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."
But, in addition to the threat that individuals with ties to terrorism have already and are continuing to slip into the U.S., the lawmakers want to know why the Biden administration — specifically CBP — seems to be making excuses for why laws can't be strictly enforced on those who flag in the TSDB when encountered or apprehended by border agents.
"DHS has previously indicated in congressional correspondence that illegal aliens 'with terrorism related records who are encountered at the border, after entering the country without inspection, are detained and removed,'" the letter reminds Mayorkas. "However, public facing information on a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) website now states that '[Terrorist Screening Data Set] watchlisted individuals encountered by [USBP] after entering the country without inspection may be detained and removed, to the extent possible under CBP policy, or turned over to another government agency for subsequent detention or law enforcement action, as appropriate.'"
Sure enough, a page on the CBP website with information on enforcement statistics says exactly that.
Which raises the question noted by lawmakers: "It is unclear the extent to which actual legal impediments exist to prevent detention and removal of aliens with terrorist ties, as opposed to impediments imposed by the Biden Administration’s misguided policies."
That is, what possible legal obstacle could the Biden administration encounter when someone on a terror watch list is caught illegally in the United States? It's bad enough that Biden's border crisis means a surging number of "gotaways" about whom nothing is known are slipping into the United States. But with the number of illegal immigrants flagging on terror watch lists now reaching monthly numbers greater than multiple previous years combined, to have the Biden administration suggesting its hands may be tied in some cases by undefined legal obstacles, is another problem.
As such, the House GOP chairmen request more information from Mayorkas and DHS, including to know details and records pertaining to the apprehended illegal immigrants who had information on the TSDB and TSDS as well as those individuals' detention histories and communications about those who have not yet had their removals effectuated.