GOP lawmaker demands DHS briefing on terrorists crossing southern border

Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy has demanded that the Department of Homeland Security hold a briefing on the known or suspected terrorists (KST) encountered at the southern border.

Writing to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Roy highlighted the 169 KSTs encountered at the border in fiscal year 2023 and recent warnings from border agencies that Hamas or related organizations may attempt to cross the border amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

"In fact, the Southwest border is so prone to infiltration by individuals with ties to extremist groups, CBP recently issued a memo warning of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah members potentially crossing the border," he wrote, according to the Washington Examiner, which reviewed the letter.

The San Diego field office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection distributed a memo warning that "that individuals inspired by, or reacting to, the current Israel-Hamas conflict may attempt travel to or from the area of hostilities in the Middle East via circuitous transit across the Southwest border."

It further included known iconography of the terrorist groups Roy mentioned to help agents identify their potential actors.

Roy's demand comes as lawmakers and security experts have increasingly warned of the prospect of terrorist attacks in the United States due to the porous southern border. CBP has reported more than 7 million migrant encounters at the southwest land border since President Joe Biden took office.

"I'm very worried that our southern border hasn't been defended, because we have to assume that Hamas has sent fighters into the U.S.," former National Security Council chief of staff Fred Fleitz said on the "Just the News, No Noise" television show in October. "I think it's a severe security threat... there are so many gotaways. And I think if... members of a foreign intelligence service or a terrorist organization decided to infiltrate the border, they would know how not to be caught."

"Look at the operation by Hamas into Israel: 1,000 to 3,000 Hamas operatives," former Trump foreign policy adviser Walid Phares said last month on the John Solomon Reports podcast. "Look what they've done. Now you can imagine numerically, that there are tens of thousands of potential jihadist, Hamas and radicals who are now within the United States. This is the most scariest projection that one would think of."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.