From cybercrime to terrorism, FBI director says America faces many elevated threats 'all at once'
The head of the FBI says America is facing heightened threats from many corners at a time when law enforcement agencies are struggling
The Biden-Harris administration’s actions on immigration have been “akin to posting a flashing ‘Come In, We’re Open’ sign on the southern border,” according to U.S. District Court Judge T. Kent Wetherell.
Illegal border crossings have reached the highest level in the Border Patrol’s 100-year history, averaging 2 million per year. The administration has released more than 5.4 million illegal crossers into the U.S.; in addition, there were 1.9 million reported “gotaways,” a statutory term that refers to migrants who are directly or indirectly observed making an unlawful entry but were not apprehended or turned back.
Illegal crossings have gone down in recent months, but the reduction is due primarily to assistance from the Mexican government, pursuant to a deal between the U.S. and Mexico made at the end of December 2023. The reduction isn’t likely to last, since the deal did not require the administration to stop doing the things that caused the border crisis, which will continue to be a magnet for illegal immigration. The failed Senate border bill would not have done anything about that either.
Amid all those illegal entries — and those are just the ones we know about — how many are terrorists? According to an Aug. 5, 2024, report from the House Judiciary Committee, the Border Patrol has apprehended 375 undocumented migrants on the Terrorist Watchlist since the beginning of the Biden presidency. People on the watch list are known to be or are reasonably suspected of being involved in terrorist activities. The administration has released 99 of them into the U.S.
The watch list, however, only includes the names of migrants that American government agencies or participating international partners have had previous contact with. It isn’t a simple matter to determine whether an illegal crosser is on the watchlist; the watchlist has approximately 2.5 million names.
So far in fiscal 2024, the Border Patrol has encountered tens of thousands of undocumented migrants from countries that could present national security risks, including 2,134 Afghan nationals, 33,347 Chinese nationals, 541 Iranian nationals, 520 Syrian nationals and 3,104 Uzbek nationals.
Nothing is known about the 1.9 million gotaways, and the other 5.4 million crossers did not go through a substantial screening process, such as those required to obtain a visa or other valid entry documents. Consequently, little, if anything, is known about them or their intentions, other than what they choose to say when they are apprehended.
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