Under Biden-Harris, greatest number of suspected terrorists apprehended at northern border

Under the Biden-Harris administration, the greatest number of individuals identified on the U.S. Terrorist Watchlist have been caught at the northern border.

Since fiscal 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol agents have apprehended 1,746 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) nationwide, the greatest number in U.S. history.

The majority, 1,089, were reported at the northern border attempting to enter the U.S. from Canada. They were primarily caught by CBP agents at ports of entry, as The Center Square has previously reported. There are half the number of points of entry at the U.S.-Canada border than there are at the U.S.-Mexico border.

In fiscal 2023, 736 KSTs were caught attempting to enter the U.S., the highest on record for a single year. The majority, 487, or 66%, were apprehended at the northern border, by American, not Canadian authorities, The Center Square first reported.

This fiscal year through July, 283 KSTs were apprehended at the northern border compared to 136 at the southwest border, according to CBP data last updated Aug. 16.

KSTs are identified through the U.S. Terrorist Screening Dataset, which contains sensitive information on terrorist identities and those “who represent a potential threat to the United States, including known affiliates of watchlisted individuals,” CBP explains.

Pam Lambo, a Canadian Embassy spokesperson, and Tom Clark, Consul General of Canada in New York, both told The Center Square, “The Canada-U.S. border is the best-managed and most secure border in the world.”

Numerous U.S. authorities disagree, telling The Center Square the northern and southwest borders are not secure. U.S. House Republicans impeached Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in February arguing he failed to secure the U.S. borders. Members of Congress have also subpoenaed him for KST data, The Center Square reported.

“The record number of people on the terrorist watchlist coming across the northern border” disproves the “most secure border in the world” claim, Tom Homan, former director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Center Square. “It’s really simple math,” he said, pointing to CBP data. “What they won’t tell you are the unknown gotaways coming through the northern border.”

Under the Biden-Harris administration, the greatest number of illegal northern border crossers have been reported in U.S. history, The Center Square first reported. The first six months of this fiscal year broke records after the greatest number, 189,402, was reported in fiscal 2023. Fiscal year to date, the number stands at 162,865, according to CBP data.

“There’s always been a national security vulnerability there; it remains a national security vulnerability,” Homan said. “There are hundreds of miles of open border that is not being patrolled and that's just a stone-cold fact.”

Former Border Patrol chief Mark Morgan agrees, telling The Center Square the northern border “represents significant threats. Cartels are expanding their operations, flying people into Canada, presenting an opportunity for terrorist watch-listed individuals to exploit. It’s much easier to get to Canada to come across.

“The volume of aliens on the Terror Watchlist encountered at the northern border coming from Canada presents a significant persistent existential threat to our national security. Just as it does along our southern border,” Morgan said. “Common sense will tell you if you have the greatest volume of KSTs attempting to enter through a port of entry, what about when they are denied entry? You don't think that some of them won’t illegally enter in between the ports of entry and cross where there is no one there?”

“To say that our borders are secure is simply not a factual statement,” he said. “It's just not. What level of threat is coming across is unknown. To make the definitive statement that it's the safest border, that's a political propaganda driven statement that cannot be based in the facts of reality.”

To respond to “escalating security concerns at the U.S.-Canada border,” U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-NY, introduced the Northern Border Security Enhancement and Review Act.

“Our northern border, the world’s longest unsecured border, poses a major threat to our national security, with hundreds of thousands of unidentified individuals streaming into our communities every year,” Langworthy, a member of the Northern Border Security Caucus, said.

Threats are also compounded because “no performance measures to assess security between” the POEs exists, indicating that no one knows how many illegally entered the U.S., the caucus argues. Federal reports have also warned of national security threats related to “alien smuggling routes,” “criminal groups with known ties to or hired by Mexican drug trafficking organizations,” and Border Patrol agents are “stretched razor thin.”

"There is one stretch of almost 500 miles where there is only one agent. One. We're outnumbered at the Northern border. The numbers are off the charts with what's going on right now. This whole thing has gotten out of control,” caucus co-founder U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Penn., argues.

“At the Southern border, you have to cross a river. At the Northern border, you just have to take one step. There's no line drawn. There's no fence, there's nothing. It's completely unguarded.”

Unlike the 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border, there are no border walls and less technological equipment and agents to patrol the U.S.-Canada border, the longest international border in the world of 5,525 miles, The Center Square has reported.