According to new Department of Homeland Security data, 78 individuals on a terror watch list were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border this fiscal year—and that's only those who have been caught. There are reportedly more than 850,000 "gotaways" that evaded apprehension and are already in the U.S. But terrorists aren't all the U.S. has to worry about.
The recently reported threat from Venezuela is also raising alarm.
A DHS intelligence analysis is asking Border Patrol agents to be on the lookout for hardened Venezuelan inmates the Maduro government may be purposefully releasing, Breitbart reports.
The intelligence report warns agents the freed prisoners have been seen within migrant caravans traveling from Tapachula, Mexico toward the U.S.-Mexico border as recently as July. The source, not authorized to speak to the media, told Breitbart Texas the move is reminiscent of a similar action taken by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro during the Mariel boat lift in the 1980s.
The report does not state whether the released prison inmates were traveling as a cohesive group but does state it was commonly shared knowledge among migrants traveling to the United States within a caravan in July that many of the Venezuelan migrants in the group were convicts and included hardened criminals.
The report does not specify that the release of the convicts — understanding they would head to the United States — could be a purposeful geopolitical move specifically intended to impact U.S. national security. Another information gap cited in the report acknowledges the unknown role the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), Venezuela’s equivalent to the CIA, may have played in the deliberate releases. (Breitbart)
The task of identifying such criminals is nearly impossible, the Border Patrol source admitted. Given there have been no formal diplomatic relations with Venezuela since 2019, agents have no access to criminal databases. Any discovery of a criminal background would have to be voluntarily disclosed.
It is currently unknown how many Venezuelan criminals have already been released into the U.S. to pursue asylum claims.
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As some lawmakers pointed out, the report proves former President Trump right once again.
Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro is now reportedly emptying his prisons and sending violent criminals to the U.S.-Mexico border.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) September 20, 2022
Under the Biden Administration, countries no longer respect our border.
It's a disgrace.
??BREAKING??
— Congressman Troy Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) September 18, 2022
DHS confirms that Venezuela empties prisons and sends violent criminals to our southern border.
President Trump warned us about this years ago.
In 2015, Trump warned that countries south of the border are "not sending their best."
"They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us," he noted. "They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
