Senator Ted Budd, R-N.C.A group of 21 senators wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers about how people with suspected ISIS ties are being apprehended, screened and then released into the US at the southern border.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently arrested eight people, one of whom was caught on a wiretap talking about bombs.
“President Biden has been derelict in his duty to protect and defend our country,” Budd said in a statement. “These events highlight the extreme national security risks posed by the open southern border. We need to uncover what happened here, and make sure it never happens again. We need to secure the border and prevent chaos.”
In a letter sent to Mayorkas on Tuesday morning, Budd and other senators expressed concern about reports of the arrest of eight people from Tajikistan who are suspected of having terrorist links to ISIS. crossed the southern border To enter the US last year and this year.
FBI Director Wray presses for 8 ISIS-linked border crossers released into US
Senator Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and other senators are demanding answers from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after ICE arrested eight people from Tajikistan suspected of terrorist ties to ISIS who crossed the southern border into the United States last year and this year. (Left: Andrew Harnick via Getty Images | Right: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We are deeply concerned by reports that wiretaps indicate one of the individuals now arrested was talking about bombs and that the target of the wiretap has already been released by federal authorities at the southern border, with a court date next year,” the letter reads. “We are also concerned by reports that federal authorities investigated these individuals upon their entry into the U.S. but did not detect any ties to ISIS at the time and that these ties were discovered “later and in recent weeks.”
The letter also details other recent incidents. Release of illegal immigrants On the US terrorist watch list
It also highlights a November 2023 hearing in which FBI Director Christopher Wray said, “There are certainly individuals who are the subject of terrorism-related investigations that we’re looking at.”
Authorities arrest 8 suspected terrorists with links to ISIS in multi-city sting operation
Because of the nature of the threats to the American public, Senators requested DHS must provide information to senators or their staff and answer a number of questions by June 25.
The senators have requested that Mayorkas reveal the identities of all individuals arrested, when, where, and why they entered the United States, and whether they claimed asylum when they entered the United States.
They are also requesting that they explain what the vetting process involved for these individuals, answer whether they are part of ISIS or another terrorist group, and whether they are part of a wider network inside the U.S.
They are also requesting that DHS tell them if they Planning a terrorist attack And did they have any weapons?
FBI Director Christopher Wray (AP/Bonnie Cash/File)
The letter comes a week after a similar letter was sent to Ray by Senator Jerry Moran, Republican-Kansas, demanding answers as to how eight Tajikistani nationals – who crossed the border illegally and were later arrested in three major US cities – were released into the US interior in the first place.
The senator wrote that he and Wray “share similar concerns about suspected terrorists and individuals on watch lists crossing the border.”
“Last week I asked FBI Director Ray “I appreciate the steps the FBI is taking to protect Americans from terrorists illegally crossing the southern border,” Moran wrote. “I applaud the FBI’s work to track down these eight potential terrorists, but the truth of the matter is that the Biden administration should never have allowed these suspected terrorists to come to American soil in the first place. The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and a defenseless border have left our country vulnerable to attack.”
Lindsey Graham requests full Senate briefing on ISIS border threat after terrorist attack
A Border Patrol vehicle is shown near the border wall separating Tijuana, Mexico from the United States, in San Diego on June 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Wray warned during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee meeting last week that since the October 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel, “a group of foreign terrorist organizations” have been calling for attacks on Americans, the United States and US allies.
“And given these calls for action, our most immediate concern has been that individuals or small groups inspired by events in the Middle East would carry out attacks here at home,” Wray said. “But now, in addition, there’s also the growing possibility of a coordinated attack here in the homeland, not unlike the ISIS-K attack that we saw.” Russian Concert Hall Back in March.”
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The letter by Senator Budd was co-signed by Senators Thom Tillis, R-N.C., John Thune, R-S.D., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Tim Scott, R-S.C., J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Rick Scott, R-Fla., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Mike Lee, R-Utah, Roger Marshall, R-Conn., John Hoeven, R-N.D., John Kennedy, R-La., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., Todd Young, R-Indiana, Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Pete Ricketts, R-Neb.
Fox News Digital’s Daniel Wallace and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
