Over 256,000 Illegal Border Crossers in February, Highest for the Month in History

Illegal border crossers apprehended

The number of illegal border crossers has increased significantly since Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas implemented a range of policies he said were designed to reduce “irregular migration” and create a “legal pathway” for foreign nationals to come to the U.S.

February of this year broke a record of 256,094 total illegal border crossings nationwide, the highest for the month in U.S. history.

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Thousands of Pounds of Meth Smuggled Across Border in Vegetable Shipments

Meth confiscated by law enforcement

Mexican cartels for decades have devised creative ways to smuggle narcotics and other contraband across the southern U.S., including using produce, law enforcement officials say. This month, in one week, thousands of pounds of meth were seized hidden in shipments of peppers, tomatillos and carrots.

At the Otay Mesa, California, cargo facility this month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized large quantities of methamphetamine (meth) hidden under packages of the vegetables.

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Government Admission: Biden Parole Flights Create Security ‘Vulnerabilities’ at U.S. Airports

Joe Biden Speaking

Thanks to an ongoing Center for Immigration Studies Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the public now knows that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has approved secretive flights that last year alone ferried hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens from foreign airports into some 43 American ones over the past year, all pre-approved on a cell phone app.

But while large immigrant-receiving cities and media lay blame for the influx on Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s busing program, CBP has withheld from the Center – and apparently will not disclose – the names of the 43 U.S. airports that have received 320,000 inadmissible aliens from January through December 2023, nor the foreign airports from which they departed. The agency’s lawyers have cited a general “law enforcement exception” without elaborating – until recently – on how releasing airport locations would harm public safety beyond citing “the sensitivity of the information.”

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Commentary: Liberals Want Americans to House Illegal Immigrants

Illegal Immigrants

The Office of Global Michigan is encouraging “everyday Americans” to volunteer to house illegal immigrants and “make a difference by welcoming refugees from around the world.”

“Volunteers [are] needed” to “support refugee resettlement efforts in Michigan,” says the office’s website, which was recently launched by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Development.

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California County Sued over Non-Citizen Voting Records as States Diverge on Letting Foreigners Vote

A California county has been sued by an election integrity watchdog over not making non-citizen voting records available while states are divided on whether non-citizens should be permitted to vote in U.S. elections.

Some states are allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections while others are prohibiting it. Alameda County in California is being sued for not producing voter registration and voting records of non-citizens.

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Biden Admin Allowed More than 3 Million Migrants into U.S. in 2023

Illegal Immigrants

There were 3.3 million people who came to the U.S. illegally, were released into the country via parole or overstayed their permission to remain in the country in fiscal year 2023, according to a recent report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The number includes 1.1 million who were released by federal authorities after entering illegally, 900,000 who were released at ports of entry, 860,000 who are known to have evaded arrest and 430,000 who overstayed their temporary residency in the country, according to the report. Federal authorities at the southern border recorded more than 2.4 million encounters in fiscal year 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

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Biden Admin Watered Down Vetting Process for Chinese Illegal Immigrants, Email Shows

The Biden administration drastically simplified the vetting process for Chinese illegal immigrants in April 2023, according to an internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) email obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The April 2023 email, which was sent by a CBP supervisor to a “master list” of about 500 Border Patrol agents, instructs CBP officials to radically reduce the number of interview questions for Chinese migrants apprehended after illegally crossing into the country from roughly 40 to just five. The “headquarters guidance” came as border agents were overwhelmed with near-record numbers of illegal crossings.

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Arizona Gov. Hobbs in Touch with DHS but Hasn’t Talked with Mayorkas in Months

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs recently communicated with leadership at the United States Department of Homeland Security, but conversations with Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have been more scant.

The federal government, as well as Arizona officials, have been under scrutiny after U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the closure of the Lukeville, Arizona, port of entry, which is making access to and from Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, extremely difficult. 

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Since Biden Inauguration, Illegal Border Crossers Total over 10 Million – More Than the Population of 41 States

by Bethany Blankley   More than 10 million people have been reported illegally entering the United States since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the greatest number in history and of any administration. They total more than the individual populations of 41 states. The number of people illegally entering the country surged after Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas halted many preexisting border security policies, advanced sweeping parole and other policies to release the greatest number of illegal foreign nationals into the country, encouraged people from all over the world to use a phone app to enter the U.S., and facilitated U.S. entry application processes in foreign countries, among others. Official U.S. Customs and Border Protection data includes 3,201,144 apprehensions in fiscal 2023; 2,766,582 in fiscal 2022; 1,956,519 in fiscal 2021; and 471,954 in the nine months Biden was in office in fiscal 2020. CBP’s fiscal year is from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. Combined, official apprehensions total 8,396,199. They exclude gotaway data, which CBP does not report publicly. The Center Square has been reporting preliminary gotaway data solely reported by Border Patrol agents at the southwest border. The information is obtained from a Border Patrol agent…

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Biden Admin Reports Over 3 Million Illegal Aliens Cross America’s Borders in Single Year

For the first time ever, U.S. border agents encountered over 3.2 million illegal aliens on America’s borders in a single fiscal year, a number that is greater than the combined population of Hawaii, Alaska, and Vermont.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CPB, reported Saturday that agents encountered 3,201,144 illegal immigrants at or between ports of entry to the country between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023. (The federal government’s fiscal year runs from October through September.)

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Senator Marsha Blackburn Demands Transparency from HHS over Missing Migrant Children Response

Group of immigrants at border

On Monday, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) demanded honesty and transparency from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra over the reports of his Department’s mistreatment of 85,000 missing migrant children.

This follows Becerra and his Department stonewalling Blackburn in her initial request in April for documentation about his knowledge of the potential child exploitation and the Department’s retaliation against whistleblowers.

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Arizona Officials Share Outcry in Mass Release of Migrants

Counties in Southern Arizona have seen a sudden influx of busloads filled with processed asylum-seeking immigrants released into towns, and local officials are calling for answers.

County sheriffs began alerting the public this week to the increased number of migrant releases, which indicate a surge of immigrants seeking entry into the U.S. larger than federal facilities and local nonprofits can contain.

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Authorities Seize Nearly 100,000 Fentanyl Pills, Enough Powder to Kill More than 5 Million People in Two Arizona Busts

Federal and local authorities in the Phoenix area have seized nearly 100,000 fentanyl pills and more than 20 pounds of fentanyl powder in just two law enforcement actions. This quantity of the Schedule II drug could potentially cause more than 5 million fatal overdoses.

On August 10, agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), working with local Arizona police, reportedly apprehended three men attempting to sell 50,000 fentanyl pills in the Phoenix area, according to Border Report. Only days later, on August 17, Gila County law enforcement reported seizing 49,500 fentanyl pills and 22.88 pounds of fentanyl powder during a traffic stop in Payson on the previous day. Payson is about 90 minutes away of Phoenix.

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Wisconsin Congressman Bryan Steil Hosts Roundtable on Combatting the Scourge of Fentanyl

As the scourge of fentanyl continues to rack up victims across the nation, U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI-01) was joined on Thursday by local and national law enforcement officials in Milwaukee County for a roundtable discussion on combatting the deadly drug.

The event, held in the suburban Milwaukee community of Franklin, included officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and North Central High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA),  state legislative leaders, and medical experts.

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Suspected Terrorism Funder Arrested After Being Released into U.S. at Border

Another foreign national who entered the U.S. illegally and was released into the country by the Biden administration had an extensive criminal record and was wanted in Venezuela for financing terrorism.

In April 2021, Border Patrol agents arrested a Venezuelan national for illegal entry near San Luis, Arizona, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was charged with inadmissibility under U.S. immigration law and issued a notice to appear before an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).

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Heinous Crimes Committed by Illegal Migrants Under Scrutiny Ahead of 2024 Election

Recent heinous crimes — from rape to murder — committed by illegal aliens are under scrutiny as more migrants enter the United States, making it a hot topic ahead of the 2024 election.

“We need borders. We have to stop the invasion of people into our country. And you know who’s coming in? Prisoners, people from mental institutions, terrorists are coming into our country and millions and millions and millions of people,” former President Donald Trump said Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania.

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Congress Investigating Allegation Border Patrol Official Retaliated Against After Testimony

Congressional investigating are probing whistleblower allegations that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency may have retaliated against a top agency official after he testifying before lawmakers.

House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Mark Green wrote in a letter Friday that they have been told by a whistleblower that El Centro Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino was relieved of his command after he finished a transcribed interview with two congressional committees earlier this month.

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Law Enforcement Experts Warn of ‘Another 9-11’ After Bungled Release of Migrant Tied to Terrorism

Former law enforcement officials are warning of potential terrorist attacks and a repeat of 9/11 following a Homeland Security Department watchdog report that exposed government bungling that allowed an illegal immigrant on the terrorist watchlist to be released into the U.S. and roam free for two weeks before he was apprehended.

According to a report released by the DHS’s Office of Inspector General, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released an illegal immigrant on the terrorist watchlist last year, and due to a lack of coordination, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took more than two weeks to arrest the individual.

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Feds Catch More than 450 Known, Suspected Terrorists in Nine Months, Most at Northern Border

There have been hundreds of known or suspected terrorists apprehended at the northern and southern borders in the current fiscal year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. 

As foreign nationals illegally enter the U.S. and are apprehended, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) agents screen them against a federal Terrorist Screening Dataset, which includes sensitive information about terrorist identities. It originated as a consolidated terrorist watch list “to house information on known or suspected terrorists, or KSTs, but has evolved over the last decade to include additional individuals who represent a potential threat to the United States, including known affiliates of watch-listed individuals,” CBP states.

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Illegal Border Crossers So Far This Year Outnumber the Population of Eight States

At least 1.2 million people have been apprehended or reported evading capture at the southern border in the first five months of this year, according to data obtained and analyzed by The Center Square.

The estimate is based on official apprehension data reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection as well as gotaway data. A Border Patrol agent provides this data exclusively to The Center Square on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Gotaways are those who illegally enter the U.S. and intentionally seek to evade capture. Border Patrol agents report those who have illegally entered and evaded capture based on several factors. CBP doesn’t publicly report gotaway data.

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‘These Numbers Are Staggering:’ Chinese Migrants Continue to Surge Across Southern Border

The influx of Chinese migrants crossing the southern border continued through April, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.

Border Patrol encountered 3,182 migrants from China at the U.S.-Mexico border in April alone, according to CBP data. Chinese migrants often pay hefty smuggling fees to reach the U.S., where they have been found with large sums of U.S. currency, according to Border Patrol agents who recently spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Ohio U.S. Senate Candidate Bernie Moreno Calls On Biden to Extend Title 42 and Complete Trump’s Wall

Ohio Republican businessman and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2024 Bernie Moreno said that if President Joe Biden and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) want people to take them seriously when they claim they don’t want open borders, then they should extend Title 42 and finish building former President Donald Trump’s wall.

His statement follows Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday agreeing to send 1,500 U.S. soldiers to the Mexico border at the Biden administration’s request. However, as Title 42, a pandemic-related immigration policy, is slated to expire next week, the soldiers will only be used for administrative work.

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Mark Green Blasts President Biden for Sending Troops to the Southern Border to Help Move Illegals into Country

Tennessee U.S. Representative and chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security Mark Green (R-TN-07) condemned the Biden administration for approving an increase of 1,500 military personnel to “supplement U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) efforts” on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Green accused the Biden administration of “using our troops to facilitate the demise of our homeland security, instead of securing our borders.”

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U.S. Closes Bridge to Mexico After Migrants Attempt Mass Crossing

The U.S. government closed a bridge to Mexico Thursday after a group of roughly 1,000 migrants tried to make a mass entry, according to Border Report.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) closed the Gateway International Bridge that connects Matamoros, Mexico, with Brownsville, Texas, according to Border Report. Roughly 1,500 migrants are living in a large encampment a few blocks from the bridge on the Mexican side, Andrea Rudnik, a volunteer with Team Brownsville, told Border Report.

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Wisconsin Congressman Glenn Grothman Grills Biden Official on ‘Lost Children’ Caught in Disastrous Border Policies

U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06) led a congressional hearing this week seeking answers on how the Biden Administration could lose track of more than 85,000 unaccompanied children it allowed to illegally enter the U.S. 

Robin Dunn Marcos, director of the Offie of Refugee Resettlement, had a hard time answering basic questions, highlighting the administrative nightmare behind President Joe Biden’s disastrous border policies. 

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Border Patrol Union Signals Concern Over Proposed Biden Immigration Policy

The Biden administration’s proposed “Safe Third Country” agreement attempting to crack down on an expected surge in illegal immigration at the southern border has a major loophole that still allows migrants to be released into the country en masse, according to a document the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) sent to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively obtained.

The policy, which was proposed in anticipation of the end of the Title 42 public health expulsion order on May 11, would make migrants seeking asylum that already passed through a safe country on the way to the U.S. ineligible for asylum. The Border Patrol union raised its concerns to DHS, asserting that the rule would still allow for “catch and release” because of loopholes, such as making a claim of credible fear to trigger the need for years-long adjudication, according to the NBPC response.

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Border Authorities Detail Smuggling Routes, Warn of Greater Surge in Chinese Illegally Crossing Into US

Border authorities in the U.S. are expecting a further increase in the number of Chinese migrants crossing illegally at the southern border, and have identified key ways they are entering the country, according to an internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) document exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The document, which was circulated via an internal email to CBP personnel, warns of more Chinese nationals entering the U.S. via the southern border due to a broader message from smugglers about routes into the country. The document details key smuggling routes, and notes that the Chinese nationals are entering in higher numbers due to religious persecution against the Christian faith.

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New U.S. Border Data: 284 Suspected Terrorists Apprehended So Far in Fiscal 2023

Nearly 300 suspected terrorists have been apprehended attempting to enter the U.S. in the first few months of fiscal 2023 as 28 members of Congress formed a new caucus to address the crisis at the northern border, where record numbers of foreign nationals continue to illegally enter from Canada.

The Northern Border Security Caucus, formed by U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Pennsylvania, and Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, is expressing concerns about “the increased human and drug trafficking, along with the decrease in Border Patrol agents and lack of security, along the U.S.-Canada border.”

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Number of Illegal Migrants Evading Arrest Exploded by 900 Percent Along Northern Border Region

The number of illegal migrants that are known to have evaded arrest in a busy sector of the northern border is surging, according to Sean Walsh, National Border Patrol Council President for the Swanton sector, who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The sector saw approximately 100 known gotaways in the entirety of fiscal year 2022, but has seen roughly 900% more gotaways already between October 2022 and February 2023, Walsh, whose region covers parts of New York and Vermont, told the DCNF. Border agents in the sector have seen an 845% surge in migrant apprehensions, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.

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Border Patrol: Record Number of Chinese Nationals Entering U.S. Illegally

The number of Chinese nationals illegally entering the U.S. has significantly increased under the Biden administration, beginning around the 2020 election, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. 

Nationwide, 18,395 Chinese nationals were apprehended in fiscal 2020; 23,471 in fiscal 2021; 27,756 in fiscal 2022; and 10,587 in the fiscal year to date. 

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Nearly 216,000 Apprehended, Gotaways Reported of Illegal Entries at Southern Border in January

At least 156,274 people illegally entered the U.S. in January, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data published on Friday, down 40% from 251,978 in December 2022, it says. The data excludes gotaway numbers referring to those who are known and reported to illegally enter between ports of entry, evade capture by law enforcement, and don’t return to Mexico or Canada.

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Border Patrol Agents Report More than 300,000 Apprehensions, Gotaways in December Alone

At least 225,797 people were apprehended entering the U.S. illegally nationwide in December, according to official U.S. Customs and Border Protection data released late Friday.

Combining official apprehension data with preliminary Border Patrol reported gotaway data obtained by The Center Square – a record 87,631 in gotaways – December numbers total at least 313,428, another record.

December’s total was greater than November’s record-breaking total of at least 306,069.

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Illegal Entries into Vermont Surge in November

Foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S. are increasingly entering through Vermont at an unprecedented rate.

In October, the Swanton Sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which includes all of Vermont, saw a 676% increase in apprehensions of illegal foreign nationals compared to last year, according to Border Patrol data. Agents apprehended 334 people from 19 countries in October, and the “upward trend continues,” Swanton Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said.

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Arizona Sheriff Sides with Border Crossers, Says Ducey’s Makeshift Container Wall ‘Illegal Dumping’

An Arizona county sheriff is siding with protesters and demanding for Gov. Doug Ducey (R) to stop sending shipping containers to the border for a makeshift wall. 

Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway said Ducey’s order to use containers as the border wall is “illegal dumping,” and he plans on arresting construction crews and security personnel if they come to his county, Fox 10 Phoenix reported Saturday.

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Preliminary Border Data: Record Number of Apprehensions, Gotaways in November

Preliminary U.S. Customs and Border Protection data obtained by The Center Square from a border agent shows record numbers of apprehensions and gotaways at the southern border in November.

Agents apprehended 212,608 illegal foreign nationals and recorded at least 93,461 who evaded law enforcement and are now living illegally somewhere in the U.S. Combined, they total at least 306,069.

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New Fiscal Year Starts with Record Number of Migrant Encounters at Southern Border

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered more than 230,000 migrants at the southern border in October, beginning fiscal year 2023 with a record surge, according to agency statistics released late Monday night.

Federal border authorities encountered 230,678 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in October, a 1.3% increase from the previous month, according to CBP. There was also a record number of migrants crossing the border in fiscal year 2022, with roughly 2.3 million migrants encounter

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Analysis: Border Crossing Deaths Skyrocket Under Biden Administration

Border security is a life-or-death issue with many implications. Beyond the economic and electoral effects of illegal immigration, violent criminals and highly lethal drugs often enter the U.S. through its porous southern border. In addition, hundreds of people die each year while trying to cross the border.

Annual totals of border crossing deaths are commonly published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) within about five or six months of the close of the federal government’s fiscal year on September 30th. 

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Border Patrol Calls In ‘Suicidologist’ to Address Rising Suicides Among Rank-and-File

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) tapped a “suicidologist” to address the rising suicides among its ranks amid a surge in illegal migration at the southern border, the Washington Examiner reported Wednesday.

Dr. Kent Corso, who began the role in early 2021 during high migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border, was the first to do so for any government entity, according to the Examiner.

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Suspected Human Smuggler Charged After Running Border Patrol Agent off Road

A suspected human smuggler has been charged with serious crimes after he allegedly attempted to run a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent off the road. 

“Last week, Daniel Jerome Wagner, 54, of Phoenix, Arizona, was arrested on one count of Assault on a Federal Officer with the Use of a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon,” said a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release. “Wagner was charged by criminal complaint and had his initial appearance on Friday before United States Magistrate Judge Eric J. Markovich.”

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Inspector General: DHS Failed to Properly Vet Afghan ‘Refugees’ During Evacuation

On Tuesday, an inspector general’s report was released regarding the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) handling of the vetting process for alleged “refugees” fleeing Afghanistan as the country collapsed last year.

The Daily Caller reports that the DHS Inspector General concluded that the agency failed to “properly” vet refugees who were determined later to be a “risk to national security,” bringing potential terrorists back to the United States while leaving behind many American citizens as the country fell into the hands of the Taliban.

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