CBP Encounters Unlucky 13 Aliens On Terror Watchlist at Southwest Border in October
But ‘don’t worry’, say ‘experts’ in a ‘fact check’ that’s more spin than fact
By Andrew R. Arthur on November 17, 2023
As I recently reported, CBP has published its enforcement statistics for last month. Its disclosures reveal that an unlucky 13 aliens on the government’s Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS) — better known as the “terrorist watchlist” — were encountered at the land borders in October: 12 of them after crossing illegally and one other seeking admission at a port of entry. There’s no need to worry, however, assure so-called “experts” surveyed by PolitiFact in an October 27 “fact check” captioned “How many people on the terrorist watchlist are coming into the United States?” I wouldn’t be too sure — and I’m kind of an expert on the subject myself.
The Terrorist Watchlist. Prior to September 11th, there was no single “terrorist watchlist”. Instead, there were several such lists spread across various government agencies, all based on the information that they had and the criteria that they used. Most of those agencies were highly protective of their sources and methods, which made those lists (curiously and unfortunately) unduly challenging to access.
You can trust me on this, because in the months leading up to those terrorist attacks, I served as the acting chief of the National Security Law Division at the former INS, where I was tasked with drawing from those agency lists to identify and remove alien terrorists.
https://cis.org/Arthur/CBP-Encounters-Unlucky-13-Aliens-Terror-Watchlist-Southwest-Border-October
