AUSTIN, Texas — Both Texas senators and Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans are pressing the Biden administration to explain how the British terrorist who took four people hostage inside a Texas synagogue this month was allowed to enter the country, given major flags in his background.

Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, along with the nine other party members on the committee, asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, State Secretary Antony Blinken, and FBI Director Christopher Wray in two letters to explain why Malik Faisal Akram was not listed on the U.S. terrorist watchlist or barred from admission for another reason, given claims that he had a criminal record and had been investigated by British authorities for ties to an Islamic terrorist group.