An African terrorism suspect was released into the United States after he was caught illegally crossing into Arizona on October 3. On October 10, a week later, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) notified ICE that the man is wanted in Senegal for terroristic activities. ICE arrested him in New York City on October 17.

That is a little snapshot into how a known terrorist from overseas, in this case Africa, could be moving about freely in the United States for two weeks after illegally crossing the southern border. He was released by Border Patrol after his initial apprehension because they had no idea about his background.

When the illegal alien was encountered by Border Patrol on October 3 near Lukeville, Arizona, they processed him. They released him on his own recognizance with a notice to report to Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in New York City. By the time he arrived in New York City, a week later, HSI agents assigned to the FBI’s Counter Terrorism Division notified ERO New York City that he was wanted in Senegal for terrorist activities. A week after that, ERO arrested the 29-year-old noncitizen in New York. He remains in custody, without bond, pending removal proceedings.

How does this happen, you ask? The problem is that Border Patrol can’t hold suspected terrorists if they don’t have the information. When they check an illegal alien in their database and that check comes back negative, Border Patrol assumes the person is clear. If derogatory information surfaces through another source like an attache or biometrics information, it shows up later and is then entered into a shared database. Border Patrol can’t sit on these people for weeks because their resources are overwhelmed by the Biden border crisis.

According to ICE, he is “wanted by Senegalese authorities for criminal conspiracy in relation to a terrorist organization; destruction, degradation and damages in relation to a terrorist organization; acts or preparatory acts aimed at compromising public safety or causing serious political troubles; direct provocation of an armed crowd; and holding arms without prior administrative authorization.” His name has not been released.

How many of these people do you think are roaming freely in the United States? Hundreds? Probably. Maybe thousands. We already know that DHS admits to apprehending more than 172 in FY 2023.

A statement was released by ERO NYC Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo.

“Noncitizens who are engaged in or suspected of supporting terrorism are a direct threat to our country’s national security and will be expeditiously removed from the United States,” said ERO New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo. “ERO New York City will use every tool at our disposal to keep American citizens and residents safe from those who erroneously believe they can exploit our immigration laws to escape justice in other countries. We remain committed to working with our law enforcement partners to ensure individuals who commit unspeakable acts of violence are held accountable.”

Too bad the Biden administration isn’t committed to securing the southern border so that bad guys weren’t incentivized to make the trip to illegally cross into the United States in the first place. They count on blending in with the large groups of illegal immigrants crossing every week, often every day.

CBP issued a memo recently warning about the possibility that foreign fighters associated with terror groups may try to enter the United States. Those groups may include Hamas or Hezbollah. CBP stressed that there are no indications of these fighters trying to do so. That’s a hard argument to make, though, given the example of this case, in my opinion. Is this man a part of a larger network already in the United States? It is not a stretch to assume there are already sleeper cells here.

The scary truth is that we have no idea who is in this country. By the end of Joe Biden’s term in office, the number of illegal aliens apprehended and released into the United States will likely be about 10 million. The Border Patrol cannot properly vet the illegal immigrants coming across the border, they are overwhelmed by the numbers. To say we have been lucky these past three years of Biden’s presidency is an understatement.

The Biden border crisis is a threat to national security. This man’s case is a recent example of what is happening.

If the information isn’t entered into the database, Border Patrol doesn’t know the whole history. It sounds like there is a problem with information-sharing. That happened before 9/11/01, too.

“Our border security efforts include biometric and biographic screening and vetting,” a DHS official said this week.  “CBP screens and vets every individual encountered, and if an individual is determined to pose a potential threat to national security or public safety, in coordination with the Joint Terrorism Taskforce (JTTF), we either deny admission, detain, remove, or refer them to other federal agencies for further vetting and prosecution as appropriate.”

We’ve been lucky so far. How long will our luck hold out?