Washington, D.C. (January 9, 2025) – Todd Bensman's new three-part investigative series, along with a companion podcast (his media interviews and full stories here), document the first known charged terror attack in the United States committed by an illegal border-crosser, on October 26, 2024 in Chicago. The series, titled “First Blood: Anatomy of Border-Crosser’s Chicago Terror Attack,” includes … [Read more...] about ‘First Blood’: A 3-Part Series on a Border-Crossing Terror Attack Against Chicago’s Jewish Community
Terrorism and Homeland Security
NY Post: FBI finally investigating terror attack against Jews by illegal border crosser
By Todd Bensman as published May 7, 2025 by The New York Post Nearly seven months have elapsed since an illegal immigrant from the Islamic Republic of Mauritania shot and wounded a visibly Orthodox Jewish man in the Chicago terror attack on October 26, then engaged police in a furious firefight while screaming the terrorist war cry “Allahu Akbar.” It was the first known – and formally … [Read more...] about NY Post: FBI finally investigating terror attack against Jews by illegal border crosser
Town Hall: Marjorie Taylor Green’s Border Counterterrorism Idea: Her ‘Special Interest Aliens’ Bill Deserves Dem Support
By Todd Bensman as published April 11, 2025 by Town Hall Media Almost anything that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) says or does tends to draw lightning from dismissive political opponents on the aisle’s other side. So too did her "Special Interest Alien Reporting Act" that just advanced in the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee. Her bill would require the Department of Homeland … [Read more...] about Town Hall: Marjorie Taylor Green’s Border Counterterrorism Idea: Her ‘Special Interest Aliens’ Bill Deserves Dem Support
Enhancing National Security: CIS Vetting Failure Database
Parsing Immigration Policy, Episode 194 Summary This week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy reminds listeners of the threats that made President Trump's recent Executive Order, "Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats," necessary. The Center for Immigration Studies maintains a comprehensive database detailing examples … [Read more...] about Enhancing National Security: CIS Vetting Failure Database
Decoding Trump’s Border Counterterrorism Order, a 3-Part Analysis of the Most Interesting of Trump’s Executive Orders
On Inauguration Day 2025, President Donald Trump began signing a rack of executive orders establishing the highest, more pressing policy priorities of his young second administration, immigration and border security topping the list with 10 initial orders. Most of the executive orders attracted much media attention and analysis. But one of the most interesting and consequential of the orders … [Read more...] about Decoding Trump’s Border Counterterrorism Order, a 3-Part Analysis of the Most Interesting of Trump’s Executive Orders
Egyptian Student Added to CIS National Security Vetting Failures Database
Arrested for plot to bomb Israeli consulate in N.Y., adjudicators missed evidence of online extremism By Todd Bensman as published January 10, 2025 by the Center for Immigration Studies An 18-year-old Egyptian student at Virginia’s George Mason University who now stands charged with multiple terrorism offenses related to a mass casualty plot on Israel’s consulate in New York is the latest … [Read more...] about Egyptian Student Added to CIS National Security Vetting Failures Database
Afghan Evacuee Added to Vetting Failures Database
By Todd Bensman as published December 10, 2024 by the Center for Immigration Studies See also: Accidentally Released Border-Crossing Terror Suspect Added to CIS National Security Vetting Failures Database and: Convicted Border-Crossing Terrorist Added to the CIS National Security Vetting Failures Database An Afghan evacuee from the August 2021 fall of Kabul who stands charged with multiple … [Read more...] about Afghan Evacuee Added to Vetting Failures Database
The Federalist: Without A Reckoning, The First U.S. Terror Attack Caused By Open Borders Won’t Be The Last
Americans deserve a full-scale investigation into what happened in Chicago and how to prevent the next open-borders-enabled attack on U.S. soil. By Todd Bensman as published December 2, 2024 by The Federalist Surprisingly little news coverage followed America’s first terror attack by an illegal border-crossing immigrant on U.S. soil. On Saturday, 22-year-old Mauritanian Sidi Mohamed … [Read more...] about The Federalist: Without A Reckoning, The First U.S. Terror Attack Caused By Open Borders Won’t Be The Last
NY Post: Trump Plan to Bring Back Misnamed ‘Muslim Travel Ban’ a Necessary Re-Start
By Todd Bensman as published November 14 by The New York Post Not long before President Donald Trump, in his first term, issued his so-called “travel ban” on 13 countries, Somalia-born Abdul Razak Ali Artan drove a Honda Civic into a crowd of fellow Ohio State University students and got out slashing with a butcher knife, injuring 11. Campus police shot the young … [Read more...] about NY Post: Trump Plan to Bring Back Misnamed ‘Muslim Travel Ban’ a Necessary Re-Start
Jewish Policy Center webinar: Who is Coming Across our Borders?
Last month, an identifiably Jewish Chicago man was shot while walking to synagogue on the Sabbath. While attacks against American Jews have generally been prosecuted as “assaults” or “hate crimes,” this time the assailant was charged with “terrorism.” A native of Mauritania, he had been “encountered by US Border Patrol at the California border in 2023,” according to ICE, but then entered the … [Read more...] about Jewish Policy Center webinar: Who is Coming Across our Borders?