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DHS Admits Biden’s Border Crisis is Making it Easier for Terrorists to Enter America


BY: SHAWN FLEETWOOD | OCTOBER 11, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/10/11/dhs-admits-bidens-border-crisis-is-making-it-easier-for-terrorists-to-enter-america/

CBP intercepting migrants in El Paso

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) admitted in a September report that foreign terrorists are exploiting the Biden-manufactured border crisis to illegally enter the United States.

Released last month by the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis, the “Homeland Threat Assessment” for fiscal year 2024 includes an admission by the agency that international terrorists are looking to capitalize on the Biden administration’s open border policies and the resulting influx of illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border to enter the American homeland. Under the section titled, “Border and Immigration Security,” the report specifically noted how “[t]errorists and criminal actors may exploit the elevated flow and increasingly complex security environment to enter the United States.”

The agency further acknowledged “individuals with potential terrorism connections” are actively attempting to enter the U.S. thanks to the ongoing crisis. Months before the 2023 fiscal year ended, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had already encountered approximately 160 individuals on the Terrorist Screening Data Set (TSDS), or “watchlist” — more than the 100 or so encountered in the entirety of the 2022 fiscal year. According to the report, “Inclusion in the TSDS ranges from known associates of watchlisted individuals, such as family members, to individuals directly engaged in terrorist activity.”

Despite proclaiming support for a “secure” border, President Joe Biden and his administration have routinely dismantled policies that helped stymie the ongoing crisis. In addition to auctioning off border wall construction materials, Biden moved to gut the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy shortly after taking office. That policy required illegal border crossers seeking asylum to stay in the Latin American country until their court hearing.

It’s estimated that nearly 7 million illegal immigrants have been “encountered” at the U.S.-Mexico border since Biden took office, according to the New York Post. And that doesn’t even include the potentially millions of “gotaways” who evaded capture by CBP agents.

Last month’s DHS assessment was issued weeks before Hamas — an Iranian-backed terrorist organization operating out of Gaza — launched a series of unprovoked and barbaric attacks against Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The attacks have since prompted concerns that foreign-based terrorist organizations could exploit America’s open border to illegally enter the U.S. and launch similar operations.

In response to possible threats, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the state’s public safety division to coordinate with local and federal law enforcement on “heightened public safety measures,” with a particular focus on raising awareness of possible threats against the state’s Jewish community by Iranian-backed terrorist groups.

In its new threat assessment, DHS specifically highlighted Iran — the world’s leading state-sponsor of terrorism — and its “intent to plot attacks against current and former US government officials.”

“Iran relies on individuals with pre-existing access to the United States for surveillance and lethal plotting—using dual nationals, members of criminal networks, and private investigators,” the report reads, adding that Tehran has even attempted to carry out plots “that do not require international travel for operatives.”

The report also listed Hezbollah — another Iranian-backed terrorist group operating out of Lebanon — as another source of potential foreign terror threats.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood

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2022 sets records for number of border crossings, migrant deaths


By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter | October 26, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/2022-sees-record-number-of-border-crossings-migrant-deaths.html/

Reuters/Jose de Jesus Cortes

Fiscal year 2022 saw a record number of migrant crossings and deaths as illegal immigration remains a significant issue for voters heading into the midterm elections. Statistics compiled by the United States Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) revealed 2,378,944 encounters between illegal immigrants and law enforcement officials at the U.S. border with Mexico in fiscal year 2022, which concluded Sept. 30. The number of encounters increased dramatically from fiscal year 2021, which recorded 1,734,686 border crossings. The number doesn’t include the number of migrants who evaded Border Patrol agents. 

The number of illegal immigrants apprehended monthly has exceeded 200,000 each month since May. The number of encounters peaked at 241,136 in May before dropping for the following two months, increasing slightly in August and rising to 227,547 in September.

A statement from CBP attributed the surge in border crossings to an influx in illegal immigration from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, noting that statistics for October 2022, the first month of fiscal year 2023, will show a decrease in the number of encounters between law enforcement and illegal immigrants. CBP leadership credited the Biden administration’s new policy authorizing immigration officials to return most Venezuelan migrants to Mexico for reducing the flow of illegal immigration.

“While failing regimes in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua continued to drive a new wave of migration across the western Hemisphere, the number of Venezuelans arriving at the southern border decreased sharply nearly every day since we launched additional joint actions with Mexico to reduce irregular migration and create a more fair, orderly, and safe process for people fleeing the humanitarian and economic crisis in their country,” said CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus.

Magnus acknowledged that the drop in border crossings is “not reflected in the latest report,” which only includes data from September. Official statistics outlining apprehensions at the southern border in October 2022 will be released sometime in November. 

While CBP and President Joe Biden cite the changing demographic makeup of the border crossers as the reason for the explosion in illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, critics of the Biden administration sounded the alarm about an overwhelmed southern border at the beginning of 2021. Specifically, they pointed to the Biden administration’s abandonment of the Trump-era Remain in Mexico policy that required those seeking asylum in the U.S. to remain in Mexico while their claims were adjudicated as the cause of the border surge. 

The surge in border crossings has overwhelmed towns along the U.S.-Mexico border and prompted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, to begin sending illegal immigrants to Washington, D.C., as part of an effort to make federal lawmakers aware of the consequences of not securing the border. Abbott later expanded the cross-country transportation of migrants to other major cities that declare themselves “sanctuary cities” that open themselves up to illegal immigrants, including New York City and Chicago. 

In addition to the record number of migrant crossings in fiscal year 2022, the past year also saw a record number of deaths at the border. According to CBP data obtained exclusively by Fox News, a record-breaking 856 migrants died at the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2022.

The latest statistics reinforce voters’ concerns about the issue of illegal immigration heading into the upcoming midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the next two years. Polling of 808 U.S. adults conducted by Monmouth University last week shows that a supermajority of respondents (65%) believe that it is “extremely” or “very” important for the federal government to address the issue of immigration.

A poll released earlier this month by Schoen Cooperman Research revealed that a similar share of voters (66%) living in the swing districts that will determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives either fully or partly blame Biden and congressional Democrats for the “immigration surge at the Southern border.” The same survey found that 46% of voters living in the 85 most competitive congressional districts trust Republicans to handle the issue of illegal immigration, while 44% think the Democrats would better address it. 

The RealClearPolitics average of polls measuring Biden’s job performance on the issue of immigration shows his net approval rating 24 points underwater. Only on the issue of inflation does the president receive a higher net disapproval rating of 28.8 points. The president’s net disapproval ratings on illegal immigration and inflation far exceed his overall net disapproval rating of 11.4 points.

With just about two weeks to go until the midterm elections, the RealClearPolitics average of polls taken over the past two weeks shows Republicans with a 3-point lead on the generic ballot, which asks voters which party they want to control Congress. 

The FiveThirtyEight Deluxe Model, which forecasts the outcome of elections by analyzing “polls, fundraising, past voting patterns” and the opinions of political experts, gives Republicans an 80% chance of retaking control of the U.S. House of Representatives while giving Democrats a 56% chance of maintaining control of the U.S. Senate. 

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com

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Feds: Nearly 900 Migrants with Mumps Disease Arrived in U.S. Last Year


Reported by John Binder | 

URL of the original posting site: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/09/08/nearly-900-cases-mumps-among-migrants/

Central American migrants wait for food in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday in a pen erected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to process a surge of migrant families and unaccompanied minors. (Cedar Attanasio/The Associated Press)

Since September 2018, nearly 900 migrants arriving at the United States-Mexico border have been confirmed or suspected to have mumps, a federal report reveals.

A report by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) details how the contagious mumps disease has spread across 19 states in 57 detention facilities among migrants — those illegally crossing the southern border and those seeking asylum.

Between September 2018 and August 2019, about 898 cases of migrants who had arrived to the U.S. and were in federal detention were reported to have mumps. Another 33 cases of mumps were reported among staff members at the various detention facilities.

Roughly 44 percent of the cases reported occurred in detention facilities located in Texas while the average age of a migrant with mumps was 25 years-old and 94 percent were male migrants.

CDC officials state that the disease has largely spread to other migrants while in detention with 84 percent of cases reported having been likely contracted while in federal custody and five percent having been likely contracted before the migrant was apprehended by federal officials.

As of August 2019, CDC officials say there are ongoing mumps outbreaks among migrants at 15 detention facilities in seven states.

In June, Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kevin McAleenan admitted that border crossers and illegal aliens are being released into the interior of the U.S. without undergoing basic medical exams or disease tests, Breitbart News reported.

A report issued by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in 2017 outlined urged the Trump administration to enact a slew of policies to prevent a disease outbreak in the U.S. caused by mass immigration.

“Most illnesses are spread by contact with infected people, livestock or agricultural produce,” the FAIR report states. “As a result, researchers have concluded that the international movement of people is a significant factor in disease outbreaks: ‘Mobile populations can link zones of disease emergence to low prevalence or non-endemic areas through rapid or high-volume international movements, or both.’”

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder. 

Give Me Your Ebola, Your Tuberculosis, Your Mumps-Ridden Masses | Ep 386

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