Securing the southern border should be America's No. 1 national security priority, former Ambassador to Mexico Chris Landau told Newsmax Friday.

In response to a report that aired on Newsmax that Hamas terrorists have been helping Mexican cartels with border tunnels, Landau said on "The Record," "I think this shouldn't really surprise anyone in the sense that the Hamas folks have this tunnel technology and the cartels in Mexico want to take advantage of that kind of technology."

Landau said it's imperative that the U.S. regard the southern border as a key national security issue. He said, "Right now, our national security establishment is focused on Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and not on our own country. I think as long as we regard this as just a law enforcement matter, it's not going to receive the serious attention that it needs.