The top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee has warned that some of those arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border in the last week are part of a terrorist watch list and pose a national security threat to the country.
Yesterday, after a trip to the Southern border near El Paso, Texas, Rep. John Katko (R-NY) said, “People who they’ve got in the last few days… have been on the terror watchlist.”
“Individuals that they have on the watch list for terrorism are now starting to exploit the Southern border. We need to wake up, we need to understand. Listen Mr. President Biden, you’re an OK guy. Why don’t you just admit you made a mistake with this policy and go back to the way it was and keep America safe for all of us? And use that money that we’re wasting down here on American citizens,” he added.
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who was also on the trip to the border, said that individuals from Iran, Yemen and Sri Lanka were among those mixed in with the illegal immigrants attempting to enter the U.S.
Katko joined Fox News last night where he explained more about his trip and what he learned.
“We went up to what they call ‘monument 3,’ which is the intersection of Texas, New Mexico and Mexico,” he said. “When I was standing there, looking out, I was talking to one of the agents, and he said the night before, 100 people came across and he said some of them are on the list. I said what list? He said, the terror watch list, and that really sent my antenna up.”
“It’s not just people coming from Honduras, they’re people coming from all over the world and starting to exploit this gap in our system and doesn’t have to be,” he continued.
What Crisis? Report Claims TX Migrant Facility Hits 729% Capacity, Kids Going Hungry
While the Biden Administration refuses to acknowledge its own manufactured crisis at the U.S. border, reports are now circulating that severe overcrowding has led to children going hungry and sleeping on floors—and in one instance—a facility has reached 729 percent of its legal capacity.
According to the Daily Mail, similar situations are faced by more than 3500 unaccompanied minors, some of them young children, being held in detention centers in border regions all across the state.
The government’s 72-hour maximum time for a child to be detained also seems to be far from reality in these facilities, as children are spending an average of 108 hours in these places. Some reports indicate that some children have had to spend as many as 10 days or more in these facilities due to immense delays.
“This situation mandates immediate action to protect the life and safety of federal personnel and the aliens in custody,” wrote Michael Meade, the acting assistant director for ICE’s field operations, adding that the crisis is likely to “grow over the coming months.”
According to a recent CBS report, one CBP facility in Donna, Texas was holding more than 1,800 people, which is 729% of its capacity.
“Most of the minors said they had only showered once while in U.S. custody, even though they’d been held for more than five days, according to Desai. Some said they had showered twice,” reported CBS.
For the full report, click HERE.
1,600 Illegal Immigrants, Including Known Criminals Arrested in Only 3 Days at Border
‘Come one, come all’ was the Democrats’ promise to illegal immigrants during their desperate pursuit to get Biden elected in November. Now, Americans and agencies at the border in particular, are experiencing the repercussions. In only 3 days, more than 1,600 illegal immigrants were arrested in a single Texas border sector.
According to Austin Skero, the head of Border Patrol for Texas’s Del Rio Sector wrote on Twitter, “Over 1,600 arrests in three days for Del Rio Sector agents! These arrests include more than 25 smuggling cases, two criminal aliens, and were comprised of mostly single adults.”
Skero later gave additional information on the situation in a news release Tuesday: “our agents arrested two more sex offenders over the weekend one of whom was convicted of third-degree rape in Kentucky.” Skero added, “that is why it is critically important that Border Patrol Agents are out there, on the border, identifying everyone who crosses our borders illegally.”
The criminal, 49-year-old Roman Gonzalez-Flores of Mexico, was arrested after he illegally entered the United States from Mexico. The Epoch Times reports “officials later determined that he was convicted of the crime in 2004, was sentenced to two years in prison, and was most recently deported in 2021, according to the agency.”
Frighteningly, the agency said 56 illegal immigrants with prior sexual assault convictions have been “encountered” by agents since only October 1 of 2020. Catching criminals is just one of many hurdles border agencies are facing. On Wednesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that 13 people died when their SUV collided with a semi-truck. The Ford SUV had roughly 25 women and children of all ages crammed together illegally being smuggled across the border after driving through a hole cut in the border fence.
El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino stated in a news conference “human smugglers have proven time and again they have little regard for human life.” Bovino warned, “those who may be contemplating crossing the border illegally should pause to think of the dangers that all too often end in tragedy; tragedies our Border Patrol Agents and first responders are unfortunately very familiar with.”
