The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has declined the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request of Fox News to disclose the nationalities of illegal immigrants on the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) terror watchlist arrested by Border Patrol at the southern border.
According to Bill Melugin, a Fox News reporter who has been working to expose the border crisis over the past years, the CBP refused to disclose any information about illegal immigrants on the Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS) of the FBI due to privacy and law enforcement sensitivity.
"The privacy interests of the individuals in the records you have requested outweigh any minimal public interest in disclosure of the information. Any private interest you may have in that information does not factor into the aforementioned balancing test," the CBP wrote in response to the Fox News letter in October.
However, Melugin argued that their request did not seek personal information but only the countries of origin of the suspects.
"I did not ask for any names, IDs, addresses, anything that would breach privacy, nor did I ask for any law enforcement sensitive information. I simply requested *only* the nationalities of people arrested on the list, so the public can have an understanding of where in the world they are coming from," Melugin posted on X.
"CBP acknowledges in the opening paragraph of their response letter to me that all I asked for was nationalities of those arrested on the terror watchlist - but they then go on to cite exemptions that have nothing to do with what I requested, including medical files, phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, dates of birth etc., none of which I sought, and they even cite an exemption regarding records which could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual," he added.
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In response, Melugin announced plans to appeal against the decision.
"I disagree with CBP’s withholding of this data based on exemptions that have nothing to do with my FOIA request, and I will be appealing immediately."
Biden admin cares more about protecting the identities of suspected terrorists than securing the border
The CBP refused to disclose the data despite the 2,521 percent increase in suspected terrorists illegally entering the US since the Trump administration.
Based on the CBP's own data, between fiscal years 2021 and 2024, Border Patrol agents apprehended 367 individuals at the southern and northern borders whose names appeared on the terror watch list. This figure represents a dramatic increase from the 14 suspected terrorists caught between fiscal years 2017 and 2020, marking a 2,521 percent spike.
Meanwhile, in the U.S.-Mexico border, Border Patrol encountered 80 individuals at ports of entry listed on the TSDS this year alone, compared to 172 in fiscal year 2023 and 98 in fiscal year 2022. But then again, this contrasts sharply with the 11 encounters recorded during the Trump administration from fiscal years 2017 to 2020.
The latest CBP data also highlights that over the past seven months of fiscal year 2024, 27,583 Chinese nationals unlawfully crossed into the United States. This exceeds the 24,125 in fiscal year 2023 and far surpasses the 1,987 in fiscal year 2022. (Related: MOBS of Chinese illegal immigrants SWARM California border.)
The rejection of the FOIA request has sparked immediate criticism from Republicans.
"Wow: DHS thinks the 'privacy' of potential national security threats is more important than the American people's right to know where these individuals are coming from," the Republicans on the Department of House Homeland Security Committee posted on X.
Watch this episode of "The Breanna Morello Show" as Breanna Morello interviews Dan Lyman about men of military age illegally entering the United States.
This video is from the MyPodcastDropped2320 channel on Brighteon.com.
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