The following includes editorial content that is the opinion of the writer, a retired Chief of Police and current staff writer for Law Enforcement Today.
US-MEXICO BORDER- With enough illegal aliens entering the United States over the past 2-½ years to fill each of 42 of 50 American states, one would be foolish not to believe that among those estimated 7 million plus illegals are some individuals who have less than honorable intentions once they are in our country.
Such is the case of an illegal alien arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month, two weeks after he was released into the country after an encounter with border patrol agents, Fox News reports.
The 29-year-old illegal, who was not identified, is wanted in Senegal for alleged terrorist activities, ICE said in a press release, referring to him as an “unlawfully present Mauritanian or Senegalese citizen.” In other words, he’s a criminal illegal alien.
According to ICE, he is wanted in Senegal for criminal conspiracy in relation to a terrorist organization, destruction, degradation, and damages in relation to a terrorist organization, direct provocation of an armed crowd; and acts (or preparatory acts) aimed at compromising public safety.
While he was arrested on Oct. 17, he had initially been encountered on Oct. 3 by Border Patrol agents near Lukeville, Arizona. He was processed by officials and given a Notice to Appear in New York City. He was released into the interior United States on his own recognizance.
On Oct 10, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations agents notified Enforcement and Removal Operations in New York City that the male was wanted in Senegal on terrorism charges.
He was arrested by ICE’s Fugitive Operations team in New York City “without incident” outside the Federal Plaza immigration court in the city. He is now in custody awaiting deportation proceedings.
“Non-citizens who are engaged in or suspected of supporting terrorism are a direct threat to our country’s national security and will be expeditiously removed from the United States,” ERO New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo said in a statement. “ERO New York City will use every tool at our disposal to keep American citizens and residents safe from those who erroneously believe they can exploit our immigration laws to escape justice in other countries.”
The latest encounter with a terrorist suspect is sure to raise concerns about terrorists coming into the U.S., such as Hamas or Hezbollah, in the wake of the invasion of Israel last month, where Hamas barbarians slaughtered Israeli civilians. Many conservatives have long expressed concern about the porous Southern border and the ability for terrorists to cross into the country unabated.
According to Fox News, Border Patrol agents have told the outlet before that unless a crime has been committed in the United States, agents may not be aware of an illegal alien’s criminal history since many countries do not share their databases with the U.S.
Republicans have slammed the Biden administration, in particular the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, for the significant increase in terror watch list encounters at the border with Mexico, which hit a record last fiscal year. Moreover, they are concerned about so-called “special interest aliens” who have been encountered, plus the hundreds of thousands–if not millions–of “gotaways” who were not engaged by CBP.
A recent Border Patrol memo warned agents about the possibility of foreign terrorists affiliated with groups like Hamas trying to enter the United States. However, thus far, there is no indication of any attempting to do so.
The Department of Homeland Security’s FY2024 threat assessment warned that agents have encountered a growing number of individuals on the terror watch list and warned that “terrorists and criminal actors may exploit the elevated flow and increasingly complex security environment to enter the United States.” In other words, the Biden administration is greasing the skids for anyone who feels like entering the United States to do so.
According to DHS, they employ a “multilayered border security effort” that includes screening and vetting while also claiming that encounters with known or suspected terrorists are uncommon.
“Our border security efforts include biometric and biographic screening and vetting,” said a DHS official last week. “CBP screens and vets every individual encountered, and if an individual is determined to pose a potential threat to national security or public safety, in coordination with the Joint Terrorism Taskforce (JTTF), we either deny admission, detain, remove or refer them to other federal agencies for further vetting and prosecution as appropriate.”
That is, if they apprehend them. With over 600,000 “gotaways” at the border, the probability that terrorists got across the border and into the country is genuine.
God help us if they are successful.
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