Suspected terrorists and criminals have infiltrated the immigrant “caravans” traveling to the U.S. border from Mexico, raising new concerns that the crisis has national security dangers, according to a new House report.
The investigative report from the House Homeland Security Committee cited Mexico’s findings with the caravans. “Recently, Mexico has stepped up its efforts to combat the migrant caravans coming in from Honduras, which has included several SIAs, and potentially KSTs travelling towards the U.S. border,” said the report in a reference to “special interest aliens” and “known or suspected terrorists.”
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It also said that ISIS has been encouraging members to cross the border and that U.S. Border Control officers have “routinely” encountered suspected terrorist and criminal gang members.
The report, done by committee Republicans, was released right before the Democrats took power in the chamber.
The Center for Immigration Studies pulled out these highlights:
- The recent migrant caravans originating in Central America have included “several SIAs, and potentially” known or suspected terrorists traveling toward the U.S. border.
- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security continues to prioritize the SIA threat as one of the top threats to the homeland because of the consistently “large number” of individuals from special interest countries that travel to the Western Hemisphere using illicit pathways.
- Written ISIS materials and publications have encouraged ISIS followers to cross the U.S. Southwest Border.
- DHS Border Patrol Agents “routinely” encounter SIAs at the border using routes controlled by transnational criminal organizations.
- Statistics on the number of known or suspected terrorists on routes to the border are often classified, but the threat posed by “the existence of illicit pathways into the United States” highlights that “border security is national security” as terrorist groups seek to exploit vulnerabilities among neighboring countries to fund, support, and commit attacks against the homeland.
- The United States-Canada border “is also susceptible to exploitation by SIAs.”
It also looked at the cost of immigration and said that an average of 51,379 illegal immigrants are held each day at $200 each, totaling over $10 million a day.
The report, part of a task force investigation, said:
