Afghan national on terror watch list arrested after crossing southern border: 'A stark reminder of the failures of the Federal Government'

An Afghan national on the FBI's terror watch list was arrested Wednesday after stealing across the southern border into San Diego with a platoon of other illegal aliens.

Border Patrol agents took the suspect, along with other migrants who had crossed the border near Otay Mesa, to a processing center, reported the New York Post. At the facility, officials determined with a fingerprint scan that the Afghan suspect was on the Terrorist Screening Database.

After the September 11 attacks on the United States, various terrorism watch lists were consolidated to form the TSDB, which has information on people reasonably suspected of being involved in terrorism.

Upon notification that the suspect was indeed on the TSDB, the FBI confirmed the results, then opened an investigation.

Jim Desmond, a San Diego County supervisor overseeing District 5, stated Sunday that the apprehension of the Afghani with suspected terror ties "should serve as a stark reminder to President Biden and the Federal Government on the critical need for maintaining a strong border."

"The open border policy has allowed fentanyl to pour into our country, asylum seekers to be human trafficked, and terrorists to attempt entry into our country," wrote Desmond. "The protection of our citizens, the preservation of national security, and the facilitation of safe and legal immigration should be a top priority for this administration, yet they have failed."

Desmond added, "The presence of an individual on the terror watch list crossing our borders is a stark reminder of the failures of the Federal Government that are now being put on San Diegans and Americans."

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) confirmed Sunday a "wanted terrorist crossing our open border in the San Diego region just days ago."

Issa told Fox News that terrorists are incentivized to enter the U.S. by the Biden administration's border policies.

"Biden’s open borders aren’t just a gateway to five million illegals, record human and child trafficking, and the deadliest drug crisis in our history," said Issa. "Biden’s reckless policy is also an open invitation to even the most wanted terrorists in the world to come to America. They know they’ll never have to leave. The nation knows what’s going on, and this president has only begun to be held accountable for what he has done."

While the Afghan national was captured, potentially sparing the United States from a terror attack, the border's porosity and the thinly spread American security presence along it might mean other threats could pass unchallenged.

Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas), whose husband is a Border Patrol agent, told Just the News, "It's going to get really bad. ... Our Border Patrol agents are exhausted. They can't apprehend everyone coming in. So you have cartels taking advantage of our weak immigration policies. We have terrorists taking advantage of our weak policies."

In March, Border Patrol Chief Paul Ortiz emphasized to Congress that border security had crumbled under President Joe Biden,.

When asked whether Border Patrol had operational control of the U.S. border months before the end of Title 42, he answered, "No, sir."

At the time he indicated that the U.S. had already lost control of its southern border, roughly 5,000 illegal aliens were entering the country daily. Daily crossings more than doubled last week, reported Reuters,

Just the News indicated that when the daily total hits 16,000, only 10% of available border agents will be on patrol.

National Border Patrol Council president Brandon Judd suggested at that stage, cartels will be in full control.

"We don't have as many Border Patrol agents patrolling the border. When we're apprehending 5,000 people a day – now we only have 50% of our Border Patrol agents patrolling the border. When we hit 10,000 apprehensions a day, that means we're only deploying 30% of our border patrol agents to patrol the border," said Judd.

Judd added, "And when that happens, the cartels are able to gain ground on the vast majority of our border, as they start controlling the vast majority of our border. Once those numbers go up to 13,000 to 16,000, we're only going to have 10% of our Border Patrol agents actively patrolling the border, and the cartels will own every inch of the border."

Biden said in a moment of clarity on May 9 that the southern border will be "chaotic for a while," starting when Title 42 expires on May 11.

It is unclear by what measure the president qualifies chaos, given that over 5 million illegal aliens have stolen across the border since he took office; illegal immigration is already costing taxpayers $151 billion per year; and criminal noncitizens are committing grievous crimes in the homeland every year.

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