Fox News’ Bill Melugin revealed that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) refused to comply with a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request due to the “privacy interests” of migrants.
Melugin asked for the nationalities of those listed on the terror watchlist, but was denied his request.
DHS told Melugin, “The privacy interests of the individuals in the records you have requested outweigh any minimal public interest in disclosure of the information. Any private interest you may have in that information does not factor into the aforementioned balancing test.”
CBP noted that the “types of documents and/or information that we have withheld may consist of email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses, dates of birth, or various other documents and/or information belonging to a third party that are considered personal.”
The reporter emphasized that he did not ask for revealing information such as “names, IDs, addresses, anything that would breach privacy.”
“I simply requested *only* the nationalities of people arrested on the list, so the public can have an understanding of where in the world they are coming from,” Melugin wrote.
The House Homeland Security Committee responded to the FOIA denial on X: “Wow: DHS thinks the “privacy” of potential national security threats is more important than the American people’s right to know where these individuals are coming from.”
“Just another way Secretary Mayorkas is putting illegal aliens ahead of Americans.”
American Faith reported that the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring more than 600,000 illegal immigrants with a criminal record.
House National Security, Border, and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) revealed that 617,000 illegal immigrants have either criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.
“One would think that being a criminal illegal alien, at a minimum, would make someone an enforcement priority. But it is not under the Biden administration,” Grothman said.
