In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Representatives Mark Green, R-Texas, August Pfluger, R-Texas, and Clay Higgins, R-Louis, asked for information about U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s digesting and detention procedures for illegal aliens previously identified on the national database known as the Terrorist Screening Dataset, which contains delicate information on criminal identities.
Members of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security learned that Border Patrol agents are releasing known or suspected terrorists ( KSTs ) into the nation following the release of the investigation. In fiscal 2023, the greatest amount of KSTs, 736, were apprehended at the northern and southern territories, The Center Square reported. According to CBP information, 210 known or suspected terrorists were apprehended trying to enter the United States improperly on March 22. The majority of them are being detained at the north borders.
The Center Square reports that Green chairs the U. S. House Committee on Homeland Security, Pfluger chairs the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, Higgins chairs the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement.
The politicians wrote that” the committee is concerned about DHS’s current methods regarding the control and release of known or suspected jihadists encountered at the Southwest border.” Since the beginning of macroeconomic 2021, over 350 illegal foreign citizens have been apprehended attempting to illegally cross the west boundary between ports of entry, according to the council.
They added that their staff members have spoken with DHS several days to verify and understand the details surrounding reports of KSTs being released into the country since Feb. 1, 2024.
” But, our inquiries have not been answered”, they said. We are currently facing a constant supply of cases highlighted in the news about aliens suspected of being on the terrorist watch list being detained at the border or found in the interior, in addition to these unresolved inquiries for information.
The Center Square summarizes some of the certain situations that the members of Congress have cited:
They cite various cases. One of the cases involves a Somali national who had been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota after being in the country illegally for a month. The Somali, apparently a part of the Ethiopian extremist group cetera- Shabaab, was caught and released by Border Patrol agents in San Ysidro, California, in March 2023.
Another is made up of a Palestinian man who has ties to the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which is supported by Iran. In March of this year, he officially told federal officials that he planned to bomb New York while being detained between ports of entry.
Another case is one in which an Egyptian man reportedly attacked law enforcement officers and after reportedly fought off with officials from his camper van in North Carolina last month after opening fire on a convenience store where he worked. After residing in Haiti for six weeks, he apparently illegally entered the United States.
In another instance, Border Patrol agents apprehended a Muslim gentleman who had entered the country without authorization. Less than two weeks later, the Terrorist Screening Center confirmed that he was a member of the evil blacklist. Despite this, ICE officials managed to free him through Mayorkas ‘ Alternatives to Detention Program, a program that the legislators deemed to be against.
