U.S. Representatives John Katko (R-NY) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) visited with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials at the southern border, and what they found is beyond a border crisis. It’s not just refugees fleeing to the United States in hopes of a better life that we are facing.
Some migrants arrested at the border in just the last week are “threats to national security who are listed on a federal terrorist watch list.” In an interview with Syracuse.com, Katko said he spoke with border patrol agents Monday during a fact-finding trip with roughly a dozen House Republicans to the border near El Paso, Texas.
Katko learned over 100 migrants have been caught crossing the border illegally on Sunday night alone. “They’re getting very bold now,” Katko said. Syracuse.com reports “U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials reported making 100,441 arrests and detentions in February, up 28% from the previous month and 173% from last year.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spoke in a news conference Monday alongside Katko to discuss their findings. “When I walked through the facility, there were more Haitians than any other people I saw,” said McCarthy, who also mentioned people on the terror watch list from Iran, Yemen, and Sri Lanka, have been mixed in with those fleeing Central America.
Katko said of the border crisis that not only are they not testing for COVID-19, but about half of border patrol agents have not received the vaccine. Katko also said because Biden stopped the construction of Trump’s border wall, unnecessary gaps have been left and are being exploited by smugglers.
