A group of GOP politicians told Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that” significant red flags for the national security of the United States” were present.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas is under renewed strain to explain the circumstances surrounding the detention and release of illegal aliens from the criminal watchlist rather than detention until deportation.
We are currently dealing with a steady stream of cases involving foreigners who are suspected of being detained at the boundary or found in the interior, according to the authors.
The lawmakers—including House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green ( R- Tenn. ) and Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger ( R- Texas ) —expressed particular concern about the number of terrorist gotaways.
If the criminal gotaways are correlated with the 3, 000+ percent increase in illegal immigrants being apprehended during the Trump and Biden presidency, the number could be dangerously high.
‘ Serious Red Flags’ for National Security
The GOP lawmakers complained in a email to Mr. Mayorkas that their numerous previous inquiries from DHS regarding terrorists who illegally immigrate to the country have not been responded to.
Related Reports
Another incident involved a well-known Moroccan participant of the al-Shabaab terrorist organization, who was allowed to roam freely in the United States for about a year because a terror watchlist considered him “mismatch.” A later testing “redetermination” confirmed the person as a “terrorist part of al- Shabaab”, leading to his future arrest by U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in January 2024, per the lawmakers.
The Committee on Homeland Security held a reading on March 20 to observe the growing engagement by Iran-backed terror groups in the United States and its effects on land protection.
The politicians wrote that” this hear raised serious red flags for the nationwide security of the United States and reiterated the Committee’s problems with the number of foreigners on the criminal blacklist being discovered in the United States or at the Southwest border.”
Additionally, they cited FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony from March 11 to the Senate Intelligence Committee, in which he claimed he was “very concerned” about a human smuggling network linked to the ISIS terror group.
The Republican committee members pressed Mr. Mayorkas for details on the processing and detention of inadmissible aliens on the terrorist watchlist.
Additionally, they demanded information on how many foreigners who had been placed on the terrorist watchlist since President Biden took office in January 2021.
The GOP lawmakers also requested clarification on how deportation determinations are made and what DHS’s policies and procedures are used to determine the processing disposition of an individual identified on the terror watchlist.
The Epoch Times contacted DHS for comment, but the agency did not respond.
Terror Threat in Focus
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection ( CBP ) data, agents have so far this fiscal year encountered 140 people on the FBI’s terror watchlist trying to enter the country, with 70 of them being caught trying to enter illegally between ports of entry.
During the four years of former President Trump’s presidency, there were 11 people on the terror watchlist who were caught trying to enter the country illegally between ports of entry.
By contrast, so far under President Biden, who Republicans say has adopted an “open borders” policy, that number is 351.
That’s a whopping 3, 091 percent increase.
The difference, however, is essentially nonexistent when compared to the number of people who were encountered at ports of entry on the terror watchlist. Under President Trump, that number was 1, 418, while under President Biden, which only covers about half of the current fiscal year and will increase, it is currently 1, 241.
Between President Trump and President Biden, it is still unclear whether there were any differences in the number of terrorists who were released into the United States.
If Mr. Mayorkas honors the GOP lawmakers ‘ request for information, that comparison could be forthcoming.
Republicans, who blame President Biden and his administration’s policies for record numbers of illegal immigrants pouring into the country, have repeatedly raised concerns about the associated national security threat.
