In recent years, unusually elevated numbers of migrants from countries of special interest reaching the U.S.-Mexico border have been found to match U.S. terrorism "watch lists" — the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE), or the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB). Such migrants are known as "special interest aliens" (SIAs). These are aliens with citizenship in some 30 countries of … [Read more...] about Eight Recommendations to Congress and the White House to Counter Potential Terror Travel to the U.S. Southern Border
Securing America's Borders
Political Crossfire over the Migrant Caravan Produces New Information on a Real Homeland Security Problem
The fallout continues from President Donald Trump's Monday morning tweet that some "Middle Easterners" were likely among the thousands of Central Americans in the U.S.-bound migrant caravan. To my mind and the minds of many homeland security professionals who know and understand this issue, the president was obviously referencing a homeland security problem about which I often write … [Read more...] about Political Crossfire over the Migrant Caravan Produces New Information on a Real Homeland Security Problem
A Remarkable Unverified Claim by the President of Guatemala: 100 Migrants Linked to Terrorism Arrested in That Country
At a public conference, Guatemala President Jimmy Morales made a striking claim. At a public conference attended by reporters and Vice President Mike Pence last week, Guatemala President Jimmy Morales made a striking claim based on what he said was classified intelligence. The newspaper Prensa Libre quoted President Morales saying, during his turn at the lectern of a major … [Read more...] about A Remarkable Unverified Claim by the President of Guatemala: 100 Migrants Linked to Terrorism Arrested in That Country
New White House National Strategy for Counterterrorism: Europe Migrant-Terrorist Infiltration Phenom Matters to U.S. Land Border Security
The Trump Administration released its National Strategy for Counterterrorism earlier this month. It is the latest iteration of an exercise that has become tradition since the attacks of 9/11. President George W. Bush started the post-9/11 tradition of breaking out the terrorism threat from the broader National Security Strategy with his administration's February … [Read more...] about New White House National Strategy for Counterterrorism: Europe Migrant-Terrorist Infiltration Phenom Matters to U.S. Land Border Security
Terrorist Travel to the United States Southern Border: New State Dept. Report Cites “Vulnerability” of Border to Terrorist Infiltration from Latin America
As explained already at some length in my recent CIS Backgrounder, migrants from Muslim-majority countries routinely get to the U.S. Southwest border by first reaching Latin America and traveling smuggling routes northward. Human smuggling networks that move these so-called "special interest aliens" through Latin America pose a recognized vulnerability of terrorist infiltration, which … [Read more...] about Terrorist Travel to the United States Southern Border: New State Dept. Report Cites “Vulnerability” of Border to Terrorist Infiltration from Latin America
DACA Student under Anti-ICE Terrorism Investigation Chooses Mexico Deportation over Further Disclosure
U.S. congressman wrote a letter on his behalf Rather than face court proceedings that would further disclose why an FBI counterterrorism investigation has targeted him, San Antonio DACA recipient Sergio "Mapache" Salazar chose to take deportation to Mexico instead. The Mexico-born Salazar was brought to the United States when he was two and has lived in San Antonio ever since, and received … [Read more...] about DACA Student under Anti-ICE Terrorism Investigation Chooses Mexico Deportation over Further Disclosure
New Terrorism Case-In-Point: Why Somalia Is on the Travel Ban List and Must Stay There
How can U.S. officials vet refugees claiming to be from a country with no government records to check? As when they cross a U.S. land border unknown and with no ID, Somalis who formally apply for refugee resettlement — at, say, a U.S. embassy or refugee camp abroad — present a security challenge to officials trying to separate the malevolent from the benign. Discerning the difference for … [Read more...] about New Terrorism Case-In-Point: Why Somalia Is on the Travel Ban List and Must Stay There
New Terrorism Case-In-Point: Why Somalia Is on the Travel Ban List and Must Stay There
By Todd Bensman, published September 11, 2018 by Center for Immigration Studies As when they cross a U.S. land border unknown and with no ID, Somalis who formally apply for refugee resettlement — at, say, a U.S. embassy or refugee camp abroad — present a security challenge to officials trying to separate the malevolent from the benign. Discerning the difference for Somalis is far more … [Read more...] about New Terrorism Case-In-Point: Why Somalia Is on the Travel Ban List and Must Stay There
Somali Smuggler Brought at Least 50 Migrants to the TX, CA Borders
Takeaways from the latest ICE effort to shut down bridges that connect Muslim-majority nations to the U.S. Southwest border The first border-crossing migrant to allegedly conduct an ISIS-inspired attack in North America was a Somali named Abdulahi Hasan Sharif, who somehow first made his way to Tijuana and across the California border, as I recently detailed. Sharif went on to carry an ISIS … [Read more...] about Somali Smuggler Brought at Least 50 Migrants to the TX, CA Borders
Two Recent Smuggling Cases Provide a Rare Glimpse of a Terrorism Threat at the Southwest Border and What ICE Is Doing About It
As I described in a recent Backgrounder, the U.S. homeland security establishment — under Republicans and Democrats alike — has long regarded the notion that terrorists could infiltrate through the nation's land borders and later attack as a real thing. Congress and those who do homeland security for a living have quietly worried about this enough, anyway, to justify years of treasure and effort … [Read more...] about Two Recent Smuggling Cases Provide a Rare Glimpse of a Terrorism Threat at the Southwest Border and What ICE Is Doing About It