If you listen to the MAGAs the border is open — even though that truly isn’t the case — and over the last 2 years, there have been a flood of terrorists entering through the Southern Border.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, discusses whether the Pentagon will hold Iran responsible for drone attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East on 'Varney & Co.
Varney: Border Patrol is warning that terrorists from Hamas and Hezbollah may have crossed our Southern Border. They’re here. What are we doing about this? What can we do about this if they’re already here?
Ernst: Well it’s a little too late and thats the story of this Administration under Joe Biden. They are so intent on appeasing all of these authoritarian regimes even so much as to allowing and open border where Hamas and other organizations can easily cross.
Fox then shows a list of people apprehended at the border who happen to be on the Terror Watch List.
Fiscal Year |
Apprehended |
2017 |
2 |
2018 |
6 |
2019 |
0 |
2020 |
3 |
2021 |
15 |
2022 |
98 |
2023 |
169 |
This gives the impression that Terrorists at the border is dramatically increasing.
However, I found these numbers at CBP Enforcement for 2023 and they don’t match Fox’s numbers at all.
This table provides a summary of OFO encounters of all persons at ports of entry with records within the TSDS (Terrorist Screening Dataset) at the time of their encounter.
|
FY17 |
FY18 |
FY19 |
FY20 |
FY21 |
FY22 |
FY23YTD |
Office of Field Operations TSDS Encounters at Land Border Ports of Entry of All Nationalities* |
Southwest Border |
116 |
155 |
280 |
72 |
103 |
67 |
80 |
Northern Border |
217 |
196 |
258 |
124 |
54 |
313 |
484 |
Total |
333 |
351 |
538 |
196 |
157 |
380 |
564 |
U.S. Border Patrol TSDS Encounters Between Ports of Entry of Non-U.S. Citizens |
Southwest Border |
2 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
15 |
98 |
169 |
Northern Border |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
Total |
2 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
16 |
98 |
172 |
Percentage of Total USBP Encounters |
0.0007% |
0.0015% |
0.0004% |
0.0007% |
0.0010% |
0.0044% |
0.0083% |
The year with the highest terrorist apprehensions for all nationalities prior to 2023 was 2019 with 538. FY23 has a total of 564. If you compare year to year there are variances but it really doesn’t seem like things were dramatically better prior to 2020. For example, the totals between 2020 and 2021 are 196 and 157.
Not all that different.
Of course, this is for people on the watch list that *includes* Americans [and also * multiple encounters with the same individuals] and you’ll notice that most of the entries are at the Northern Border, rather than the Southern.
If you look at the second set of rows you do notice numbers are exactly similar to Fox’s for people who are “Non-citizens.” Interesting that there are so many more citizens on the Terrorist Watchlist than Non-citizens.
Why exactly doesn’t Fox talk about *those* terrorists?
As another example, how many criminals have been apprehended at the border year to year?
CRIMINAL APPREHENSIONS |
FY17 |
FY18 |
FY19 |
FY20 |
FY21 |
FY22 |
FY23YTD |
Office of Field Operations |
Criminal Noncitizens Encountered3 |
10,596 |
11,623 |
12,705 |
7,009 |
6,567 |
16,993 |
20,166 |
NCIC4 Arrests |
7,656 |
5,929 |
8,546 |
7,108 |
8,979 |
10,389 |
11,509 |
U.S. Border Patrol |
Criminal Noncitizens Encountered3 |
8,531 |
6,698 |
4,269 |
2,438 |
10,763 |
12,028 |
15,267 |
Criminal Noncitizens with Outstanding Wants or Warrants |
2,675 |
1,550 |
4,153 |
2,054 |
1,904 |
949 |
988 |
It’s not 10-12k criminals per year encountered during Trump’s time is minuscule. It’s not like those numbers are zero. Those are serious numbers, and obviously there was a drop during the Covid years followed by an increase.
President Biden has literally arrested and expelled millions of migrants under Title 42.
As you can see from the totals, 2 Million people were apprehended and expelled at the border during FY2023. 1.5 Million under Title 8 and 550k under Title 42. And there were millions more in 2021 and 2022.
It seems like the GOP is reading these numbers and thinking this is the number of people who are being allowed in, when that simply isn’t the case. They’re being kept out.
That’s a lot of people, and as shown in the chart below — it’s been the majority of people encountered (50—80%) at the border each month.
This includes further details from the American Immigration Council.
Under an agreement reached with the Mexican government in late March 2020, the Border Patrol began sending to Mexico most Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran, and Salvadoran families and single adults encountered at the southern border. The group of nationalities subject to expulsion to Mexico remained unchanged until May 2022, when the Biden administration reached an agreement with Mexico to accept “thousands” of Cubans and Nicaraguans as well. Despite this agreement, there has been extensive documentation of individuals expelled to Mexico who do not fit within this category, including Haitian asylum seekers. People expelled are usually driven by bus to the nearest port of entry and told to walk back to Mexico, often without their luggage and other belongings. Since late January 2021, the Mexican state of Tamaulipas (which borders South Texas) has barred CBP from expelling families with children under the age of seven. In response, CBP has carried out “lateral” transfers by plane or bus to other locations along the border, such as El Paso, where Mexican authorities will allow the agency to expel families with young children. However, because the capacity to carry out “lateral flights” is limited, CBP has been forced to release the majority of families who cross the border in South Texas, despite President Biden’s prior insistence that he would expel all families if he could.
[...]
Title 42 not only applies to individuals crossing the border between ports of entry, but also applies equally to individuals seeking asylum at ports of entry. In March 2020, as part of Title 42, CBP stopped processing all asylum seekers who arrive at ports of entry and ask for humanitarian protection. This left nearly 15,000 people in limbo who had been waiting on lists for an opportunity to request asylum at ports of entry (a practice known as “metering”).
Before the practice of expelling unaccompanied children was blocked in court and then later formally ended by the Biden administration, CBP used Title 42 to turn away and expel nearly 16,000 unaccompanied children. These expulsions took place despite provisions of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act which require the government to protect children who arrive at the border without a parent or legal guardian.
I really don't see how the border is “open” when 60-70% of the people encountered are immediately thrown out again, and another 15% end up being immediately deported and or in ICE detention.
Only about 25% are “released” at the border and all of those people are given future dates for immigration hearings which will ultimately determine their fate. The reason that happens is they don’t have Covid, haven’t committed a crime, aren’t on the watch list or simply don’t have a criminal record so there’s no reason to hold them, and they are still subject to due process.
They get to have a hearing.
Approximately 85% of these people will show up for their hearing and that increases to 96% when they are provided a lawyer (as they were under Obama, but not Trump)
About 40% of them are subject to deportation after their hearings, and they are in fact, deported if that happens.
That’s following the law. That’s how the process is designed to work.
The number of people who show up at the border is not something that the President can control. They’re coming due to the conditions in their own country, but the key item here is that it’s the Republicans who keep claiming the “Border Is Open” — it’s those statements that make people that they can just walk right in — even though they clearly can’t — and that is what is mostly likely the cause of people trying to do exactly that. They’re being told repeatedly “The Border Is Open” when it’s clearly not.
They’re listening to people making this claim just like Joni Ernst — because the GOP says it all the time — not Joe Biden.
It just isn’t the case.
Another set of false claims and myths to bust from a Maga.
Joan Boyce
Robert alberg and steve henry. I suppose you’re proud of your demonrat party. 10 million illegals that we are paying for. A president who has taken millions from china , Ukraine and Russia. But you don’t like Trump who gave us the best economy this country every had. You’re very strange misguided people who obviously hate your own country. Sad
There is no evidence that Biden took a dime from any foreign nation. Zlochevsky who supposedly "paid a bribe" also wrote a letter to Guiliani that stated that no one as Burisma had even had a conversation with Joe Biden, and that Hunter was innocent of the allegations against him. Guiliani's pal Lev Parnas stated that Hunter's laptop was copied by FSB and the Russian secret police who said there was "no evidence of financial crimes" on it. www.dailykos.com/... Most people encountered at the border (Approx 70%) are arrested and expelled. That includes over 2 Million just this year.
The GDP now is at 4.9% after peaking at 5.95% in 2021 while the best Trump achieved was 2.95%. Trump lost 2.9 Million jobs (due to Covid) while Biden has gained 13 Million. https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/gdp-growth-rate
Unemployment is now at 3.8% after hitting a low of 3.4% in April and has held below 4% for 2.5 years which is better than anytime ever. Trump started at 4.2% following Obama and after three years brought it down by a whopping 0.7% to 3.5%, then during Covid it peaked at 14.7% and eventually dropped back down to 6.7% when Biden started. So Trump improved unemployment by 0.7% while Biden improved it by 3.3%. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE
Trump increased the deficit from $400 Billion to $983 Billion by 2019, during Covid it skyrocketed to $3.1 Trillion. Biden brought the deficit down by a record $1.8 Trillion to a total of $1.3 T. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYFSD
There is no measurement where Biden does not outdo Trump. Except for increased prices because of Trump’s inflation and the COVID supply chain collapse, the economy has never been better than now.