House Republicans are demanding for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to explain how known terrorists ended up in the United States.
On Wednesday, House Homeland Security Committee Republicans sent a letter to Mayorkas asking him how illegal immigrants on the federal government’s “Terrorist Watch List” have been freed into the nation’s exterior.
Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN), Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), and Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) cited several instances in their letter of known illegal terrorist immigrants who have been caught illegally living in the U.S.
Mayorkas has been accused of withholding crucial information regarding illegal aliens crossing the southern border who match the descriptions of those listed on the Terrorist Watch List.
The GOP congressmen detail more in the letter:
The first case involves a member of the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization al-Shabaab. According to a news report, the alien was “caught illegally crossing the southern border near San Ysidro, California on March 13, 2023;” however, he was deemed a “mismatch” and was subsequently released into the interior. Almost one year later, the Terrorist Screening Center “made a redetermination” and confirmed the alien as a terrorist member of al-Shabaab, and then Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) located and arrested him.
The second case involves a Pakistani man allegedly on the terrorist watch list who illegally entered the United States but was apprehended by the Border Patrol the following day. Less than two weeks later, the Terrorist Screening Center confirmed his status on the “terror watchlist;” however, ICE eventually released him through the Alternatives to Detention program.
In addition to these unanswered requests for information, we are now facing a consistent stream of cases highlighted in the news of aliens allegedly on the terrorist watchlist either being apprehended at the border or discovered in the interior.
Last year, a lawsuit alleged that Mayorkas refused to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in regards to the Terrorist Watch List.
Mayorkas is currently facing an impeachment inquiry against him for failing to enforce the nation’s immigration law and lying to Congress about the U.S. border being “secure.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is urging Democrats to hold a “public trial” to hear arguments against Mayorkas.
“Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has violated the public trust and willfully refused to follow federal immigration laws,” Johnson said in a statement last week. “He deserves to be impeached and the American people demand that those responsible for the border crisis be held accountable.”
However, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that he expects Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to dismiss the motion to hold an impeachment trial against Mayorkas.