DHS Admits Border Has Been Open To Criminals And Terrorists

DHS chief Alejandro Mayorkas admits that its southern border policy allowed criminals and terrorists to enter, as background checks were delayed until asylum hearings. A new regulation aims to expedite deportations to address this security risk.

You can read the original article here.

Surprisingly, the Biden administration’s experiment with a somewhat open southern border has resulted in an estimated 10 million individuals crossing in just over three years. However, the most startling aspect of the border strategy might have just come to light.

Recently, a new rule was introduced by Alejandro Mayorkas, the impeached chief of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS inadvertently disclosed that it has not been doing background checks on these millions of undocumented immigrants to deport those with criminal records or ties to terrorism right away in a statement announcing the regulation. As an alternative, they have been delaying that decision until the asylum hearing, which takes place years later. Meanwhile, they continue to be in the U.S. awaiting the hearing.

First of all, it should be acknowledged that the entire foundation for allowing millions of undocumented immigrants to enter the country is fanciful. People can cross our roughly 2,000-mile southern border almost anywhere they choose. Usually, they are not obliged to enter via a designated entry point. At your convenience—or, more precisely, the drug cartel’s discretion—cross the desert, the mountains, or the river. No issue, we’ll send border patrol to you, where they’ll gladly process you and grant you admission straight away.

Since they are now being handled as refugees seeking asylum rather than as illegal immigrants as they were previously, they are processed and granted entry. That is the open border experiment’s hook and secret. “To establish that the applicant is a refugee… the applicant must establish that race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion was or will be at least one central reason for persecuting the applicant,” according to Title VIII, Section 1158(b) of U.S. immigration law.

However, the great majority of these newcomers are not doing so to avoid persecution. Their poverty has never qualified them for refuge, but that is why they are traveling. Where are the stories of millions of Central and South Americans facing racial persecution if they were fleeing persecution? Where are the stories of millions of people facing discrimination due to their faith?

Years later, when they get their hearing, the great majority of illegal immigrants will not be granted asylum because they do not meet the requirements. However, we now know that DHS permits known dangerous immigrants to stay in the nation for years even when they are aware they are ineligible for asylum.

“Federal law bars individuals who pose a national security or public safety risk from asylum,” DHS states.

Yet, the agency acknowledges, “the asylum eligibility determination is not currently made until later in the process—at the merits adjudication stage of the asylum and withholding of removal claims.”

We are aware that happens only years later. The proposed regulation would allow asylum officers to take into account these barriers to asylum and denial of removal during the first credible fear screening, which takes place a few days after an individual is encountered, according to the statement. As stated in the release, this will “better safeguard the security of our border and our country by enabling DHS to expeditiously remove individuals who pose a threat to the United States much sooner than is currently the case.”

It is only now, after more than three years of admitting millions of undocumented immigrants, that the Department of Homeland Security has concluded that, perhaps, it would be wiser to deport people with violent criminal records and connections to terrorism right away rather than waiting years for an asylum hearing.

Things worsen.

The policy hasn’t been altered as of yet. To think, they want to transform this into an administrative regulation and give the public a chance to comment on it. Remarks must be submitted by June 12th. Consequently, the rule won’t even go into effect until later in the summer.

Why can’t President Biden issue a new order quickly altering this policy if he can overturn previous President Trump’s remain-in-Mexico order with his order on day one, a decision that was affirmed by the US Supreme Court? Of course, he can, but this administration is not in a rush to lower the number of immigrants entering the country, even as it attempts to appear tough on illegal immigration in time for the election.

According to the statement, “Noncitizens who present a national security or public safety risk remain in DHS custody while their cases are referred for full immigration hearings before an immigration judge, a process that can take years and is resource intensive.” According to DHS, as a result, certain undocumented immigrants are not currently allowed to enter the nation. However, it appears that taxpayers pay for their housing and board during the years they wait for their asylum hearing, which DHS frequently knows they won’t pass due to their criminal or terrorist history.

However, there are grounds to think that some of them are not actually in custody. Speaking about the proposed regulation over the phone with reporters, a senior DHS official stated, “I will say this is intended to be a national security and public safety measure.” Therefore, the goal is to make sure that, once more, the people we are most worried about—those with significant criminal records or ties to terrorism—can be eliminated from the process as soon as feasible.

How is this a matter of public safety and national security if they are held for years before their trial, as they allege? Since this hasn’t always occurred, it seems like DHS has acknowledged they have a significant security issue.

Consider the instance of Jose Ibarra, who is suspected of killing Laken Riley, a nursing student who vanished from sight while out for a jog on the University of Georgia campus. After breaking the law and crossing the border, he was first taken into custody by Customs and Border Patrol agents in September 2022 close to El Paso. His native country was Venezuela. After that, border officials said he was “paroled and released for further processing.” If you are paroled, you are released and will wait years for your asylum hearing. He boarded a bus for New York. He was taken into custody there for endangering a youngster. ICE was not informed since New York is a sanctuary city. For shoplifting, he was caught once more in Athens, Georgia. A sanctuary city is Athens. Once more, ICE was not informed. Then, it is said, he killed Ms. Riley.

Although there are no records of his criminal history in Venezuela, it seems likely that he has one given his lengthy criminal history in this country.

A joint public service broadcast from the FBI and DHS warned that events taking place during Pride Month could be targeted by foreign terrorist organizations. This is probably related news. Officials also mentioned “ISIS messaging” that was centered on “anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric.” Why are the DHS and FBI becoming so worried about ISIS in the United States? Is it possible that in the past three years, individuals connected to ISIS have entered our southern border?

Additionally, we found out this week that earlier this month, two undocumented immigrants attempted to drive a box truck past security personnel and onto a Marine facility in Quantico, Virginia. According to The Potomac Local News, at least one of them was on the U.S. government’s terrorism watch list, while another is a Jordanian national who recently crossed the border. An undocumented Chinese immigrant made his way onto a Marine facility in Twentynine Palms, California, in March in a similar incident.

All of this makes sense now that we know how DHS has been managing undocumented immigrants with criminal histories or connections to terrorism. The organization is dealing with a serious issue.

Last year, GreatGameIndia reported that the Center for Immigration Studies has learned that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uses an encrypted chatroom to inform undocumented immigrants of the timing for crossing the Rio Grande.