Under Biden-Harris, the largest number of suspected terrorists have been arrested at the northern border

Image: Havre Sector Border Patrol agent patrols on an ATV at the northern border. The Havre Sector covers the U.S.-Canada border along most of Montana’s northern border and includes part of Idaho and all of Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. Image credit: US Customs and Border Protection

By Bethany Blankley (The central square (contributor) –

Under the Biden-Harris administration, most of the individuals on the US Terrorist Watchlist have been apprehended at the northern border.

Since fiscal year 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol agents have apprehended 1,746 known or suspected terrorists (CTPs) nationwide, the most in U.S. history.

The majority, 1,089, were reported at the northern border as they attempted to enter the U.S. from Canada. They were primarily caught by CBP officers at ports of entry, as The Center Square has done before. reportedThere are half as many entry points at the US-Canada border as at the US-Mexico border.

In fiscal year 2023, 736 KSTs were caught attempting to enter the U.S., the highest number ever in a single year. The majority, 487, or 66%, were apprehended at the northern border, by U.S., not Canadian, authorities, The Center Square first reported.

This fiscal year through July, 283 KSTs were apprehended at the northern border, compared with 136 at the southwestern border, according to CBP data last update 16 aug.

KSTs are identified through the U.S. Terrorist Screening Dataset, which contains sensitive information about the identities of terrorists and those “who pose a potential threat to the United States, including known associates of individuals on the watchlist,” CBP explains.

Pam Lambo, a spokesperson for the Canadian embassy, ​​and Tom Clark, Canada’s consul general in New York, both told The Center Square: “The Canada-U.S. border is the best managed and most secure border in the world.”

Numerous U.S. officials disagree, telling The Center Square that the northern and southwestern borders are not secure. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in February for failing to secure the U.S. borders. Members of Congress have also subpoenaed him for KST data, The Center Square reported.

“The record number of people on the terrorist list crossing the northern border” refutes the claim that the border is “the safest in the world,” said Tom Homan. former director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Center Square. “It’s really simple math,” he said, pointing to CBP data. “What they don’t tell you is the unknowns excursions which comes via the northern border.”

The Biden-Harris administration has seen the largest number of illegal border crossers reported in U.S. history, with The Center Square leading the way reportedThe first six months of this budget year records broken after the largest number, 189,402, was reported in fiscal year 2023. Fiscal year to date, the number stands at 162,865, according to CBP data.

“There’s always been a national security vulnerability there; it remains a national security vulnerability,” Homan said. “There are hundreds of miles of open border that are not being guarded and that’s just a hard fact.”

Former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan agrees: narrate The Center Square, the northern border, “represents significant threats. Cartels are expanding their activities, to fly people into Canada, which provides an opportunity for individuals on the terrorist list to exploit. It is much easier to reach Canada to encounter.

“The number of Terror Watchlist aliens that we have on our northern border that originated in Canada poses a significant, ongoing existential threat to our national security. Just as it does along our southern border,” Morgan said. “Common sense will tell you that if you have the largest number of KSTs trying to come in through a border crossing, what if they’re denied entry? Don’t you think some of them are not going to come through the border crossings illegally and cross where no one is?”

“To say our borders are secure is simply not a statement of fact,” he said. “It’s simply not. What level of threat we face is unknown. To make the definitive statement that it’s the most secure border is a political propaganda-driven statement that cannot be based on the facts of reality.”

In response to “increasing security concerns at the U.S.-Canada border,” U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy, Republican of New York, said introduced the Northern Border Security Improvement and Review Act.

“Our northern border, the longest unsecured border in the world, poses a grave threat to our national security as hundreds of thousands of unidentified individuals flow into our communities each year,” said Langworthy, a member of the Northern Border Security Caucus.

Threats are also exacerbated by the fact that “no performance metrics exist to assess security between” the POEs, indicating that no one knows how many people have entered the U.S. illegally, the caucus argues. Federal reports have also warned of national security threats involving “alien smuggling routes,”criminal groups with known ties to or hired by Mexican drug trafficking organizations,” and Border Patrol agents “have been stretched to the limit.”

“There’s a stretch of almost 500 miles where there’s only one officer. One. We’re outnumbered on the northern border. The numbers are outweighed by what’s happening right now. This whole thing is out of control,” said caucus co-founder U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Penn.

“At the southern border you have to cross a river. At the northern border you only have to take one step. There is no line drawn. There is no fence, there is nothing. It is completely unguarded.”

Unlike the 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border, there are no border walls and fewer technological equipment and agents to patrol the U.S.-Canada border, the world’s longest international border at 5,525 miles. The Center Square has reported.

About the author: Bethany Blankley is a writer at Center Square, Patheos/Hedgerow, a political analyst, and former Press Secretary at Capitol Hill/NY/WDC. Follow Bethany on Twitter@BethanyBlankley.