The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General has found “multiple mistakes” that it said led to the release of a migrant whose name appeared on the FBI’s terror watch list – with the report sparking immediate criticism from the agency, which accused it of sensationalizing the case.
The case involved the apprehension of a migrant on April 17, 2022, he was later released by Border Patrol two days later after the FBI’s terrorist screening center determined he was an inconclusive match on the terror watch list, the DHS OIG report outlined.
However, two days later on April 21 in Palm Springs, California, the migrant and his family checked in for a flight to Tampa, Florida, at which point the FBI obtained additional information from TSA and found he was a positive watch list match and informed Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who then contacted the ICE subsidiary office in Tampa. The migrant missed the flight to California, but rebooked a flight to Florida the next day, the report says. He was later picked up by ICE in Florida on May 6.
It specifically highlighted a request to interview the migrant sent to the wrong address, information obtained but not shared by officials, and a premature release of the migrant before there had been fully coordination between agencies.
The report also includes testimony from a Border Patrol agent at the processing center in Yuma, who said that he and his colleagues were trying to respond to emails from CBP’s National Targeting Center (NTC) but were busy processing an increased surge in migrants. The release of the man came in a busy month, where there were more than 235,000 migrant encounters in that month alone. Agents told investigators that Yuma’s center was over capacity, putting pressure on them to quickly process migrants and decrease the time available to them to review each file.
Meanwhile, ICE officials explained that while the agency prioritized the arrest, its Fugitive Operations did not receive the migrant’s file until 8 days after requesting it. Officials said that the delay may have been because the agency’s Yuma office receives about 1,000 alien files once or twice a week that it must sort, box and ship to Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) offices across the country. It is currently piloting using electronic A-files, but that pilot has not yet been expanded.
A DHS official noted that the individual was placed on GPS monitoring and that he was continuously monitored until he was apprehended by ICE, which followed appropriate procedure after being notified by the FBI that the migrant was a match.
Immigrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico on December 30, 2022 in Yuma, Arizona. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
“This OIG report sensationalizes and mischaracterizes a complex case, in which CBP and ICE personnel took appropriate steps to ensure there was no threat to the public. Noncitizens encountered by CBP are thoroughly screened and vetted, and any individual determined to pose a threat to national security or public safety is detained,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
BORDER AGENTS ARREST MAN ON FBI TERROR WATCHLIST AMID MIGRANT INFLUX: CBP SOURCES
Encounters of those on the watchlist, which may also includes family members or associates of a known or suspected terrorist and those who may no longer be associated with a foreign terrorist group, arrested by Border Patrol between ports of entry hit an all-time high at the southern border in FY 23.
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As of the end of May, there have been 125 arrests at the southern border between ports of entry by Border Patrol since the fiscal year began in October.
