Data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) showed that 74,904 illegal immigrants were labeled as being possible national security threats.
The thousands of individuals were flagged as “SIA Encounters,” or “Special Interest Alien.”
A report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) explained that not all SIAs are “terrorists,” although the label does suggest possible connections to criminal activity and indicates a need for investigation.
“Generally, an SIA is a non-U.S. person who, based on an analysis of travel patterns, potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests,” the report states. “Often such individuals or groups are employing travel patterns known or evaluated to possibly have a nexus to terrorism.”
“DHS analysis includes an examination of travel patterns, points of origin, and/or travel segments that are tied to current assessments of national and international threat environments.”
Some illegal immigrants are considered to be SIA due to their country of origin, such as Turkey.
During fiscal year 2022, there were only 25,627 SIAs.
Reporting from The Blaze:
A former immigration judge claimed in late August 2023 that the DHS was deliberately not disclosing the number of illegal immigrants who have been released into the United States each month. "The only reason why ICE and OFO [Office of Field Operations] would refuse to disclose that information is to hide the fact that it is releasing more than 100,000 aliens per month into the United States and to conceal the effects of those migrant releases on communities across the United States," Andrew Arthur said.
