The Biden-Harris Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has revealed hundreds of “watchlisted” migrants with links to terrorism are being encountered at the U.S. border. More terror-linked migrants were encountered at the U.S.-Canada border—283— than at the U.S.-Mexico border—139—in the fiscal year to July 2024.
“Over the next year, we expect some individuals with terrorism ties and some criminal actors will continue their efforts to exploit migration flows and the complex border security environment to enter the United States,” the DHS states in its Homeland Threat Assessment for 2025.
“Individuals with potential terrorism connections continue to attempt to enter the Homeland at both the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders and also through the immigration system,” the report adds.
While northern border crossings remain lower than southern border crossings, the former has seen a significant increase in encounters. The National Pulse reported on Wednesday that a Border Patrol sector covering New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire saw as many migrant detentions in fiscal year 2024 as in the last 17 years combined.
The relatively low security along the northern frontier may explain why it is attracting a disproportionate number of migrants with ties to terrorism.
CARTELS.
The Homeland Threat Assessment also predicts that Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) will “continue to exploit the complex security environment at the U.S. border to smuggle drugs and migrants to and across our border” in the coming year.
“Mexico-based TCOs, to include cartels and human smuggling organizations, will almost certainly continue to smuggle irregular migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border,” but warns Honduran drug trafficking cells have also begun distributing Sinaloa Cartel-sourced fentanyl, in particular, since January 2022.
“Prior to 2022, these traffickers primarily distributed heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine,” the report notes, suggesting Honduran criminals are creating a new market for Sinaloa Cartel fentanyl under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Vice President Harris has previously argued in favor of defunding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), meaning such issues are unlikely to recede if she wins the presidential race in November.
