Is the Biden Admin Failing to Remove Illegal Aliens on Terror Watch Lists?

Spencer Brown | May 19, 2023 1:15 PM

As a troubling number of illegal immigrants match identities of individuals on U.S. terrorist watch lists, there's been a curious change made to the policy explanation offered by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as to what the Biden administration does with those suspected of ties to or terrorist activities.

In a new letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a number of House Republicans in charge of relevant committees — Oversight, Homeland Security, and Judiciary — want to know why current DHS policy suggests there may be legal impediments to detaining or removing an individual whose name and information matches an individual in the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB).

"According to DHS data, the number of aliens with derogatory information in the TSDB has risen rapidly in recent years," the lawmakers note in their letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. "So far in Fiscal Year 2023, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) has already encountered 96 individuals with derogatory information in the TSDB, in addition to the 98 individuals encountered in Fiscal Year 2022, and 15 encountered in Fiscal Year 2021."

For comparison, FY 2020 saw three such individuals, zero in FY 2019, six in FY 2018, and two in FY 2017.

"At the same time, over 1.5 million illegal alien 'gotaways' have successfully crossed the border undetected during the Biden-Harris Administration," lawmakers continue, highlighting the danger posed by the near-certain reality that additional illegal aliens with derogatory information in the TSDB entered the U.S. without being apprehended. "These 'known gotaways' do not provide biometric or biographic information to USBP agents and continue their journey into the interior of the country without background checks against law enforcement databases," the lawmakers' letter warns. "Terrorists and other bad actors will attempt to exploit weaknesses in border security and vetting procedures to infiltrate the United States. We fear these known gotaways could also include illegal aliens with terrorist ties."

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/spence...lists-n2623473