extremist groups look North for new pathways to exploit, we must ensure that the Northern border is prepared for the challenges ahead," he said.
The hearing is part of Pfluger's broader oversight push as counterterrorism subcommittee chair, a role that has positioned the West Texas lawmaker as one of the House's leading voices on national security threats.
