Customs and Border Protection (CBP) internal data, “special interest aliens” from a variety of countries, including Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, and Syria, while they were attempting to illegally cross the United States’ southern border. These “special interest aliens” came from countries such as Egypt, Iran, and Syria. “Special interest aliens” are individuals from countries that have been classified by the government of the United States as having conditions that either promote or protect terrorism or represent a threat to the national security of the United States.
The records, which indicate apprehensions between ports of entry from October 2021 to October 2023, reveal that encounters with nationals from Afghanistan (6,386), Egypt (3,153), Iran (659), and Syria (538) took place within that time period. There are also people from the countries of Mauritania (15,594), Uzbekistan (13,624), Turkey (30,830), Pakistan (1,613), Lebanon (164), Jordan (185), Yemen (139), and Iraq (123). The numbers do not reveal how many of these migrants were deported or allowed to remain in the United States with a court date attached to their release.
The statistics does not take into account interactions by the CBP’s Office of Field Operations at ports of entry, nor does it include the number of “gotaways,” who are individuals who elude detection by Border Patrol agents and were believed to be over 1.5 million during the administration of Vice President Joe Biden.
The number of people on the FBI’s terror watch list who were encountered at the southern border between ports of entry reached a record high in the fiscal year 2023, with 151 people being encountered. This amount exceeded the total number of people encountered in the preceding six years combined.
Due to a shortage of resources, Border Patrol officials have expressed considerable worries regarding the entry of persons from countries of particular interest into the United States. They are unable to adequately assess these individuals. Because their nations do not share data with the United States, these individuals frequently do not have a criminal past in the United States and do not appear on any federal watch list, which makes it difficult for authorities to determine their background because their countries do not exchange data with the United States.
The United States is currently experiencing a surge in the number of migrants at its southern border, with the number of encounters hitting record highs. This has caused the United States to struggle with the influx of migrants. A new monthly record was set in September with almost 260,000 encounters, breaking the previous high from August. Concerns regarding potential security breaches have been voiced by Republicans and others due to the fact that Border Patrol agents are stretched thin and a high number of migrants are being processed into the interior of the United States.
The threat assessment conducted by the Department of Homeland Security issues a warning that terrorists and criminal actors may attempt to enter the United States by taking advantage of the increased flow of migrants and the difficult security environment. Recent actions taken by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden include waiving more than two dozen of the numerous federal laws that must be followed in order to construct a border wall in South Texas. The administration, however, underlined that these initiatives are funded by appropriations provided in 2019, and that Congress has refused to reallocate these monies for other projects. The expenditures in question were allocated in 2019.