A top lawmaker told DailyMail.com that China and other adversaries are getting creative with how they infiltrate the US military’s sensitive sites.
Chinese nationals attempted to enter US military bases and related installations at least 100 times last year.
They often pose as tourists or DoorDash drivers who happen to veer off course and find themselves at or near sensitive and classified federal sites so they can gain entry more easily.
And it’s not just Chinese nationals infiltrating US military sites.
Iran, Russia and Middle Eastern terrorist groups are also involved. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., told DailyMail.com exclusively in a sit-down interview.
A Chinese national broke into the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms in California in March before being arrested
“There have been reports of Russians, there have been reports of Iranians, there have been reports of people from all over the Middle East – people who are members of terrorist organizations – also being rounded up near military bases,” Grothman said.
Although the Republican did not specify which terrorist groups have been arrested.
However, Grothman did confirm that the efforts of Iran, Russia and the terror groups will be discussed Thursday during a classified hearing of the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs.
“There have been reports that outside our military bases… foreigners here have been taking pictures and recording what is going on.”
He also claimed that several foreigners “might get a job at DoorDash or something and then poke around to see what they can find out” at U.S. military bases.
Reports further indicate that foreigners have used drones to enhance their surveillance efforts.
And Grothman warned that these attempts have increased significantly in recent years.
“It’s not something that we think happened on a very large scale a few years ago,” he said. “So this new stuff.”
The Wisconsin Republican said the increase in spying attempts comes as record numbers of non-Hispanic foreigners cross the U.S.-Mexico border into the U.S. heartland.
“If you’re talking about the number of Chinese crossing the southern border, not that they’re all doing intelligence research here, but if it increases by a factor of 80 in one year, you have to wonder what’s going on. here.’
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has arrested nearly 25,000 Chinese nationals since October.
The House of Representatives will hold a secret hearing Thursday on China’s efforts to infiltrate U.S. military bases and register troops on the job.
According to Grothman, some foreign nationals have posed as DoorDash food delivery personnel while attempting to infiltrate U.S. military installations.
A group of Chinese nationals were stopped in 2023 while diving close to the missile row in Cape Canaveral, pictured here
Another group of Chinese, posing as tourists, wandered on to a base in New Mexico bordering White Sands National Park.
Grothman and his fellow Republicans have long characterized the current situation at the border as a threat to national security due to the large number of people crossing legal ports of entry.
He pointed to the unusually high number of Chinese nationals entering the U.S. through the southern border in recent months as a cause for concern — and that they may be involved in surveillance efforts.
In March, a Chinese national entered the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms – a remote military training base in the California desert – and refused to leave until he was detained by authorities.
Border Patrol officials said the person entered the U.S. illegally.
“So it’s of particular importance because it’s so easy to get in here now,” Grothman said. “I mean the United States essentially has an open border.”
“There’s no more tempting time for a foreign country to come in here and say, ‘let’s poke around and get information about American military bases.’
Agents of the communist nation have been caught diving near Cape Canaveral as they walked to a missile launch site in New Mexico and claimed to be staying at an Army base in Alaska.
The Republican also told DailyMail.com that some foreigners have been assigned by their government to spy on US bases.
“When these Chinese come here, they are told by the Chinese government to take pictures of anything that is suspicious or that they think might be useful.”
And there are obvious reasons why individuals from China, Iran, Russia, and terror groups want to know more about U.S. military capabilities.
“I’m sure they would also like to find a way to do a lot of damage to the United States.”
Fort Wainright, the center of U.S. military operations in the Arctic, was the subject of an apparent espionage attempt, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“Why would any country send people here to take pictures of military bases or whatever, unless it’s in preparation or as a result of an act of terrorism, or even concerned about war,” the Wisconsin lawmaker said.
“When you see other countries collecting data about what’s happening in America, you have to be a little concerned.”
“If you came to the United States, either for work or for tourism reasons, I don’t think you would hang out outside of military bases,” Grothman added.
The committee’s secret hearing will take place Thursday at 9 a.m. ET.