A U.S. senator from Tennessee spent much of the day Monday and Tuesday blasting President Joe Biden’s administration for its lack of interest in border security.
“At least 98 potential terrorists exploited Joe Biden’s open border in the last year. This is a dire national security crisis,” Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said Tuesday on Twitter.
At least 98 potential terrorists exploited Joe Biden’s open border in the last year.
This is a dire national security crisis.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) October 25, 2022
“It was another record-breaking year for Joe Biden, with 2.37 million migrant encounters. And yet, he refuses to visit the southern border,” she said in an earlier tweet.
It was another record-breaking year for Joe Biden, with 2.37 million migrant encounters.
And yet, he refuses to visit the southern border.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) October 25, 2022
“98 people on the terrorist watchlist crossed the border into the U.S. in FY22 — that we know of,” she said Monday night. “That is nearly 4 times higher than the last five years combined.”
98 people on the terrorist watchlist crossed the border into the U.S. in FY22 — that we know of.
That is nearly 4 times higher than the last five years combined.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) October 25, 2022
“Drug smugglers are crossing our southern border in broad daylight. Why doesn’t Biden want to fund additional security measures that could prevent this?” she said in another Monday tweet.
Drug smugglers are crossing our southern border in broad daylight.
Why doesn’t Biden want to fund additional security measures that could prevent this? pic.twitter.com/Ocje23Z1P4
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) October 24, 2022
According to a recent Harvard-Harris poll, 58 percent of Republicans describe immigration as a “very important” issue in the 2022 midterm elections, which will be held on November 8.
It is the third-most important issue for the political right, behind the economy and crime.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) last week released its illegal alien crossing data for fiscal year 2022.
That data shows that CBP encountered 2,378,944 illegal aliens during the most recent fiscal year. That is a significant increase from the 1,734,686 illegal crossings during the last fiscal year.
In fiscal year 2020, the last year of President Donald Trump’s term in office, there were only 458,088 illegal alien encounters.
None of the data accounts for so-called “got-aways,” illegal aliens who crossed into the United States but were never encountered by law enforcement.
Blackburn has opined on the issue before.
In an interview with a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) agent in July, she noted that the number of illegal alien crossings was exploding, and that drugs were flowing into the United States along with the illegal aliens.
“Thousands of people are on the march toward our southern border as we speak. What do they want? Biden’s welcome package – free phone, free plane ticket, and free baby formula,” she said at the time. “We know that among that group, drug dealers and smugglers are bringing across deadly amounts of fentanyl.”
– – –
Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Marsha Blackburn” by Sen. Marsha Blackburn. Background Photo “U.S. Border Patrol Agents Arrest a Man Suspected of Illegally Entering the United States” by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
