U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) wants to know why suspected terrorists allegedly passed through screening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with clean criminal background checks.
Recent reports indicate that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested eight Tajikistani nationals with alleged ties to terrorism, according to a June 18 letter Sen. Blackburn sent to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray.
These individuals illegally crossed the southern border into the United States and then reportedly passed through CBP screening.
“Despite being ‘fully vetted’ by border officials, it has been revealed that these individuals have ties to ISIS,” the senator wrote. “Given these disturbing revelations, Americans are rightly concerned about threats to our homeland.”
Sen. Blackburn noted that the arrests of these individuals aren’t surprising given the increase in terrorist apprehensions under the Biden administration.
“Specifically, since President Biden took office, CBP has encountered 362 migrants on the terrorist watchlist, compared to just 11 under the Trump administration,” she wrote. “Equally as concerning, we will never know how many of the nearly 1.6 million known “gotaways” who evaded CBP detection during the first two years of the Biden administration were affiliated with terrorist groups.”
She requested that Mayorkas and Wray answer several questions by June 25 that provide details about the eight Tajikistani nationals who were arrested by ICE, including whether they’re affiliated with ISIS or another terrorist organization, if they planned any terrorist activity in the U.S., and the full extent of vetting that they underwent, according to her letter.
“The American people deserve to feel safe from terrorist threats within our country, but it is clear that this administration’s policies have made all of our communities less safe,” wrote Sen. Blackburn. “At the very least, Americans deserve to know the full extent of the threat posed by these eight suspected terrorists who managed to gain entry into our country.”