Todd Bensman, Senior National Security Fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), stated that the prosecution of the Kurashev terrorism case highlights the danger posed by what he described as the "worst mass migration crisis in U.S. history." Bensman made this statement in a CIS article published on June 6.
"The Kurashev terrorism case — he wired money to Syria for guns and battle motorcycles but also posed a credible attack threat himself — marks rare confirmation of a national security fear often expressed as the worst mass migration crisis in U.S. history unfolded at the Southwest Border during the 2021-24 Sacramento prosecution," said Bensman. "The case also serves as a reminder that men arriving with wives and children, especially from troubled Islamist regions, cannot be axiomatically presumed benevolent and waived through with minimal counterterrorism vetting amid torrential human traffic, as has been the case for years under President Biden's border policies."
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, Murat Kurashev entered the U.S. through Mexico at the Southwest Border in 2018. He sent $13,000 from America to an al-Qaeda-associated terrorist group and actively voiced jihadist sentiments online. Kurashev pleaded guilty to his charges in January and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Bensman said news stories or press releases regarding this case never mentioned Kurashev's status as a confirmed terrorist.
"The number of individuals apprehended illegally crossing the Southwest border and found to be on the terrorist watch list has increased 2,500 percent from Fiscal Years 2017-2020 to Fiscal Year 2023," said Chairman Mark Green in a House Homeland Security Committee press release.
According to his page on the Center for Immigration Studies' website, Bensman is a senior national security fellow for the organization. His page states that he has worked in intelligence, journalism, counterterrorism, and border security. He holds an undergraduate journalism degree and master's degrees from the Naval Postgraduate School and the University of Missouri School of Journalism.