Senator Marshall Introduces Bill To Require DHS To Report Monthly On Terrorist Watch List Encounters

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. introduced legislation that would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide a monthly report to Congress on the terrorist watch list encounters at the nation’s border. Our open borders are the most immediate national security threat that our nation faces. Under the Biden Administration, we have seen historic numbers of apprehension of individuals on the FBI’s terrorist watch list. Congress deserves to know who these people are and where they are now.

“There is an invasion at our southern border. Every day that the Biden Administration continues their open border agenda, Americans’ national security is at risk,” Senator Marshall said. “Month after month, we have seen historic numbers of migrants on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist infiltrating our country’s border. The threat the individuals on this list pose to Americans’ safety is too great for us to do nothing.

“Since President Biden took office, Border Patrol has caught hundreds of individuals on the terrorist watchlist trying to cross the southern border, and we don’t know how many more have made it into the country undetected,” Senator Cornyn said. “This bill would require the Department of Homeland Security to report every individual on the terrorist watchlist encountered at the border to Congress so that we can hold the Biden administration accountable.”  

“The Biden administration continues to undermine our national security by ignoring the crisis at our border. More members of the FBI’s terror watchlist are sneaking into our country than ever before,” Senator Kennedy said. “If the Biden administration is going to forfeit its duty to protect American citizens, Congress needs to have transparency from the Department of Homeland Security so we can address the real terrorist threat open borders pose to American communities.”

This legislation would require the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to report to Congress on the following: 

• The number of individuals encountered that are on the terrorist screening database. 
• Where they were encountered. 
• Details on why the individual is on the watch list. 
• Any ties each such individual has to a terrorist organization;
• Their nation of origin
• Previous criminal convictions in the United States
• How they traveled to the United States
• Where they were detained; if they are still detained, if they’ve been deported, if they’ve been transferred to another agency, and their known whereabouts if they have been released. 
• If they’ve been released, how the determination was made that the individual does not present a danger to the United States
• How many faulty hits have occurred.
• The total number of individuals added, rejected, or removed from the terrorist screening database since the last report was submitted, and the total number of individuals on the terrorist screening database as of the date of the report.

Senator Marshall’s cosponsors for this legislation include: Senators Cornyn (R-TX), Daines (R-MT), and Kennedy (R-LA). 

You may click HERE to read our full text legislation. 

###