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No.
No available data supports former President Donald Trump’s claim that more terrorists entered the U.S. during the Biden administration than in the previous 30 years.
Public data on border agent encounters with people on the federal terrorist watchlist crossing the southwest border date back only to 2017.
The watchlist contains known or suspected terrorists and individuals “who represent a potential threat.”
There were 382 encounters from fiscal 2021 through Sept. 16, 2024 — up from 11 from fiscal 2017 through fiscal 2020.
But those were people stopped trying to enter, not allowed in.
Of the 230 foreign-born people accused of U.S. domestic terrorism from 1975 to 2023, only nine entered illegally including three as children, researcher Alex Nowrasteh of the libertarian Cato Institute think tank testified before Congress Sept. 19. He noted 80% of domestic terrorists have been native-born.
The threat of terrorists entering through the southwest border is “minuscule,” Nowrasteh testified.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
WAAY 31 News: RAW VIDEO: Donald Trump speaks, takes questions in Milwaukee
Cato Institute: Beyond the Border: Terrorism and Homeland Security Consequences of Illegal Immigration
Google Docs: Adam Isacson email 10/9/24
Google Docs: Terrorist Screening Data Set Encounters as of Sept. 16, 2024
Wisconsin Watch: Has President Joe Biden ‘let in’ nearly 1,700 with links to terrorism?
U.S. House of Representatives: Terror at Our Door: How the Biden-Harris Administration’s Open-Borders Policies Undermine National Security and Endanger Americans
Bloomberg Law: Terrorists Crossing the US Border? Rising Numbers Explained
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