During Tuesday’s Michigan House Oversight Committee meeting, subcommittee chairs provided an update on what their committee has been investigating.
Rep. William Bruck, R-Erie, chair of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security and Foreign Influence, shared some security concerns, including Michigan’s northern border.
“Our northern border is very loosely protected, and there’s a lot of issues, a lot of things coming through, such as illegal trafficking,” Bruck said, “almost as much as our southern border, to a degree, as well as items.”
The items in question are illegal drugs that are being smuggled into Michigan. Bruck mentioned how they had several sheriffs come in and testify about how fentanyl is affecting the communities where they serve.
“This fentanyl, is being brought over from overseas, and most likely, as we see in federal studies, China … manufacturing these precursors to fentanyl in countries such as China, it’s legal to manufacture these precursors, but it’s illegal to sell those same things in China, but they are shipped overseas.”
He shared shocking statistics about the overdoses caused by fentanyl, which have increased from 39% to 72% in 2023 the facts which he says are “pretty sobering.”
The focus of the testimony then shifted to human trafficking that is happening in the state. Unlike in other states human trafficking for Michigan mostly is for labor.
“Michigan is somewhat unique in that 55% of humans trafficked are male, versus 45% female… typically the males are trafficked for labor on our truck farms.”
Sex trafficking is also something that the Representative shared takes place during high attendance events such as the NFL draft that happened in Detroit.
He shared that there were “Over 100 interactions per day with sexual traffickers from those groups operating trying to catch these jokers”
The final concern that he raised was about the threat of drones that could be hacked by foreign nations that could wreak havoc on the state especially at the Selfridge Air National Guard base.
“About 90% are being manufactured by one individual company in China, DJI. And at the federal level, they have determined that these back doors are accessible from overseas.”
Concluding his remarks he stressed the importance of putting safeguards in place to protect from a drone attack to the state of Michigan. Bruck believes that there could be an “imminent threat” from drones and foreign nefarious actors.
“When it comes to Homeland Security, that’s my priority. That is my passion, and my job is to do the my best to avoid the next you know, 911 here in the US.”
