OAN’s Taylor Tinsley
1:10 PM – Tuesday, January 16, 2024
In a joint report, the House Committee’s on Oversight and Homeland Security highlighted Border Patrol testimony from agents facing the crisis at the southern border head on.
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The committees published their report on Tuesday.
The document reads that unprecedented levels of illegal crossings “have led to chaos, misery and death.”
Key takeaways that lawmakers pointed out included how Chief Patrol agents said strong consequences are needed to deter people from entering the country illegally.
Agents were also cited explaining how the border barrier system is helpful, along with their concern with the increase of illegal crossers from “nontraditional” countries and those with a record of potential terrorist ties.
The report noted that in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Border Patrol agents encountered 169 individuals with derogatory information in the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), compared to 98 in FY 2022 and 15 in FY 021.
The committee’s said those numbers have “risen rapidly since Biden took office” and compared them to those apprehended since President Trump’s time at the White House, of three in FY 2020, zero in FY 2019, six in FY 2018 and two in FY 2017.
Agents were also recorded citing concern of the individuals in the got-away population who have derogatory information related to terrorism.
As for a rise in “nontraditional” border crossings, the report highlighted Border Patrol apprehension data from October of 2021 to 2023.
- Afghanistan nationals – 6,386
- Egyptian nationals – 3.153
- Iranian nationals – 659
- Syrian nationals – 538
- Uzbekistani nationals – 13,624
- Turkish nationals – 30,830
- Pakistani nationals – 1,613
- Lebanese nationals – 164
- Jordanian nationals – 185
- Yemeni nationals – 139
- Iraqi nationals – 123
- Mauritanian nationals – 15,594
Agents also cited an increase in illegal crossings from “other nontraditional countries, such as the People’s Republic of China, India, and Senegal.”
In addition to “nontraditional” crossings, lawmakers asserted that the Biden Administrations policies have increased demand for the cartel’s drug and human smuggling and trafficking operations.
A Chief Patrol Agent estimated that Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) in the Del Rio Sector are earning more than $30 million from human smuggling and trafficking operations.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Representative James Comer (R-Ky.) said the Biden Administration has failed to provide agents with the adequate tools to secure the border and that “fundamental change” from the White House is necessary.
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