Young: Congress needs better border information from Homeland Security to counter terrorism

U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) requested that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provide accurate statistics on the number of known or suspected terrorists apprehended at American land borders or ports of entry to better inform Congress on future counterterrorism and budget actions.

“As the number of immigrants seeking entry into the United States through land borders or ports of entry increases, threatening to overwhelm the dedicated agents of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), our adversaries may seek to exploit these challenges,” Sen. Young wrote in a March 22 letter sent to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “As Congress considers the authorities and budgets of our nation’s counterterrorism activities, it is vital that we be in possession of all the facts.” 

CBP recently reported that in February more than 100,000 individuals attempted entry into the United States along its southern border, an increase of 28 percent from the prior month, according to the senator’s letter.

“Given this influx, Congress must ensure that DHS and CBP are best positioned to counter any threats from terrorism,” he wrote. “This mission starts with information.” 

Sen. Young pointed out that one of the challenges for Congress in pursuing oversight responsibilities is the differing statistics and definitions used by federal agencies in reporting their activities to Congress, as well as the sensitive nature of such statistics.

“I write to request that in the interest of public safety and national security, you use your authority to publicly release data from all previous and current years relating to the number of individuals apprehended at land borders or ports of entry, including those who were known or suspected terrorists, of interest to law enforcement due to their patterns of travel, or were or are listed on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database,” he wrote.

Such statistics, the senator added, should be reported to Congress for the awareness of all members, and include a classified annex for information still deemed to be too sensitive for public distribution.