Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Chuck Grassley have asked top national security officials to brief lawmakers following Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s pronouncement that Hezbollah terrorists have active cells in Venezuela and could use connections in Central America to enter the United States via the southern border.
The Texas and Iowa senators said Wednesday they asked Pompeo, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, and FBI Director Christopher Wray to inform them of the extent to which terrorists may be trying to enter illegally at the U.S.-Mexico border and what they’re doing to prevent it.
“This information is extremely troubling,” Cruz and Grassley wrote in the letter. “Effective border security not only addresses the ongoing problem of illegal immigration, but also prevents the cross-border movement of Special Interest Aliens (SIAs) and known or suspected terrorists (K/STs). SIAs are a broad category of individuals who pose a security threat to our homeland. The spectrum of K/STs and SIAs located in Venezuela may include not only Hezbollah terrorists, but also agents of Cuba, Iran, Russia and China.”
They cited a 2017 Politico report that found the Obama administration was aware of Hezbollah’s presence in the Western Hemisphere.
The senators want federal officials to brief them by March 12 on current efforts to keep suspected terrorists and suspicious noncitizens from entering through the southern border, should they attempt it. They also want to know if Hezbollah terrorists or agents from Russia, China, Cuba, or Iran could pretend to be refugees to gain lawful entry into the U.S.
[Read more: New border crisis: 1,809 illegal crossing attempts a day, ‘ticking time bomb’]
