We have a national security crisis; an Afghan national, who is on the FBI’s terror watch list, was arrested after illegally crossing the southern border into San Diego. The Biden administration’s border policies are more than a failure, they are a direct invitation for terrorists to enter our nation.
Border Patrol agents apprehended the suspect along with other migrants who crossed the border near Otay Mesa. It was at the processing center that the Afghan suspect was identified as being on the Terrorist Screening Database, a list formed after the September 11 attacks. The FBI confirmed the results and opened an investigation.
San Diego County supervisor, Jim Desmond, put it starkly when he said that this arrest “should serve as a stark reminder to President Biden and the Federal Government on the critical need for maintaining a strong border.” But instead, what we have seen under this administration is an open border policy that has let fentanyl flood into our country, enabled human trafficking, and opened the door for terrorists to attempt entry into our country.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) confirmed this alarming development, stating that terrorists are incentivized to enter the U.S. due to the Biden administration’s border policies. He noted, “Biden’s reckless policy is also an open invitation to even the most wanted terrorists in the world to come to America.”
Our Border Patrol agents are overstretched and exhausted. The porosity of the border and the thinly spread American security presence along it means other threats could pass unchallenged. In March, Border Patrol Chief Paul Ortiz admitted to Congress that border security had crumbled under President Biden, stating that the U.S. had already lost control of its southern border.
This is a crisis of epic proportions. We cannot ignore the fact that our border policies are failing us in the most dangerous way possible. We are at risk of the cartels gaining control over the majority of our border. This is not just about immigration policy; it’s about national security. The presence of an individual on the terror watch list crossing our borders is a sobering reminder of the threats we face due to the failures of the Federal Government. The question is, how many more will slip through before we take decisive action?
President Biden’s recent comment that the southern border will be “chaotic for a while,” is a gross understatement. Over 5 million illegal aliens have crossed the border since he took office; illegal immigration is costing taxpayers $151 billion per year; and criminal noncitizens are committing grievous crimes in our homeland. We must demand better policies, stronger borders, and a commitment to the safety of our citizens. Because the cost of failure is simply too high.
