New data from the Department of Homeland Security show that during the six months between October 2017 and March 2018, America had a bigger terrorist suspect problem on the US-Canadian border than the US-Mexican border.
The data shows border guards intercepted just six people thought to be foreign terrorists crossing illegally from Mexico to the U.S.
In the same period, CBP prevented 41 foreigners from entering the U.S. at the Canadian border after their names were found in the database.
The rate of one per month falls far short of what White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders claimed Sunday, when she said on Fox News that nearly 4,000 known or suspected terrorists come into our country illegally, and we know that our most vulnerable point of entry is at our southern border.
The White House distributed material Friday from a congressional briefing, claiming that “3,775 known or suspected terrorists were prevented from traveling or entering the U.S. by DHS’ during the government fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2017.”
Reporters pounced on that number today, demanding to know during a briefing with Vice President Mike Pence and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen whether it was an accurate measure of the level of terrorist incursions from the south.
The numbers “are classified for a number of reasons,” Nielsen responded, “including on going investigations.”
Hours later, NBC News reported that during the first half of fiscal 2018, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered just six immigrants on the U.S-Mexico border whose names were on a federal terror watch-list.
CBP had contact with 41 people on the southern border who matched entries in the Terrorist Screening Database.
But 35 of them were U.S. citizens or people who were living in the U.S. legally.
The data describe a larger problem on the U.S.-Canada border: In the same period, CBP prevented 41 foreigners from entering the U.S. after their names were found in the database.
The State Department’s Bureau Of Counterterrorism And Countering Violent Extremism reported in September 2018 that there was “no credible evidence indicating that international terrorist groups have established bases in Mexico, worked with Mexican drug cartels, or sent operatives via Mexico into the United States.”
“The U.S. southern border remains vulnerable to potential terrorist transit, although terrorist groups likely seek other means of trying to enter the United States,” the agency’s annual country-by-country terrorism report stated.
The Trump administration is entering the high-stakes third week of a partial government shutdown caused by a stalemate over funding to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
The White House is attempting to paint a dire picture to sway public opinion: President Trump will address the nation Tuesday night and visit the border on Thursday.
It’s possible Trump will declare a national state of emergency on Tuesday night, asserting his authority to re-allocate budget money Congress has already authorized.
That decision could immediately be challenged in court.