US officials warn, be on heightened alert for terrorism threats
Central and South Americans are not the only migrants crossing the border — Iran-funded terrorists from around the globe are also entering
Lax border policies instituted by the Biden-Harris administration created the situation
The story
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) warned its field offices to be on high alert for Iran or any of its many terrorist proxies transporting “operatives, money or materials” across the US border, Just the News reported this month.
A memo from CBP said that increased activity by Hezbollah, and Israel’s recent assassination of Hamas’s top leader, amplify the possibility of a terrorist attack on US soil. Border agents were instructed to take a “heightened posture.” The memo urges more rigorous screening of illegal migrants at ports of entry along the border.
CBP’s statement echoes months’ worth of similar warnings from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials before and during the Israel-Hamas war.
Suspected terrorists entering the United States en masse via the southern border are exploiting the Biden-Harris administration’s lax border enforcement to plot vengeance for America’s support of Israel. Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the southern border crisis; now she might inherit the mess for herself, as president.
The current administration’s failures
More than 10 million migrants were caught crossing the border under President Joe Biden’s watch. Throughout his presidency, he insisted on letting millions in. That stance leaves border agents with the task of arresting and processing the highest numbers of illegal migrants under any presidency in US history. From a national security standpoint, it’s not going well.
Encounters with migrants on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist are at record highs, and bureaucratic mistakes repeatedly cause them to be released into the country — at least 99 in the past two years alone. On paper, the Biden-Harris administration supports barring entry of migrants with terrorist ties. But in practice, overwhelmed border officials themselves admit that they cannot efficiently screen huge numbers of migrants concomitantly.
Kamala Harris, now the Democrat nominee for president, has not indicated she will crack down on illegal migration because critics would regard it as an admission that her administration’s approach is flawed. Instead, she requested an increase in border security personnel and vaguely promised to “fix” the immigration system.
Republicans, meanwhile, have capitalized on the terrorism issue at the border and accused the Biden-Harris administration of endangering Americans. This could serve as a powerful emotional appeal in a post-9/11 America that knows the scars of Islamic extremism.
Who’s trying to come in?
In the past two years, the DHS encountered migrants on the terrorist watchlist from Afghanistan, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Somalia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Mauritania, and Kyrgyzstan. These regions are home to ISIS, the Taliban, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Al Shabaab, Al Qaeda, and other notorious Islamist groups.
One Lebanese migrant arrested in March told border agents he was a Hezbollah member trained in the ways of jihad, came to America “to make a bomb,” and was headed for New York. Officials recently caught three Palestinians with possible terrorist ties, one of whom had a suspicious photo on his phone of a masked man holding an AK-47.
One Afghan migrant released into the US last year is a member of the violent group Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin, which targeted Americans in Afghanistan. The man was able to board planes in the US and apply for work authorization before the DHS arrested him for immigration violations. He was released on bond in March.
In another case, eight Tajik nationals were arrested after law enforcement found them discussing a potential bomb plot for ISIS. They crossed the US border between 2023 and 2024 and were living in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia.
Border Patrol personnel warn that they don’t always know immediately whether migrants have questionable ties because US terrorism databases are often inadequate, and other countries may fail to provide information. That issue — plus the 2 million unidentified “gotaways” who remain at large under Biden’s presidency — means that the number of dangerous migrants in the US is virtually incalculable.
Why it matters
According to FBI Director Christopher Wray, America faces “a whole other level” of security threats due to foreign terrorists taking inspiration from Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Such attacks have become more likely as a direct result of policy decisions made by the Biden-Harris administration.
President Biden removed border restrictions implemented by former president Donald Trump, leading to an unprecedented surge in illegal migration. Now, Kamala Harris faces the challenge of convincing the American public that she can resolve the situation, despite having been previously tasked with overseeing the border crisis.
