The United States Border Patrol has arrested thousands of “special interest aliens” from the Middle East trying to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border, leaked Customs and Border Protection (CBP) documents show, according to Fox News.
“Special interest aliens” are defined as people from foreign countries that have conditions that promote or protect terrorism, or that may pose a threat to U.S. national security.
From Oct. 2021 to Oct. 2023, border agents apprehended 6,386 nationals from Afghanistan, 3,153 from Egypt, 659 from Iran and 538 from Syria, the leaked data shows.
Additionally, agents encountered 12,624 from Uzbekistan, 30,830 from Turkey, 1,613 from Pakistan, 164 from Lebanon, 185 from Jordan, 123 from Iraq and 15,594 from Mauritania.
It is unclear how many of the “special interest aliens” were removed or released into the United States.
“Border Patrol sources tell me they have extreme concerns about who is coming into the country because they have little to no way of vetting people from these special interest countries,” Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin tweeted. “I’m told unless they have committed a crime previously in the US, or they are on some sort of federal watchlist, there’s no way to know who they are because most of their home countries don’t share data/records with the US so there is nothing to match a name to when BP agents run fingerprints.”
The report comes after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Saturday, killing hundreds of civilians and wounding thousands more.
A mob of pro-Palestine protesters held a demonstration in Times Square after the attacks, blaming Israel for the terrorism that left hundreds of Jewish men, women and children dead.
During the demonstration, protesters shouted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The Anti-Defamation League has warned the pro-Palestine chant can be seen as an anti-Semitic call for the elimination of Israel.
