Illegal Border Crossings Today:

Suspected Terrorist Released into the Country Amid Border Crisis

terrorist alert terror

In April of 2022, amid surging numbers of illegal border-crossers, the Border Patrol apprehended and released an alien who was on the FBI’s Terrorist Watchlist.  The details of this incident are outlined in a highly critical report issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that highlights a series of mistakes leading to the release.  Although the migrant was eventually arrested, the suspected terrorist moved freely across the United States for several weeks with Americans exposed to a terrorist threat in the meantime.

The migrant and his family were apprehended by the Border Patrol in Yuma, Arizona on April 17, 2022. Per the regular protocol, the Border Patrol screened them for national security threats in cooperation with the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center (TSC). The TSC determined that the migrant was an inconclusive match with their Terrorist Screening Data Set (Terrorist Watchlist) and informed CBP’s National Targeting Center (NTC). The NTC then sent an interview request to a CBP’s Tactical Terrorism Response Team to gather additional information from the migrant to resolve the inconclusive match. However, that interview request was sent to an incorrect email address and the Tactical Terrorism Response Team never received it.

According to the Inspector General, CBP’s “ineffective practices and processes for resolving inconclusive matches with the Terrorist Watchlist led to multiple mistakes.”  These crucial mistakes resulted in an already overwhelmed CBP releasing the migrant into the United States two days later on April 19, 2022.  Following the release of the suspected terrorist, he was again flagged as a potential terrorist by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) while attempting to board a flight to Tampa on April 21, 2022.

Although Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made the arrest on May 6, 2022, the Inspector General also noted several deficiencies within ICE that led to delays in tracking down and arresting him. All told the migrant was not arrested until nearly a month after being released into the country. 

The Inspector General offered three recommendations to DHS:

  1. Develop a process to maintain updated Border Patrol email distribution lists for NTC information requests.
  2. Identify and share best practices for resolving inconclusive Terrorist Watchlist matches before their release.
  3. Develop a process to ensure ICE officers have immediate access to GPS data relevant to their law enforcement operations.

DHS concurred with the recommendations but seemed more concerned over how the report makes the department look. In its management response to the report, DHS objected to the title of the report.  It also complained that the report does not recognize that the NTC “makes every reasonable effort to ensure each inconclusive match reaches a conclusive vetting, including in this instance.”

With our southern border facing a surge of illegal immigration and major agencies overwhelmed, it is clear that critical information is slipping through the cracks. This case provides a powerful example of how dangerous that missed information can be. The report shows that DHS still faces challenges when it comes to terrorist screening, which are being compounded by policies that pressure border agents to release illegal aliens into the U.S.  Even one terrorist slipping through the cracks is one too many.