Kerby Anderson

Whenever there is a discussion about immigration and border security, proponents of open borders assure us that the vast majority of migrants are just coming for a better life. That is probably true. But when you point out that many may be coming for nefarious reasons, they may reluctantly admit that a few that have been caught at the border were on a terrorist watch list. But those are very few compared to the millions who have crossed the border.

My perspective is that even one illegal alien in this country on a terrorist watch list is one too many. But the argument also ignores the substantial number of migrants who are listed as “got aways.” A terrorist is less likely than other migrants to be caught.

The argument also ignores what are called “special interest aliens,” also called SIA. Customs and Border Enforcement flagged 74,904 SIA between October 2022 and August of this year. An SIA is a foreign person who is identified by travel patterns that suggest a potential risk to the US or its interests.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that a special interest alien is a terrorist. But it does mean that person has traveled to countries known for terrorist activity. At the very least, it suggests the need for heightened screening and further investigation by the government.

So how are we treating these SIA? Mark Morgan is the former acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. He announced the other day that federal authorities chose to release illegal migrants who were known to be SIA. Add to that the fact that customs authorities are seeing a surge of individuals on the terror watchlist.

The border is not secure, and dangerous and potentially dangerous individuals are crossing our border into this country.