U.S. Border Patrol officials recently apprehended an Afghan national who is on the FBI’s terror watchlist after he crossed the U.S. southern border into California.
“This should serve as a stark reminder to President Biden and the Federal Government on the critical need for maintaining a strong border,” Desmond said. “As a nation, we must remain steadfast in our commitment to protect the safety and security of our citizens. A strong and orderly border process is crucial in preventing individuals with nefarious intentions from entering our country. The open border policy has allowed fentanyl to pour into our country, asylum seekers to be human trafficked, and terrorists to attempt entry into our country.”
Desmond did not provide additional details about the Afghan national arrested.
NTD News reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for further information, but they directed questions about the arrest incident to the FBI. The FBI did not respond by the time this article was published.
Desmond cited the Afghan national’s arrest as a cause for concern over the Biden administration’s handling of border security issues.
Title 42 Expires
The Afghan national and terrorist suspect was apprehended at the southern border just over a day before the Title 42 pandemic-era immigration restrictions ended.Throughout the past three years, U.S. immigration and border security officials had been able to turn many migrants away from the border relatively rapidly under Title 42 authority, which related to the prevention and control of communicable diseases like COVID-19. Title 42 expired just before midnight on May 11.
The Biden administration made some policy changes ahead of the anticipated surge of asylum seekers and illegal border crossers.
“Our current situation is the outcome of Congress leaving a broken, outdated immigration system in place for over two decades, despite unanimous agreement that we desperately need legislative reform,” Mayorkas said. “It is also the result of Congress’ decision not to provide us with the resources we need and that we requested.”