Central South Dakota News

U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), and eight of their colleagues have sent a letter to the Biden administration seeking explanations for Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) failure to share information about the apprehension and subsequent release of suspects on the terror watchlist into the United States.

“It is evident that the agencies responsible for securing our nation’s southern border have failed to effectively communicate with and notify each other of terrorists that pose threats to American citizens illegally entering the country,” wrote the senators. “The flow of illegal immigration has surged under the Biden administration, allowing these criminals and terrorists to slip through the cracks of our immigration system."

“Not only are these individuals breaking American laws by crossing the border illegally, but they also pose a significant national security risk,” continued the senators. “The systemic lack of information-sharing ties the hands of agency immigration enforcement officials on the frontlines. These officials work tirelessly to apprehend illegal immigrants daily, but they should not be handcuffed by agency leadership.”

In their letter, the senators highlighted a case involving Mohammad Kharwin, who was apprehended by CBP at the southern border in March 2023. Despite suspicions that Kharwin might be on the terror watchlist, he was released into the U.S. without notifying ICE due to a lack of corroborating information. The FBI later informed ICE about Kharwin’s background in February 2024, leading to his arrest.

Joining Risch and Rounds in this inquiry are Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Thune (R-S.D.), and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).

In their communication addressed to Acting Commissioner Miller and Acting Director Lechleitner, they expressed concerns over what they termed an "unprecedented crisis" at the southern border, noting that approximately 9.6 million individuals had entered illegally since October 2021.

They cited data indicating that in fiscal year 2023 alone, there were 736 encounters with individuals matching entries on terror watchlists at land border ports or between ports of entry.

The letter referenced NBC News reports detailing Kharwin's capture by CBP agents in March 2023 while crossing into Texas illegally. After being suspected as a potential match for a terror watchlist entry but lacking sufficient corroboration, he was released into an Alternatives to Detention program without ICE notification. The FBI eventually notified ICE about Kharwin's background nearly a year later.

The senators emphasized that such lapses are not isolated incidents; similar failures were documented in a June 28, 2023 report from DHS Inspector General regarding another individual with an inconclusive match on a terror watchlist being released before eventual re-apprehension weeks later.

The letter concluded with several pointed questions aimed at clarifying current protocols for handling inconclusive matches on terror watchlists, improving inter-agency communication processes among CBP, ICE, FBI, USCIS concerning these matches; identifying necessary resources for better coordination; criteria for dropping individuals from detention programs; average time spent within those programs; progress following recommendations from prior reports; guidance provided during resource constraints at points of entry among others.