Jordanian in Quantico base breach entered US illegally, was let go by Border Patrol: report
One of the Jordanian nationals arrested for attempting to ram his way into Marine Corps Base Quantico with a box truck had been screened by the Border Patrol but let into the US with no restrictions, according to Fox News.
The man had illegally crossed into the US at San Diego, California, in April and was detained by the Border Patrol.
He was processed and let go to pursue asylum after authorities found “no initial derogatory information” against him, according to Fox.
He was joined in the truck for the May 3 attempted breach by another Jordanian national who was in the country illegally after overstaying a student visa, the news outlet said.
The incident was first reported by Potomac Local News and highlighted by The Post, despite the military attempting to keep it quiet.
Both men are in Immigration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, awaiting deportation.
Their identities have been withheld by authorities.
Sources initially told the local outlet one of the men was on the terror watchlist.
Border Patrol agents have previously told The Post how results from the FBI on terror suspects often don’t come in until after they’ve already let people go — usually within three days of arrest.
“Full checks in 72 hours is next to impossible,” an agent previously said.
“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.
In two recent examples, Mohammad Kharwin, 48, was allowed free rein in the US for almost a year before the FBI notified ICE he was on the terror watchlist as a suspected member of the US-designated foreign terror group Hezb-e-Islami, an Afghan paramilitary organization.
He was rearrested on April 11 and is still in federal custody.
The Biden administration also admitted earlier this year that a 27-year-old Somali, who has not been named, was released into the country by border agents in March 2023 despite being a “confirmed member of al Shabaab,” also a US-designated terrorist group.
He was later rearrested in Minnesota, and is also believed to still be in federal custody.
Border Patrol agents have repeatedly said they are overworked and not able to vet migrants properly, as they have had to deal with over 7.6 million people flooding to the southern border since President Biden took office in January 2021, according to Customs and Border Protection statistics
During the Quantico incident, the Jordanian duo said they worked for an Amazon subcontractor and were there to make a delivery, Capt. Michael Curtis, a spokesman for the base, previously told The Post.
When the military officers realized the two had no permission to be there, the pair ignored instructions from officers and tried to drive onto the base, but were stopped by anti-vehicle barriers.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin requested Wednesday that Biden provide a briefing on the incident, sharing his concerns at the federal government’s “failure to disclose the immigration status of those involved.”
“The Biden Administration’s failure to secure the border has brought this crisis to the front gates of our military installations,” Youngkin said of his inquiry.
The Biden Administration’s failure to secure the border has brought this crisis to the front gates of our military installations.
— Governor Glenn Youngkin (@GovernorVA) May 23, 2024
I sent a letter to President Biden regarding the attempted breach at Quantico & their failure to disclose the immigration status of those involved. pic.twitter.com/7vAW63P9HG
Top brass at Quantico waited two weeks to alert rank-and-file personnel of an attempted breach, Matt Strickland, 40, who had first flagged the incident to the local new site, recently told The Post.
“After I [raised the alarm], I had people who work at Quantico messaging me saying, ‘Holy f—k, when did this happen?,’” Strickland said.
“Two weeks after it happened, Quantico finally put an email out to employees on base letting them know.”
Curtis said the attempted entry “was reported immediately to required military officials.” He added: “In any case determined to be an immediate threat to the base or its population, mass notification and other means are always used to notify all who work and live on Marine Corps Base Quantico.”
An ICE spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to The Post when reached for comment.
