(NewsNation) — More than 250 migrants on the terrorist “watch list” entered the United States illegally at the southern border during fiscal years 2021, 2022 and 2023, with at least 99 of them later allowed to enter and settle.
That’s according to a 19-page report from the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee, an assessment of the Biden-Harris administration’s border policies and results that claims to show a record number of border crossings by those considered dangerous.
House immigration report
The report alleges that border agents encountered migrants from countries considered to have an “active terrorist presence,” including Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
Aside from the 99 released into the country, 34 other migrants on the watchlist were in Department of Homeland Security custody but not fully removed from the U.S.
One of the cases cited in the report regards eight Tajik nationals arrested in June 2024 for potential ISIS ties — according to House officials, three of those migrants were released into the country via the CBP One phone application.
The app allows migrants to schedule an appointment at a port of entry. Half of the arrested Tajik nationals encountered Border Patrol while crossing, while another arrived at the border without using the app.
“While national security officials alert Americans about potential terrorist threats, Biden-Harris administration officials continue to downplay the national security nightmare created by the border crisis,” the report reads.
ICE officials also told Republicans on the committee that the Biden-Harris handling of the border has made it “more difficult for officers to arrest national security threats in the United States.”
The report comes as immigration and border policy take center stage in the 2024 presidential election, with Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump bagging on Vice President Kamala Harris‘ “border czar” record.
Biden’s immigration reform
Under the Biden-Harris administration, migrant crossings from Mexico hit record highs at the end of 2023, with close to 250,000 crossing during December 2023.
Harris announced in March that $5.2 billion in pledges from private companies had been made to prop up Central American communities in an effort to deter illegal entry to the U.S. under her guidance.
“The problems, of course, did not occur overnight, and the solutions will not be achieved overnight,” Harris said of the border at the time.
In June 2024, President Joe Biden released a series of executive actions capping migrant crossing until border encounters remain consistently low — under 2,500 per day for an entire week — in an effort to give Border Patrol more time to handle each migrant’s situation.
The president also clarified his use of executive powers, saying he was doing what Congress would not in reference to a bipartisan immigration deal that failed in the Senate after Trump urged GOP lawmakers to vote against it.
“I would have preferred to address this issue through bipartisan legislation because that’s the only way to get the kind of system we have now, that’s broken, fixed,” Biden said June 4. “But Republicans left me no choice.”
A spokesperson for Harris referenced the same bill in a statement to NewsNation: “Donald Trump tanked the bipartisan border security deal because for Donald Trump, this has never been about solutions. Like everything with Donald Trump, it’s never been about helping the country, it’s only about helping himself.”
NewsNation’s Sean Noone and Patrick Djordjevic contributed to this report.
