Tipsheet

Biden DHS Claims the Privacy of Illegal Aliens on Terror Watchlist Overrides the Rights of Americans

Since President Joe Biden took office more than four years ago, the United States has become a dangerous place for Americans compared to former President Donald Trump’s term. 

With Biden’s southern border remaining wide open, millions of illegal immigrants have poured into the country— with many being criminals and posing safety risks to American communities. 

According to recent data released by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the number of suspected terrorists who have illegally entered the U.S. is up over 2,500 percent since the Trump Administration. 

During the first seven months of the fiscal year 2024, there were 80 Border Patrol encounters of suspected terrorists. In comparison, there were only eleven suspected terrorists apprehended at the southern border during Trump’s term from fiscal years 2017 to 2020. 

Border Patrol agents apprehended 367 individuals who appeared on the terrorist watch list between fiscal years 2021 and 2024— all under Biden’s watch. 

These numbers do not take into account the more than seven million illegal aliens that have unlawfully entered the United States in less than four years. The southwest border saw more than 269,735 illegal immigrant encounters in September alone. 

The Department of Homeland Security claimed this week that the "privacy interests" of illegal immigrants outweigh American citizens' right to know. 

"The privacy interests of the individuals in the records you have requested outweigh any minimal public interest in disclosure of the information. Any private interest you may have in that information does not factor into the aforementioned balancing test," the agency wrote in a FOIA request made by Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin. 

He clarified that he did not request any personal information that would risk the safety of those illegally residing in the U..S, rather just the nationalities of people arrested on the terror watchlist. 

Last month, House Homeland Security Committee Republicans demanded answers from the Biden Administration as to how known terrorists were released into the nation’s interior, citing several instances where they were caught living among Americans. 

Republicans have also sounded the alarm on the number of Chinese nationals being apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, with over 200 illegal Chinese immigrants being caught in San Diego in one week alone. 

During just the first few months of FY24, 27,583 Chinese nationals crossed the southern border. 

Fiscal year 2023 saw over 37,000 Chinese immigrants encountered at the southern border, with over 20,000 more nationals crossing the southern border since October. Since Biden took office, the number of apprehensions of Chinese immigrants attempting to enter the U.S. illegally spiked from being in the single digits to thousands every month. 

Republicans have repeatedly accused the Biden Administration of failing to enforce the nation’s immigration law and lying to Congress, as well as the American people, about the U.S. border being “secure.”