News/Commentary

Dramatic upswing of FBI terror watchlist suspects being arrested at southern border

March 19, 2023 | | Print Article

Sixteen of the illegal aliens who crossed into the U.S. illegally in February were on the FBI’s terror watch list.

This brings the total number of watch list encounters to 69 this fiscal year alone. It’s a dramatic, dramatic, dramatic upswing from what was seen in the past.

“There were only eight terror watch-list arrests between ports of entry between fiscal years 2017 and 2020, followed by 15 encounters in 2021,” according to Fox News.

Keep in mind this is just one list. There’s also the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB). Fox News notes that 214 people on this list have been apprehended so far this fiscal year. This too is a dramatic upswing.

“In fiscal year 2022, there were 380 apprehensions, far more than the 157 in fiscal year 2021 and 196 in fiscal year 2020,” Fox News reported last Thursday.

Also, keep in mind that these are just the illegals who were on one list or another. Over 150,000 illegal aliens total crossed the border in February.

The release of these latest numbers comes only days after U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz testified to the House Homeland Security Committee that the Biden administration doesn’t have “operational control” over the nation’s southern border.

“No sir,” he replied when asked by Rep. Mark Green, a Republican, whether the Department of Homeland Security has “operational control” over the border.

His admission was the exact opposite of what Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had said days earlier.

Green responded to the admission by reading the official definition of operational control, which evidently refers to “the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband.”

The congressman then played a stunning clip of Mayorkas testifying under oath that the administration has operational control of the border.

After playing the clip, Green asked, “Do you think Secretary Mayorkas is lying there?”

But Ortiz refused to throw his boss under the bus.

“About 10 years ago we used operational control as a measuring stick of our effectiveness along the southwest border. My new strategy is geared toward mission advantage,” he said, whatever that means.

All this comes as the movement to impeach Mayorkas is taking off — so much so that Republicans are starting to successfully recruit Democrats to the cause.

Democrats like Rep. Juan Vargas, who said during a Friday press conference that he might support an impeachment resolution, albeit for different reasons than Republicans.

“While Republicans have slammed Mayorkas and the Biden administration for high numbers of undocumented immigrants coming into the country, Vargas said he might vote to impeach Mayorkas over the issue of the border walls being built at Friendship Park in San Diego,” The Hill notes.

“Vargas said he wants Mayorkas and President Biden to halt the construction of the walls at Friendship Park, which Border Report reported has served as a meeting place for families to gather.”

“He told us that he would help us, and he hasn’t done it. He betrayed us,” Vargas reportedly said at Wednesday’s press conference, referring to Mayorkas.

As for Republicans, Rep. Pat Fallon reportedly introduced three articles of impeachment in January accusing the DHS secretary of undermining law enforcement at the southern border.

The articles of impeachment specifically accuse him of having done the following:

  • “Undermined the operational control of our southern border and encouraged illegal immigration;”
  • “Violated his constitutional oath by willfully providing perjurious, false, and misleading testimony to Congress; and”
  • “Knowingly slandered his own hardworking Border Patrol agents and mislead the general public.”

“From perjuring himself before Congress about maintaining operational control of the border to the infamous ‘whipgate’ slander against our border patrol agents, Secretary Mayorkas has proven time and time again that he is unfit to lead the Department of Homeland Security,” Fallon said in a statement at the time.

“His willful actions erode our immigration system, undermine border patrol morale, and imperil American national security. He must be removed from office,” he added.

Meanwhile, Rep. Andy Biggs introduced his own articles of impeachment in February targeting Mayorkas for “the systematic destruction of the geographical integrity of the United States of America.”

“It’s clear Secretary Mayorkas has committed high crimes and misdemeanors. His conduct is willful and intentional. He is not enforcing the law and is violating his oath of office. For these reasons, Secretary Mayorkas should be impeached,” he said in a statement at the time.

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Vivek Saxena
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