U.S. Border Patrol apprehended at least 23 individuals crossing the southern border whose names are on the nation’s terror watchlist in 2021, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
“Between Jan. 20 and Dec. 27, 2021, there were 23 encounters with individuals whose names matched on the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB),” Fox News reported.
“Four were in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, 4 in Del Rio Sector, 3 in El Paso Sector, 2 in Tucson Sector, 2 in Yuma Sector, 4 in El Centro Sector and 4 in San Diego Sector,” the outlet continued, adding that the information was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted by Fox News in December.
“Reporting indicates that multiple individuals with terrorist ties have been recently apprehended after illegally crossing the border, and that such encounters may be increasing,” Reps. James Comer and John Katko, who serve as ranking members on the Oversight and Homeland Security committees respectively, wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, according to Fox News.
“The American people deserve to know whether President Biden’s weak border policies are allowing terrorists to enter our homeland,” they added.
The news comes shortly after Customs and Border Protection released data showing that 221,303 migrants were encountered at the southern border in March, the highest number since President Biden took office. The number is about 28% higher than the 173,277 migrant encounters in March 2021, and nearly 7 times higher than the 34,460 migrant encounters in March 2020.
As noted by Fox News’ Bill Melugin, “This means there have been 1,026,460 encounters in the first 6 months of FY’ 22, which began on 10/1. In the first 6 months of record setting FY’21, there were only 570,826 encounters. This means the first 6 months of FY’22 are up 79% over the first 6 months of FY’21.”
The illegal immigration crisis at the southern border is expected to worsen due to the Biden administration’s recent decision to end Title 42, a Trump-era border security policy, in May. According to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document obtained by ABC News, the end of the policy will result in as many as 18,000 migrants attempting to illegally cross the southern border per day.
“The DHS Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS) produced projections for post-Title 42 Southwest Border encounters describing low, medium, high, or very high encounter scenarios,” the document says. “These scenarios underpin planning assumptions that generate requirements which in turn drive operational execution. Based on these projections the SBCC is currently planning for 6,000, 12,000 (high) and 18,000 (very high) encounters per day.”
