Tipsheet

You Won't Believe What This Immigration 'Expert' Said About Terrorists Crossing the Southern Border

Madeline Leesman
Madeline Leesman  |  September 20, 2024 9:30 AM

In a House Homeland Security hearing on Thursday, an immigration expert brushed off reports of illegal aliens on the terrorist watch list entering the United States. 

In an exchange with Arizona Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), Alex Nowrasteh, the vice president of economic and social policy studies at the Cato Institute, said that the terrorists crossing the border are a “small and manageable threat.” 

"Under the Trump administration, we had [11] individuals encountered at the Southern border on the terror watch list. Under this administration, that number exceeds 380 at this point. Does that make you still stand by your statement that it's a 'small & manageable threat?’'" Crane asked Nowrasteh.

“It is a threat above zero. It is definitely a threat, but it is still small and manageable, yes,” Nowrasteh answered.

Nowrasteh added that there are about 1.7 million to 2.4 million “gotaways” who crossed the southern border.

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Crane asked if it’s possible that any of those “gotaways” were on the terror watch list. 

“It is certainly possible. The chance is absolutely above zero,” he acknowledged.

Dr. Kelly Brown, a former military advisor to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that the Biden-Harris open border policies have "emboldened the terrorists to come to our borders more so than they ever have before." 

In May, Townhall reported how two Jordanian nationals attempted to breach Quantico Marine Base in Virginia. Robert O’Neill, a former Navy SEAL, told the New York Post that the encounter showed signs of being a “dry run” for a terrorist organization to “see how far they can get a truck into the base.”