Was Joe Biden wrong in rolling back Trump immigration policies? 4 on FBI terror watchlist held at Mexico border
Four persons, whose names match the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Terrorist Screening Database, have been arrested at the Mexico border since last October, the Customs and Border Protection confirmed to the Congress on Tuesday, March 16. A congressional aide later informed Axios about the development.
Axios reported that three of the four persons held were from Yemen while one was from Serbia. It also cited the source to say that the four arrests are more than the number of similar people who have been taken into custody during recent fiscals. In the 2018 fiscal, six people from Yemen and Bangladesh were held. The names of the latest set of people arrested were not released.
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The arrests are likely to add to the challenges that the Joe Biden administration is facing at the southern border over an allegedly soft immigration policy. The number of people seeking to enter the US is increasing in leaps and bounds, particularly unaccompanied kids, and that has bolstered the Republicans to target the current administration saying it is compromising with national security. The news of the arrests also came a day after a delegation of House Republicans visited the Texas border and claimed that a number of migrants crossing into the had names matching those on the terror watch list. The strong allegations that the GOP members including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy brought were refuted by the Democrats who countered saying “he is either wrong or lying”.
Weird as the Chairman of the subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations and a border state member of Congress haven’t heard anything about this. Gonna ask for a briefing. Pretty sure he is either wrong or lying. https://t.co/retrzeUPxV
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) March 15, 2021
Former president Donald Trump and other conservatives have in the past frequently warned, even if inaccurately at times, that foreign terrorists were entering the US through the southern border. The Axios report said citing the FBI that the terror watchlist is long and includes people who are “known to be or reasonably suspected of being involved in terrorist activities”. The homeland security department had stopped more than 3,700 people on the watchlist from entering the US in the fiscal 2017, ending September 30. Most of them were halted at airports.
In February last year, the Washington Examiner said in a report that the number of people held for illegally crossing the southern border went down for the fifth consecutive month in October 2019 and the fall was as high as 73 percent compared to what it was in May that year. According to the conservative news outlet, the number of arrests plummeted significantly since Mexico put into place more federal law-keepers and military personnel to the US and Guatemalan borders to stop illegal immigration after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican imports.
'Why don't you admit you made a mistake?'
The GOP critics of Biden were of the opinion that the current administration is lacking the same resolve at the borders. John Katko, New York Representative and a ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, who was present at the Texas border along with McCarthy and fellow Republicans, 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 okay 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?” he asked.
McCarthy, who said among the people entering the US were not just those from Central America but also from countries like Yemen, Iran and Sri Lanka, backed Katko's assertion, saying of border agents: “You saw it in their eyes. They talked about: “They’re on the list.” The terrorist watch list.”
The Democrats were little concerned with the Republicans’ attack. Veronica Escobar, a House member from Texas who represents El Paso area, slammed the claims by McCarthy and Katko saying they were trying to “fuel divisions” in the country and stoke fear of those seeking to migrate to the US.