By Corinne Murdock |
Terrorists appear to be making the most of the ongoing border crisis, according to the latest illegal immigrant encounter data from Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
Terror watchlist arrests have increased over sixfold since President Joe Biden took office. CBP apprehensions increased from 15 in the 2021 fiscal year to 98 in the 2022 fiscal year. Since October, there have been 38 arrests of illegal immigrants on the terror watchlist. From 2017 to 2021, four years, CBP only arrested 26 from the terror watchlist.
CBP told Fox News that they estimate approximately 1.2 million “gotaways,” in addition to the over 4.6 million illegal immigrants that have been apprehended at the southern border.
December’s total apprehensions nearly doubled last year’s record for that month; it also marked the highest single month of apprehensions on record.
Nearly 70 percent of the 2022 fiscal year illegal immigrants were single adults (nearly 64 percent in the 2021 fiscal year). Family units accounted for 23 percent of the 2022 fiscal year southwest border encounters.
At this rate, there may be over 9.2 million illegal immigrants by the end of Biden’s first term.
The illegal immigrants aren’t the only increase in border activity since Biden took office. Drug trafficking has also reached historic highs.
The drug traffickers have gotten creative with their outsized shipments, disguising their cargo as commercial goods like rocks and cotton candy.
Harder drugs are taking precedence over others, as reflected by CBP drug seizure statistics. This includes fentanyl, meth, and cocaine. Marijuana dropped off in seizures around 2021.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Arizona last Thursday. Although Biden designated Harris as the “Border Czar,” Harris did not visit the border while in Arizona. Rather, the vice president came to the state to discuss “clean” energy.
When asked why she and Biden weren’t taking more steps to secure the border, Harris said that Congress needed to act. Harris also indicated that it wasn’t important for her to visit the border during last Thursday’s trip, since she went in June 2021.
“The reality is, the people in Washington, D.C., the people who walk around the halls of Congress need to do something,” said Harris.
A week prior to her visit, Harris told reporters that the border was one of her highest priorities.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
