In the News

Opinion: 23 Years after 9/11: The Growing Threat of Terrorism Through Our Open Border

by Rep. French Hill
Washington Times
September 9, 2024

All of us remember where we were on that horrific day of Sept. 11, 2001, watching our televisions and listening to the radio in horror as we tried to wrap our heads around how something like this could happen in the United States.

Yet 23 years later, we are facing very serious threats from external terrorists, possibly already on U.S. soil. This clear and present danger to American citizens is a direct result of the Biden-Harris administration’s failed open border policies. Both the Biden-Harris administration and Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign are gaslighting the American people by downplaying negligent border security and the considerable vulnerabilities along our southwest border.

Recent events have heightened my concerns as the threats facing Americans have elevated from concern to outright alarm. News reports have revealed that around 150 individuals connected with an alleged human smuggling network affiliated with the Islamic State group were arrested, and the whereabouts of at least 50 others remain unknown.

In another case, eight suspected terrorists with possible ties to the Islamic State group who entered the United States across our southwest border were recently arrested in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia because there were government concerns that they could have been plotting a terrorist attack on American soil. These are just two examples in a frighteningly long line of such cases that have been noted in recent public press reports.

Since last fall, Congress has been requesting information from the executive branch to better understand the severity of the threat posed by known and suspected terrorists crossing our open southwest border at or between the ports of entry. And with literally millions of “gotaways,” our expressed concern is understated.

On numerous recent occasions, FBI Director Christopher Wray stated in congressional testimony his concern about our open border and the increased threat of terrorism. He has suggested that the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States is at “a whole other level” and that he sees “blinking lights everywhere.”

Actions speak louder than words, and while his warnings have our attention, his lack of action contradicts what he has said. During the annual threat assessment hearing in March, I pressed Mr. Wray on whether the intelligence community is fusing the information we have on terror watchlist individuals encountered at our southwest border, as well as the commonsense question as to where these potential terrorists are. Mr. Wray could not answer where these individuals were and was vague when confirming whether our intelligence agencies and the Department of Homeland Security were communicating.

Despite Mr. Wray publicly citing his concerns and saying that the FBI’s “number one priority” is protecting the U.S. from terrorist attacks, you would think otherwise by the administration’s inaction to secure our borders. The information requested by the Intelligence Committee went unanswered for over nine months.

It terrifies me that considering these “blinking lights” statements from a senior law enforcement official, congressional inquiries and a vast array of media reporting, the Biden-Harris administration is so remiss it fails to listen to its own experts on the severity of this problem and is failing to protect Americans from threats entering our country through our southern border.

This administration’s stonewalling tactics and reluctance to share information with Americans or, at a minimum, in a classified setting with our committee is, in my view, a violation of the spirit and the intent of the 9/11 report that was commissioned to ensure external terrorist attacks on U.S. soil are unlikely to happen again.

The report’s recommendations encouraged coordination and sharing of intelligence information by way of the director of national intelligence, fusion centers such as the National Counterterrorism Center and robust congressional oversight — and here I sit watching our border processes and policies failing and potentially allowing terrorists to defeat built-in defensive mechanisms.

The American people deserve answers. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, Ohio Republican, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, Tennessee Republican, and I have taken the lead and repeatedly asked President Biden and his administration for information on how they are handling and coordinating the encounters with known or suspected terrorists along our southwest border or ports of entry.

After failed attempts to receive an adequate response from the executive branch, Mr. Turner, Mr. Green and I in April requested that the Government Accountability Office review the process of identifying which terrorist watchlist individuals are trying to come into our country and where they are once released.

As the House Intelligence Committee continues its oversight work on this, included in the fiscal 2024 Intelligence Authorization Act, my language requires the Homeland Security Department and the FBI to regularly brief our committee on these policies and procedures relating to the encountering of known or suspected terrorists. The threat to American lives is too great, and we must have transparency on what that threat looks like. Now, DHS and the FBI will be required to provide it by law.

On the eve of the 23rd anniversary of the day that forever changed our nation, Americans should know that despite the appalling inaction by the FBI, DHS and Biden-Harris administration, members of Congress like me are fighting to protect Americans from threats entering the United States through our porous southwest border.

Mr. Biden, Ms. Harris and their agency heads bear the ultimate dereliction of duty. Border security isn’t a partisan issue — it is a national security issue. We need to immediately address where these potential terrorists are in our country to ensure that we never see another day like 9/11 again.

French Hill represents Arkansas’ s 2nd Congressional District. He is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Foreign Affairs and Financial Services committees.