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Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023

Have more than 100 people on the terrorist watchlist tried to enter the US during the Biden administration?

Tom Kertscher, Wisconsin Watch
yes

Since President Joe Biden took office, more than 200 non-U.S. citizens on the federal terrorist watchlist tried to enter the U.S. between legal ports of entry and were stopped by Border Patrol.

Here are the Border Patrol encounters with people on the watchlist, according to the latest figures:

Fiscal 2023 (Oct. 1, 2022-Sept. 30, 2023): 154

Fiscal 2022 (Oct. 1, 2021-Sept. 30, 2022): 98

Fiscal 2021 (Oct. 1, 2020-Sept. 30, 2021): 16

Biden succeeded Donald Trump as president on Jan. 20, 2021.

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

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who represents most of northern Wisconsin, referred to watchlist encounters in an interview Oct. 17, 2023.

He proposed legislation in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that would prohibit anyone with a passport issued by the Palestinian Authority from entering the U.S.

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

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