While Activists Sue DeSantis, Border Patrol Has Nabbed 78 People on Terror Watchlist This Year

Newly released data shows border agents have arrested another 12 individuals on the terror watchlist at the southern border in August, bringing the total so far for Fiscal Year 2022 to 78.

The number marks an increase from July in which agents apprehended 10 people on the watchlist, and the total is triple the number from the previous five fiscal years combined.

There is still one month remaining in the fiscal year calculations.

The August numbers also equate to double in one month the number apprehended in the final two years of the Trump administration … combined (6).

There’s been dramatically less coverage of the 78 illegals on the terror watchlist than the 48 illegals who spent a night at Martha’s Vineyard https://t.co/FN531qGLjm

— Vince Coglianese (@VinceCoglianese) September 20, 2022

RELATED: Mexicans ‘Virtually Absent’ at Top Border Crossings, Instead People Coming From 115 Different Countries

Surge at the Border Brings Arrests of Those on Terror Watchlist

While supporters of Biden’s open border policies will no doubt argue the number of arrests indicates the successful application of the law, it doesn’t take into account the number of ‘gotaways’ – over 500,000 this fiscal year alone, and by some estimates, 850,000 since the President took office.

Using the same percentages, one can extrapolate that there theoretically could be 20 more individuals on the terror watchlist that slipped over the border this fiscal year, and about 33 since Biden took office.

Fox News’ @BillFOXLA: 78 people on the terror watchlist have been arrested at the border in 2022, “triple the previous 5 years combined.”

How many of the 850,000 “gotaways” are on the terror watchlist? pic.twitter.com/s2RurD4UY8

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 20, 2022

Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego (AZ) accused Republicans in April of 2021 of lying about reports that individuals on the terror watchlist were trying to exploit the weak southern border under the Biden administration.

A month later two Yemeni men on the FBI terror watchlist were arrested trying to cross illegally into California. That was a harbinger of things to come.

Weird as the Chairman of the subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations and a border state member of Congress haven’t heard anything about this. Gonna ask for a briefing. Pretty sure he is either wrong or lying. https://t.co/retrzeUPxV

— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) March 15, 2021

Wonder if he ever got that briefing.

RELATED: Border Patrol Chief Testifies Under Oath That President Biden’s ‘No Consequences’ Immigration Policy Causing Border Crisis

The Surge is Biden’s Fault and Biden’s Alone

At a deposition that took place in July, Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz stated under oath that President Biden’s “no consequences” immigration policies are responsible for the current surge of illegal immigrants at the southern border.

“In my experience, we have seen increases when there are no consequences,” Ortiz states in video of the deposition.

He added, “There is an assumption that if migrant populations are told that there is a potential that they may be released, that, yes, you can see increases.”

Border crossings this year have topped 2 million officially.

As reported by The Political Insider in recent weeks, there has been a dramatic shift in the demographics of the illegal immigrants crossing the border.

Agents from Border Patrol have processed people from over 115 countries at highly active crossing locations – with hardly any of them being Mexicans.

The Border Patrol is seeing a dramatic shift in the type of migrants who come across the busiest places on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Migrants now come from more than 100 countries, and Mexicans are virtually absent — crossing instead at more remote areas. https://t.co/vMu27pgSTA

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 10, 2022

Overall, illegal immigrant encounters have been above 150,000 for 18 straight months involving migrants from more than 160 countries, according to a New York Times report.

Rather than visit the border and see what can be done to secure it as 78 individuals on the terror watchlist – defined by the FBI as those who are known or “reasonably suspected” of being involved in terrorist activities – have been arrested, President Biden and the media are focused on the attacking future Republican Presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

In fact, Biden joked that DeSantis should visit Delaware when it was suggested the Republican might send illegal immigrants to his home state next.

Q: Do you have any comment on DeSantis sending illegal immigrants to Delaware?

Biden: “He should come visit. We have a beautiful shoreline.”

Biden thinks the border crisis is a joke. pic.twitter.com/wWwwhX6A0v

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 20, 2022

The CBP reports, “Encounters of watchlisted individuals at our borders are very uncommon…”

But they were far more uncommon under Trump (FY 17-2, FY 18-6, FY 19-3, FY 20-3) than they are under Biden (FY 21-16, FY 22-78).

Activists instead have focused on DeSantis, filing a class action lawsuit over the Martha’s Vineyard tactic.