Biden administration accused of releasing dozens of possible terrorists into U.S.

The House Judiciary Committee on Monday reported that in addition to those 99 potential terrorists who filtered through the U.S. southern border in recent years, tens of thousands more illegal aliens from countries that could pose a national security risk also crossed the U.S. southern border thus far in fiscal year 2024. The interim staff report documents alleged failures by the Biden-Harris administration to protect U.S. national security through its handling of the southern border.

What sorts of failures did this involve? From fiscal years 2021 to 2023, administration officials released at least 99 individuals on the U.S. terrorist watchlist into the United States after initially detaining them at the southern border, the committee reported. Law enforcement has detained 34 more, but has kept them in the country. During the same period, law enforcement stopped illegal aliens on the terror watchlist from 26 different countries, according to the committee.

Thus far in fiscal year 2024, more than 2,000 Afghan nationals, 33,000 Chinese nationals, and 500 Iranian nationals who could threaten U.S. national security have also entered the country, the committee reported. Authorities detained eight Tajik nationals with possible ISIS ties in 2024 at the southern border and released three of them into the country, Republicans said. Once an illegal immigrant leaves the vicinity of the border, authorities have a difficult time tracking them down due to the individuals’ limited digital footprint, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told committee members.

How is this happening? Immigration judges don’t often find out whether or not individuals are on the terrorist watchlist when they’re making decisions about whether the individuals can stay, the committee reported. The country’s top immigration judge, Sheila McNulty, reportedly told the committee that only about one in every 20 immigration judges can access top-secret information such as the terrorist watchlist. McNulty also admitted that Department of Homeland Security officials might fail to share whether an illegal immigrant poses a national security risk. Immigration judges granted asylum to at least 27 individuals on the terrorist watchlist from fiscal years 2021 to 2023, the committee said.

Does the Biden administration have to say anything about this? While testifying to Congress last summer, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that authorities detain all immigrants who pose a threat to national security. Testifying again in November, Mayorkas insisted that DHS agents were doing their best to confront a diverse array of national security threats.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about House Republicans recently condemning Vice President Kamala Harris, the administration’s top border official, for her handling of the southern border.