Border Patrol agents reveal how easily terrorists and killers get into US despite being screened
Overwhelmed US border agents say violent offenders and potential terror threats are not getting singled out from the thousands of people caught illegally infiltrating the country every day.
The border enforcers are sounding the alarm, saying they do not get enough time to effectively screen people before they are ordered to let them go — usually within three days.
Disorganized and uncooperative foreign governments with poor record-keeping also do not help, allowing a Colombian murderer, Somali terrorist and an Afghan on the terror watchlist to run free inside the country, the sources say.
“It’s a catch-and-release operation, so they bring in busloads of people, they fingerprint them and [run them through a system], and initially, a lot of times, nothing comes back on these people,” a Border Patrol agent said of the distastrous situation.
“The turnover is insane, it’s less than 72 hours.”
A second Border Patrol agent added, “Full checks in 72 hours is next to impossible.
“On top of that, with the numbers we get, it’s highly probable that people are going to slip through the cracks,” the source said.
“We lack information-sharing with other countries. Most countries are decades behind us with technology and policing practices, so when we detain these guys, mostly there’s nothing on them except [if they have] terrorism or previous US charges.”
Between 180,000 and 300,000 migrants have been caught illegally crossing the southwest US border every month since July 2023 — and all of them have to be screened and processed pronto by Border Patrol agents.
“We received direct orders from the top to literally ‘process faster,’ ” a third Border Patrol agent said.
Several recent arrests illustrate how border authorities released migrants before knowing exactly who they are dealing with.
Fugutive Colombian murderer
Border Patrol encountered a convicted murderer from Colombia, Efrain Vidales Vargas, 49, after he crossed illegally into San Luis, Ariz., on Nov. 27, 2023, federal authorities say.
Vargas was turned over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which learned of his criminal history Dec. 11, 2023, but still released him into the country two days later with a future court immigration date because the agency lacked detention space, according to NewsNation.
ICE eventually re-apprehended Vargas in Pittsfield, Mass., on May 6 after learning of an Interpol notice seeking his arrest, the outlet reported.
Vargas was first arrested by authorities in Colombia in 2014 and convicted of aggravated homicide, aggravated theft and possession of a weapon in 2016, when he was sentenced to 17 years in prison. It wasn’t immediately clear how he ended up able to cross the US border with a decade still to go on his prison sentence in Colombia.
Afghan terror suspect
Mohammad Kharwin, 48, illegally entered the US near San Ysidro, Calif., in March of 2023 but was processed and freed.
It took almost a year for the FBI to notify ICE that Kharwin was a suspected member of the US-designated foreign terror group Hezb-e-Islami, or HIG. He was re-arested Feb. 28 in San Antonio, Texas, and after a paperwork mishap, briefly let go before he was finally taken in again April 11. He remains in federal custody.
Watchlisted Colombian
Border Patrol agents released Colombian national Isnardo Garcia-Amado, 35, with a tracking device April 18, 2022, after he crossed into Yuma, Ariz., Fox News previously reported. It is not unsual for illegal border-crossers to be monitored with GPS.
Days later, on April 21, 2022, the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center determined Garcia-Amado was a positive match on the terror watchlist.
But it wasn’t until May 4 that ICE received authorization to nab the suspect, who wasn’t arrested until May 6 of the same year.
Brazilian thief
Brazilian national Thiago Marcos Silva Souza, 34, illegally crossed into San Luis, Ariz., in June 2021 and was then released into the US. It later emerged he was on the run from cops in Brazil, where he was facing a three-year prison sentence for commercial theft and receiving stolen property, according to ICE.
More than two years later, on Feb. 9, 2024, ICE agents in Boston nabbed him. He was deported March 22.
Somalian terrorist
The feds also admitted earlier this year that a 27-year-old Somalian, who has not been identified by name, was let into the country despite being a “confirmed member of al Shabaab,” a designated terrorist group in the US.
The man was on the terror watchlist and listed as “involved in the use, manufacture or transportation of explosives or firearms,” but a border bungle meant he was released after initially being arrested for crossing into the country illegally in California in March 2023. He was later tracked down to Minnesota, were he was eventually apprehended — although not until January this year.
As US migrant border encounters continue at record levels, more criminals and terrorists will slip through the cracks, the Border agents warned.
Border Patrol nationwide currently has more than 10,000 migrants in custody, according to internal Customs and Border Protection data exclusively obtained by The Post.
Five of the agency’s border regions are over capacity in terms of holding the crossers, with the San Diego sector notching 1,675 migrants in facilities that can hold 1,000 people.
Border Patrol agents have encountered 370 migrants on the terror watchlist illegally crossing between ports of entry since 2017, according to CBP statistics.
“What you’re seeing now is only gonna get worse,” the first agent said.
“ICE probably has a list of people they need to go after.”
