Customs and Border Protection has removed a press release detailing the arrest of two Yemeni men on the terror watch list who had illegally entered the U.S. through California.
The link now goes to a page that reads “Access denied.”
As Katie reported on Monday, the first man, 33, was on both the terror watch list and no-fly list. “Agents found a cellular phone sim card hidden underneath the insole of his shoe,” the press release had stated.
The second man, 26, was arrested in March and was also on both lists.
"Part of the Border Patrol’s mission states we will protect the country from terrorists," Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino had said in the press release. "Today, like every other day, our agents did that. These apprehensions at our border illustrates the importance of our mission and how we can never stop being vigilant in our everyday mission to protect this great country."
Sharing CBP’s initial tweet about the arrests, Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee blamed “President Biden’s reckless border security policies.”
President Biden’s reckless border security policies continue to put Americans across the country in danger. Enough is enough. It’s time for the Biden Admin to get serious about stopping the surge. #BidenBorderCrisis https://t.co/unbR2CVIHk
— House Homeland GOP (@HomelandGOP) April 6, 2021
Later, after the tweet was removed, they questioned the administration’s transparency.
.@DHSgov & @CBP Why did you take down your previously public tweet & press release announcing that two people on the terror watch list were apprehended exploiting President Biden's open border policies?
— House Homeland GOP (@HomelandGOP) April 6, 2021
Transparency in name alone is not transparency. https://t.co/6SONcvlwAa
In a statement explaining the reason for the press release's removal, CBP said it wasn't "properly reviewed and contained certain disclosure and policy information related to national security that required CBP to remove it from our website."
CBP Statement for removing press release on terrorist Yemeni border crossers: “The news release in question was not properly reviewed and contained certain disclosure and policy information related to national security that required CBP to remove it from our website.”
— Todd Bensman (@BensmanTodd) April 6, 2021