By Fox News (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-29 16:15:45 | Updated at 2024-11-29 18:32:52
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Federal authorities believe a Jordanian migrant caught trying to enter the U.S. through its northern border is a terrorist, according to ICE Enforcement Removal Operations in Seattle.
Mohammed Hasan Abdellatif Albana, 41, was captured near the northern border of Lynden, Washington, the agency said in a Wednesday press release. It is unclear when or where he snuck into the country.
A U.S. immigration official identified Albana as a "known or suspected terrorist," the agency said.
Albana was sent back to Jordan on November 15 after immigration proceedings, per the agency.
U.S. Border Patrol Agents gather with their specially trained dogs for a field training session May 9, 2006 in the mountains north of Colville, Washington. (Photo by Jeff T. Green/Getty Images)
"ERO Seattle is committed to the removal of noncitizens who pose a risk to the national security of the U.S. Our officers perform these removals dutifully as a part of a federal law enforcement effort to protect Pacific Northwest Communities," said ERO Seattle Field Office Director Drew H. Bostock.
During the Biden administration, Border Patrol agents have intercepted 300 migrants whose names appear on the terror watchlist crossing the country's northern and southern borders, per Customs and Border Patrol data.
A law enforcement officer walks past ICE logo ahead of a press conference on Thursday, May 11, 2017, at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Washington, DC.. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
"Under the Biden-Harris Administration, of the more than 250 illegal aliens on the terrorist watchlist who were encountered by Border Patrol at the southwest border between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, DHS has released into American communities at least 99, with at least 34 others in DHS custody but not yet removed from the United States," the report by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, a copy of which was first obtained by Fox News Digital, says.
The staff interim report also found that immigration judges granted bond to at least 27 migrants on the watchlist who entered illegally, and that Border Patrol has encountered tens of thousands of migrants from countries that could present national security risks – including 2,134 Afghan nationals, 33,347 Chinese nationals, 541 Iranian nationals, 520 Syrian nationals, and 3,104 Uzbek nationals.
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An exterior view of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency headquarters is seen July 6, 2018 in Washington, DC. U.S. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
"That does not include the untold numbers of potential terrorists that evaded Border Patrol to enter the United States as part of nearly 2 million ‘gotaways’ since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration," the report says.
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The report, citing information provided to committee staff in June, also found that Border Patrol had encountered migrants on the terror watchlist from 36 different countries -- including places with active terror presences. Those countries include Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Tajikistan and Yemen.
Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw contributed to this report
