Immigration Watch International (2): Border Patrol chief admits national security threat as terrorists may be among migrants illegally crossing border

Monday, March 25, 2024

Border Patrol chief admits national security threat as terrorists may be among migrants illegally crossing border

“They dictate what the flow is going to look like and we respond to it,” Owens said in an interview that aired on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday when asked if smugglers are “setting the rules of engagement.”

“We try and get out in front of it and deny them the ability to use these areas,” he went on. “But at the end of the day, there’s over 1,900 miles of border with Mexico.”

Under the Biden administration, the US has endured record levels of migrants pouring across the southern border, including thousands who claim asylum and are then released into the country.

Border Patrol has reported 1,151,448 encounters at the southern border, according to the most recent tally of numbers through the 2024 fiscal year. The prior year saw 2,475,669, according to the agency.

Owens fretted that there could be terrorists and other dangerous people slipping through.

“That number is a large number, but what’s keeping me up at night is the 140,000 known got-aways, it’s not part of that,” he said, referring to the official count. “And that’s just what we know.

“That is a national security threat. Border security is a big piece of national security and if we don’t know who is coming into our country, and we don’t know what their intent is, that is a threat,” he continued. “They’re exploiting a vulnerability that’s on our border right now.”

The border chief noted that most of the encounters are with individuals who are turning themselves in and are fleeing dire economic conditions.

“[That] doesn’t make them bad people, it’s just that they’re not being respectful of the laws that we’ve established as a country,” he said.

Still, there are dangerous people buried in that population that do pose risks to the US, Owens contended.

“There are still people that we’re finding in those groups though that have criminal backgrounds, that have been convicted sexual predators, that had been convicted gang members — a very small amount in that population, but they’re still there,” he explained.

This fiscal year alone, Owens said the US has encountered migrants “from 160 countries or more” ranging from Latin America to Africa, that he attributed to various smuggling organizations.

Owens argued that more stringent penalties against offenders could help slow the crisis.

“I’m talking about jail time. I’m talking about being removed from the country and I’m talking about being banned from being able to come back because you chose to come in the illegal way instead of the established lawful pathways that we set for you,” he said.

https://nypost.com/2024/03/24/us-news/border-patrol-chief-admits-national-security-threat-as-terrorists-may-be-among-migrants-illegally-crossing-border/

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http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

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http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE-TIED)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

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Background

Postings from Brisbane, Australia by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.) -- former member of the Australia-Soviet Friendship Society, former anarcho-capitalist and former member of the British Conservative party.

Why is "La Raza" the one Spanish term that is NEVER translated in the American mass media? Because translating it would make it a lot less respectable. It means "THE RACE" -- The mixed Hispanic "race" of Mexico. Racism is fine South of the Rio Grande only, apparently.

The "line" of this blog is that immigration should be SELECTIVE. That means that:

1). A national government should be in control of it. The U.S. and U.K. governments are not but the Australian government has shown that the government of a prosperous Western country can be. Up until its loss of office in 2007, the conservative Howard government had all but eliminated illegal immigration. The present Leftist government has however restarted the flow of illegals by repealing many of the Howard government regulations.

2). Selectivity should be based on "the content of a man's character, not on the color of his skin", as MLK said. To expand that a little: Immigrants should only be accepted if they as individuals seem likely to make a positive net contribution to the country. Many "refugees" would fail that test: Muslims and Africans particularly. Educational level should usually be a pretty fair proxy for the individual's likely value to the receiving country. There will, of course, be exceptions but it is nonetheless unlikely that a person who has not successfully completed High School will make a net positive contribution to a modern Western society.

3). Immigrants should be neither barred NOR ACCEPTED solely because they are of some particular ethnic origin. Blacks are vastly more likely to be criminal than are whites or Chinese, for instance, but some whites and some Chinese are criminal. It is the criminality that should matter, not the race.

4). The above ideas are not particularly blue-sky. They roughly describe the policies of the country where I live -- Australia. I am critical of Australian policy only insofar as the "refugee" category for admission is concerned. All governments have tended to admit as refugees many undesirables. It seems to me that more should be required of them before refugees are admitted -- for instance a higher level of education or a business background.

5). Perhaps the most amusing assertion in the immigration debate is that high-income countries like the USA and Britain NEED illegal immigrants to do low-paid menial work. "Who will pick our crops?" (etc.) is the cry. How odd it is then that Australians get all the normal services of a modern economy WITHOUT illegal immigrants! Yes: Before the pandemic, you usually COULD buy a lettuce in Australia for a dollar or thereabouts. And Australia IS a major exporter of primary products.

6). I am a libertarian conservative so I reject the "open door" policy favoured by many libertarians and many Leftists. Both those groups tend to have a love of simplistic generalizations that fail to deal with the complexity of the real world. It seems to me that if a person has the right to say whom he/she will have living with him/her in his/her own house, so a nation has the right to admit to living among them only those individuals whom they choose.

I can be reached on jonjayray@hotmail.com -- or leave a comment on any post. Abusive comments will be deleted.

Immigration Watch International (2)

Monday, March 25, 2024

Border Patrol chief admits national security threat as terrorists may be among migrants illegally crossing border

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