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Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024

Have more terrorists entered the US in the past three years than in the previous 30?


no

No available data supports former President Donald Trump’s claim that more terrorists entered the U.S. during the Biden administration than in the previous 30 years.

Public data on border-agent encounters with people on the federal terrorist watchlist crossing the southwest border date back only to 2017.

The watchlist contains known or suspected terrorists and individuals “who represent a potential threat.”

There were 382 encounters from fiscal 2021 through Sept. 16, 2024 — up from 11 from fiscal 2017 through fiscal 2020.

But those were people stopped trying to enter, not allowed in.

Of the 230 foreign-born people accused of U.S. domestic terrorism from 1975 to 2023, only nine entered illegally including three as children, researcher Alex Nowrasteh of the libertarian Cato Institute think tank testified before Congress Sept. 19. He noted 80% of domestic terrorists have been native-born.

The threat of terrorists entering through the southwest border is “minuscule,” Nowrasteh testified.

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