Border Patrol stopped at least 23 people listed on the Terrorist Screening Database while crossing the southern border in 2021.
The database contains the names of people who are known or “reasonably suspected” of being involved with terrorism.
Fox News obtained the information through a records request with Customs and Border Protection.
“Four were in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, 4 in Del Rio Sector, 3 in El Paso Sector, 2 in Tucson Sector, 2 in Yuma Sector, 4 in El Centro Sector and 4 in San Diego Sector,” Fox News reports.
The report noted that Republican lawmakers have been seeking to make the information public.
“Reporting indicates that multiple individuals with terrorist ties have been recently apprehended after illegally crossing the border, and that such encounters may be increasing,” Reps. James Comer and John Katko, who serve as ranking members on the Oversight and Homeland Security committees respectively, wrote to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last month.
“The American people deserve to know whether President Biden’s weak border policies are allowing terrorists to enter our homeland,” they said.
Former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott has also been warning that terrorists are crossing at a never before seen rate.
“We have terrorist threats we can’t get into in this type of a forum but they are real,” he told Fox News’ Bret Baier in October.