The Biden border crisis extends to the northern border the United States shares with Canada. Joe Biden isn’t paying any attention to that border, either.
An Iranian national who has been living in Canada was apprehended when he crossed the U.S. border. He has ties to terrorism. The third time was the charm for him as it is being reported that he tried two times in October to illegally enter the United States. He entered the U.S. near Niagra Falls and was apprehended by Border Patrol. Friday, ICE announced that Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) sent him back to Canada. He is a “national security priority” wanted on assault charges in Canada.
NEW: An Iranian national with ties to terrorism crossed illegally into the U.S. from Canada near Niagra Falls & was arrested by Border Patrol. ICE just announced they have removed him back to Canada, where he is a permanent resident & “national security priority” who is wanted by…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) December 29, 2023
A press release from ICE explained the circumstances of the Iranian’s arrest and deportation.
The fugitive attempted to enter the United States on Oct. 10 by presenting himself to U.S. immigration authorities at the Rainbow Bridge Pedestrian Walkway in Niagara Falls. Customs and Border Protection officers refused him entry into the United States and returned him to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) the same day. Two days later, on Oct. 12, U.S. Border Patrol arrested him as he unlawfully entered the United States from Canada on or around the Whirlpool Bridge Port of Entry in Niagara Falls without being admitted or paroled by a designated immigration official.
On Nov. 8, ERO Buffalo served the unlawfully present man with an expedited removal order. On Dec. 21, ERO Buffalo removed him to Canada based on the Safe Third Country Agreement and turned him over to law enforcement authorities with CBSA.
Why did it take 9 days for ICE to release a press release about this man? He has not been identified. The assault charge is bad enough, but the ties to terrorism are more worrisome.
Included in the press release is a statement from the Field Office Director. “
The strong law enforcement partnership between ERO Buffalo and Canadian law enforcement authorities is imperative to increasing national security and preventing dangerous individuals from fleeing justice,” said ERO Buffalo Field Office Director Thomas Brophy. “The Canadian resident’s return to Canada to face charges is due to the dedicated officers on both sides of the border, working in tandem, to provide public safety for our communities.”
The Iranian was served an expedited removal order by ERO Buffalo on Nov. 8. However, he remained in the United States for six weeks before he was removed to Canada under the Safe Third Country Act.
In 2023, a record number of illegal immigrants turned up on the terror watch list. CBP reported that 564 individuals whose names appeared on the terror watchlist at the northern and southern borders were apprehended. It isn’t just the southern border we need to be concerned about, it’s also the northern border. This case is a good example of what can happen while the focus is on the southern border and the northern border falls through the crack. Who knows what kind of nefarious people are in the group known as the gotaways? The Biden border crisis is a national security risk to America. Joe Biden is derelict in his duty to protect the homeland.
The Department of Homeland Security’s threat assessment, published in October, noted that agents have encountered a growing number on the watch list and warned that “terrorists and criminal actors may exploit the elevated flow and increasingly complex security environment to enter the United States.”
“Individuals with terrorism connections are interested in using established travel routes and permissive environments to facilitate access to the United States,” the assessment also said.
At the same time, FBI Director Christopher Wray has said that those who evade Border Patrol and get into the U.S. as gotaways are a source of “great concern” for the agency.
CBP states on its website that people on the terror watch list are rarely encountered at the borders. “DHS works tirelessly to secure our borders through a combination of highly trained personnel, ground and aerial monitoring systems, and robust intelligence and information sharing networks.” That may be true but it only takes a small group of those who wish to do harm to Americans to do something horrific. Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed and there is nowhere near enough personnel on the border to handle the historically high number of illegal border crossers. They are tasked with an impossible job. We’ve been lucky so far. How much longer will our luck hold out?
