Sen. Cruz Introduces Legislation to Crack Down on Foreign Espionage at DOD Installations

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has introduced the Guarding and Administering Trespass Enforcement, Controlling Restricted Areas, and Stopping High-Risk Encroachment Recidivism and Sabotage (GATE CRASHERS) Act. Sen. Cruz's bill would strengthen criminal penalties for trespassing on Department of Defense (DOD) installations. Recently, significant numbers of Chinese nationals and other illegal immigrants have sought to gain unauthorized access to DOD installations.

Upon introduction, Sen. Cruz said,"Foreign nationals have increasingly been caught trying to illegally access DOD installations. The criminal penalties they face for doing so are weak, they are clearly not deterred, and foreign adversaries including the Chinese Communist Party are seeking to exploit these weaknesses. These attempts pose an acute threat to our national security. They are especially troubling for Texans, as Texas is home to 15 active-duty military installations and more than 110,000 active-duty servicemembers. I am proud to introduce common-sense legislation to strengthen existing enforcement against any individual trespassing on an American military installation and to increase the criminal penalty for repeat offenders."

Read the full text of the bill here.

BACKGROUND

In September 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. officials had recorded as many as 100 instances of Chinese nationals, posing as tourists, entering DOD installations and other secured facilities. This large number of incidents points to a centralized and focused espionage effort. Chinese nationals are not the only ones trying to gain unauthorized access to DOD installations: in May 2024, two Jordanian illegal immigrants attempted to drive a box truck through the main gate at Marine Corps Base Quantico. Marine Corps police stopped that attempted breach.

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