Former chief border agent tells lawmakers Biden administration conspired to hide illegals with terrorism ties

WASHINGTON, DC - On Wednesday, a former chief agent with the Border Patrol testified before a House hearing and accused the Biden-Harris administration of conspiring to hide an increase in the number of those with ties to terrorism at California’s border with Mexico, ABC 40 reports. 

According to Aaron Heitke, who served as the chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol’s San Diego sector, told lawmakers that arrests of “significant interest aliens” have increased since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office, raising urgent concerns. 

By “significant interest aliens,” Heitke was referring to those with ties to terrorism. Heitke's testimony suggests that the administration is covering up a rise in arrest statistics, which could potentially pose a serious threat to national security. 

“At the time, I was told I could not release any information on this increase in SIAs or mention any of the arrests,” Heitke said. “The administration was trying to convince the public there was no threat at the border.” 

Heitke said that, prior to 2021, such arrests only accounted for 10-15 illegals, but that number surged to over 100 in 2022. 

“Once word was out, the border was far easier to cross, San Diego went to over 100 SIAs in 2022, well over that in 2023, and even more than that registered this year. These are only the ones we caught,” he said. 

Heitke also testified that he was forced to let those who crossed the border illegally into local cities and towns without the capacity to support them. San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, who also testified at that hearing, has likewise criticized that action, noting the significant cost of transporting those individuals. 

The invasion at the southern border has been overseen by Department of Homeland Security head Alejandro Mayorkas, who has defended Customs and Border Patrol’s handling of the border. Last week, Mayorkas admitted on the Ezra Klein Show podcast that the Biden-Harris administration has “changed the status quo” of backlogged hearings for those seeking asylum. 

“As the backlog has grown and grown, their, essentially, trial date, if you will–the date on which they will make their ultimate merits claim–is set years and years away. That was the status quo,” Mayorkas said. 

Meanwhile, those illegal asylum seekers are free to roam about the country, apparently unsupervised.