Ricketts, Risch Demand Answers for Biden Admin’s Release of Terror Watchlist Suspects into U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Jim Risch (R-ID) demanded answers from the Biden administration after reports revealed Custom and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) failed to share information about the apprehension of suspects on the terror watchlist who crossed the border illegally and were subsequently released into the U.S.

“It is evident that the agencies responsible for securing our nation’s southern border have failed to effectively communicate with and notify each other of terrorists that pose threats to American citizens illegally entering the country,” wrote the senators. “The flow of illegal immigration has surged under the Biden administration, allowing these criminals and terrorists to slip through the cracks of our immigration system. Not only are these individuals breaking American laws by crossing the border illegally, but they also pose a significant national security risk. The systemic lack of information-sharing ties the hands of agency immigration enforcement officials on the frontlines. These officials work tirelessly to apprehend illegal immigrants daily, but they should not be handcuffed by agency leadership.”

In the letter, the senators outlined a case in which CBP apprehended an illegal immigrant at the southern border, received an inconclusive match to the terror watchlist, and released the illegal immigrant into the U.S. The Federal Bureau of Investigation waited nearly one year to inform ICE of the conclusive match, allowing this risk to national security roam freely within the U.S.

Ricketts and Risch were joined by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Tim Scott (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), John Thune (R-SD), and J.D. Vance (R-OH) in sending the letter.