Letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security - McClintock demands information about alien encounters at the southern border

Letter

Dear Secretary Mayorkas:

I write with grave concern over the security risks posed by the release of 7,000 terrorists,
including members of the Taliban, ISIS-K, and Al-Qaeda, from Bagram Air Base combined with
the porous southern border.

Shortly after the President ordered the unconditional surrender of Bagram Air Base to the
Taliban, Taliban forces took control and released the terrorists that had been in U.S. custody.
Days later 13 U.S. servicemembers were murdered by a suicide bomber at Hamid Karzai
International Airport in Kabul. Biden administration officials have confirmed that the suicide
bomber "was a prisoner released from Bagram Air Base on August 15 after the Taliban seized
control of the facility."

We know that one of those terrorists exploded the bomb that killed 13 U.S. Marines on
August 26, but the whereabouts of the others is unknown. It is possible, if not likely, that many
will attempt to enter our country through Mexico with the purpose of committing similar terrorist
attacks. In fact, we already know that aliens found in the Terrorist Screening Database have been
apprehended on the southern border this year. The release of thousands of terrorists back into
Afghanistan and the criminal cartels' control of human smuggling on the southwest U.S. border,
mean the terrorist threat is urgent.

To help us understand the ongoing terrorism-related threats at the southwest U.S. border
and how the Biden administration's failures in Afghanistan affect border security, I request the
following:

1. A list of countries whose nationals have been encountered on the southwest border by
U.S. Border Patrol:
a. During fiscal year 2021;
b. To date during fiscal year 2022; and
c. On a continuing basis for each month;

2. The number of aliens from each country listed in the above response:
a. Each month during fiscal year 2021;
b. To date during fiscal year 2022; and
c. On a continuing basis for each month;

3. The number of aliens, and the countries of nationality of each alien, encountered on the
southwest border by U.S. Border Patrol who had a Terrorist Screening Database alert for
each fiscal year from 2015 through 2021 and for each month on a continuing basis; and

4. On a continuing basis, written notification of each instance in which an alien encountered
by Customs and Border Protection at the southwest or northern border, whether in
between ports of entry or at a port of entry, was previously imprisoned at Bagram Air
Base.

Please provide this information as soon as possible but no later than October 28, 2021,
(with the exception of the information that is to be provided going forward on a continuing
basis).

If you have any questions about this request, please contact Judiciary Committee staff at
(202) 225-6906.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Source