It’s the United States’ least popular and overall worst game of hide and seek ever played. Thousands of illegal foreign nationalists have vanished into the nation’s interior after being released by DHS agencies. As the country faces heightened terrorism threats, it’s finally becoming a problem.
Last September, the DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a report revealing that the Department of Homeland Security cannot know if all migrants released into the U.S. can be tracked. The audit, spanning 17 months, showed that DHS released over 1.3 million foreign nationals who had entered the country illegally via the southwest border.
Of the 981,671 Border Patrol records from March 2021 to August 2022, over 177,000 had missing, invalid, or non-residential addresses. Additionally, Border Patrol released 430,000 migrants on their own recognizance with Notices to Appear, nearly 95,000 with Notices to Report to ICE, and more than 318,000 through the Parole Plus Alternatives to Detention program.
The report indicates that Border Patrol agents struggled to accurately record valid addresses due to being overwhelmed by significant arrivals at the border and a lack of coordination with ICE, which has limited authority to enforce address requirements. Additionally, the audit found that ICE itself lacked adequate resources to validate and analyze the addresses provided by migrants after their release.
In recent months, the DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) has continued to highlight failures within DHS operations amid heightened nationwide terrorism warnings. These audits should alarm every U.S. citizen.
An OIG audit uncovered that DHS, CBP, USCIS, and ICE agents did not adequately vet or resolve negative information for tens of thousands of Afghan nationals brought into the U.S. following the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in August 2021. Of the 97,000 Afghans brought to the U.S., 77,000, or 79%, were granted humanitarian parole, allowing them to stay in the country for two years without a comprehensive vetting procedure.
Another report reveals that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did not effectively screen asylum seekers, leading to uncertainty about the identities of individuals being released into the country.
Still another audit shows that CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not detain and remove inadmissible individuals arriving at a major international airport, resulting in 44% of those flagged for removal failing to appear for their scheduled flights after being released by federal agents.
Additionally, the OIG raised concerns about DHS’s lack of a system to monitor the expiration of parole status after the two-year humanitarian parole period ends, indicating there were no procedures for their removal.
Before this audit, the OIG had discovered that DHS procedures enabled known or suspected terrorists to enter the U.S. illegally, posing potential threats to national security and public safety.
ICE is legally obligated to enforce federal immigration laws, particularly by detaining and removing individuals deemed inadmissible. According to the OIG, ICE must have the capability to find migrants for the enforcement of immigration laws, such as arresting or removing individuals considered potential national security threats. The substantial number of missing, undeliverable, or duplicate addresses in DHS records suggests that locating migrants after their release into the U.S. will be extraordinarily challenging. As DHS continues to apprehend and release tens of thousands of migrants monthly, keeping accurate post-release addresses is crucial but seems to be beyond the capacity of ICE and other border control agencies.
Amid warnings from multiple officials about an imminent terrorist threat on U.S. soil and calls from Congress for explanations, an estimated 12 million individuals from more than 150 countries have illegally entered the U.S. since Biden took office.
The recent OIG audit has revealed a shocking truth: Biden’s administration has lost track of thousands of illegal foreign nationals. These individuals were brought to our country with little to no vetting, and now, they wander American streets with unknown intentions.
Biden and his Democratic allies have shown an astonishing disregard for the safety of the American people. Their negligence has already led to tragic consequences, with countless crimes and killings committed by illegal immigrants.
But now, the threat of terrorist organizations infiltrating our country has proven to be very real. Biden will be personally responsible if—or rather when—the next attack occurs in our own backyards.
