The Director of the National Counterterrorism Center on Thursday told Congress that the Biden administration failed to stop over 18,000 known or suspected terrorists from entering the United States.
While testifying before Congress, Kent noted that his agency has “made significant progress under President Trump’s leadership” and has “the jihadis of ISIS and al-Qaeda on the run in Iraq and Syria.”
However, there is still “a persistent threat from the individuals that were allowed into this country by the previous administration,” he said.
Kent emphasized that the “number one threat that we have right now…is the fact that we don’t know who came into our country in the last four years of Biden’s open border orders.”
The director explained that his agency “has identified around 18,000 known and suspected terrorists that the Biden administration let come into our country” and that “these are individuals who, under normal circumstances, would never be allowed to enter our country because of their ties to jihad groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda.”
The director savaged the administration, saying it didn’t only allow these individuals to cross the border, but also “facilitated their entry into the country.”
.@NCTCKent: "So far, NCTC has identified around 18,000 known and suspected terrorists that the Biden administration let come into our country." pic.twitter.com/XPrHdKMICK
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 11, 2025
The numbers Kent referenced were the number of known or suspected terrorists who were on various watchlists or databases.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows a sharp increase in encounters with people on the Terrorist Screening Dataset, according to The Center Square.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, the greatest number of individuals identified on the U.S. Terrorist Watchlist have been caught at the northern border.
Since fiscal 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol agents have apprehended 1,746 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) nationwide, the greatest number in U.S. history.
The majority, 1,089, were reported at the northern border attempting to enter the U.S. from Canada. They were primarily caught by CBP agents at ports of entry, as The Center Square has previously reported. There are half the number of points of entry at the U.S.-Canada border than there are at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In fiscal 2023, 736 KSTs were caught attempting to enter the U.S., the highest on record for a single year. The majority, 487, or 66%, were apprehended at the northern border, by American, not Canadian authorities, The Center Square first reported.
This fiscal year through July, 283 KSTs were apprehended at the northern border compared to 136 at the southwest border, according to CBP data last updated Aug. 16.
KSTs are identified through the U.S. Terrorist Screening Dataset, which contains sensitive information on terrorist identities and those “who represent a potential threat to the United States, including known affiliates of watchlisted individuals,” CBP explains.
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