The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) released a report explaining the current threat of terrorism in the United States and calling for adaptive policy change in response. Kristen Ziccarelli, a policy analyst at AFPI, authored the report.
According to a brief published on Oct. 25 by AFPI, throughout the course of the last two years, “U.S. Customs and Border Protection” has apprehended tens of thousands of “special interest aliens,” migrants who potentially pose a threat to U.S. security. The brief, along with numbers from several other countries, cites 6,386 migrants from Afghanistan, 1,613 from Pakistan and 659 from Iran.
The brief additionally argues that as a result of open border policies instituted by the Biden administration, cartels have gained substantial wealth. Reportedly, from 2018 to 2022, profits among these groups “increased by 2,500%.” According to the AFPI brief, cartels, which are responsible for human and deadly narcotics trafficking on a massive scale, have worked in the past with other criminal organizations, including Islamic terrorist groups, and still do today. Relationships between drug cartels and other terrorist organizations can stem from underlying ideological motivations, which are aided by profits obtained from the drug trade, the brief said.
According to the brief, terrorist networks are exploiting vulnerabilities at the U.S. southern border to infiltrate American cities, with recent incidents highlighting the ease of bypassing immigration controls. For instance, a warning was recently released from border officials in San Francisco regarding the possible attempt of terrorists connected with the war in Israel to enter the United States, the brief stated. The increase in Special Interest Aliens and detected suspected terrorists during the current administration's tenure signals a critical lapse in national security measures, the brief said.
The brief asserts a few ways in which the United States should respond to this threat. These include enhancing the physical protection of the border, cracking down on immigration vetting processes and policies and making a stronger effort to cut sources of funding toward Iran through methods such as sanctions.
