(USNewsMag.com) – According to recent statistics released by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Saturday, 18 illegal immigrants arrested between ports of entry in September also appeared on terrorist watch lists, marking the fiscal year 2023 as a record-breaking year for these encounters at the US-Mexico border.
The statistics found that a total of 169 illegals caught at the southern border also appeared on FBI terrorist watch lists, setting a record for fiscal year 2023. The number has risen so fast, that not only did 2023 beat out 2022, which saw 98 such encounters, but the last six years together. When including terrorist watch list encounters at the northern border, the number is 172.
And these are only the numbers for such encounters between the entry points. When looking at the encounters directly at the entry ports, the statistics show a total of 564, which is only a slight increase from the fiscal year 2019, which saw a total of 538 such interceptions.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a threat assessment last month that noted the growing number of encounters by agents, warning that “terrorists” and criminals “may exploit” the current situation at the border to enter the country.
One Republican senator, Josh Hawley of Arkansas, slammed DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and called on him to address possible increases in “terrorist-linked aliens” at the border in the wake of the conflict in Israel after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked the Jewish state at the beginning of the month.
The DHS claims they “work tirelessly” to keep the southern border secure, but that’s not the reality for everyday Americans. As crime rates rise and taxpayer dollars go towards funding new arrivals, US citizens are footing the bill while dealing with surges of human trafficking and drug smuggling into the country, devasting local communities.
Copyright 2023, USNewsMag.com
