Republican lawmakers have lodged five deadline information requests to President Biden’s Department of Homeland Security for information that would enlighten the American public about a Jordanian border-crosser May 3 truck-ramming attack on the Quantico Marine Corps Base in northern Virginia along with a co-conspirator here on a student visa, reports Todd Bensman at the Center for Immigration Studies.
By Bethany Blankley
(The Center Square) – A group of 21 Republican U.S. senators, led by Sen. Ted Budd, R-NC, is demanding answers from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about federal agents releasing illegal border crossers into the U.S. who weren’t properly vetted and were later discovered to have alleged terrorist connections.
They sent a letter to Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray after the U.S. House Intelligence Committee chairman and a retired CIA director raised warnings about potential terrorist attacks happening on U.S. soil before the end of the year, The Center Square reported.
“President Biden is derelict in his duty to protect and defend our country,” Budd said. “These incidents highlight the extreme national security risks posed by the open southern border. We need to expose what happened here, and make sure it never happens again. We need to secure the border and stop the chaos.”
The senators express alarm after eight Tajikistan nationals with alleged terrorist ties to ISIS illegally entered the U.S. and were released by Border Patrol agents or used the CBP One app through the president’s and Mayorkas’ “lawful pathways” program to enter the U.S. instead of being vetted, arrested on the spot and prevented entry.
“We are deeply concerned by reports that a wiretap shows that one of the now-arrested individuals was talking about bombs and that the target of the wiretap was previously released by federal authorities at the southern border with a court date of next year,” they said. They are referring to Border Patrol agents releasing inadmissible illegal foreign nationals into the country by giving them “notice to appear” documents to appear before an immigration judge several years into the future, The Center Square has reported.
Because the alleged terrorists weren’t properly vetted, as is a consistent problem identified by the Office of Inspector General, it was only after they were released that the FBI expressed alarm and they were found and arrested, CBS News reported. The OIG has also found that CBP agents were releasing known and suspected terrorists into the country because of “ineffective practices and processes.”
Their arrests were made after Wray in April testified before Congress that Islamic terrorist and other national security threats were coming through the border. He referred to an “increasingly concerning … potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, akin to the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia concert hall,” referring to ISIS-Khorasan, ISIS’s Afghan affiliate. In March, he also testified that ISIS-connected smuggling organizations were coming through the border and the FBI was investigating.
The senators point to “multiple recent releases of aliens on the terrorist watchlist into the United States,” including from Afghanistan, Jordan, Somalia, Uzbekistan and others.
They cite an example of an Afghan national and suspected member of the terrorist group Hezb-e-Islami (HIG) who illegally entered the U.S. in California and was arrested on March 10, 2023. Instead of being processed for removal, he was enrolled in an Alternatives to Detention monitoring program for two weeks and then “allowed to roam free in the U.S. for ten months, unmonitored, until ICE agents arrested him again due to potential terrorist ties,” the senators said.
Another example is of a Somali national on the FBI Terrorist Watchlist as “a confirmed member” of the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab, who illegally entered the U.S. in California in March 2023. Instead of being processed for removal, he was released into the country. Nearly one year later, he was arrested in Minnesota for his alleged involvement in the use, manufacture or transportation of explosives or firearms, they said.
Another is an Uzbekistan national with alleged ties to ISIS who illegally entered the U.S. in Arizona in February 2022. He was arrested by Border Patrol agents and instead of being processed for removal, he also was released into the U.S. In May 2023, the Uzbekistan government issued an international notice that he was wanted for his ties to ISIS, “which U.S. officials failed to discover until March of this year,” the senators note.
They also point to two Jordanians “posing as Amazon subcontractors attempted to breach Marine Corps Base Quantico” last month as examples of DHS failures. One had overstayed his student visa by roughly 18 months; the other illegally entered the U.S. in California in April. Instead of being detained and processed for removal, he was released on his own recognizance to appear before an immigration judge. One of the men was on the Terrorist Watch List.
These are in addition to the greatest number of known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) illegally entering the U.S. in the last nearly three fiscal years, according to CBP data. In fiscal 2024 through June 20, 316 KSTs have been apprehended, with the majority, 199, at the northern border, according to CBP data.
The greatest number of KSTs to ever be apprehended in U.S. history was in fiscal 2023 of 736; with the majority, 487, apprehended at the northern border, including an Iranian with terrorist ties, The Center Square first reported.
The senators asked DHS to respond to questions about the names and identities of arrested KSTs, where they illegally entered the U.S., if they claimed asylum, what the vetting process was, if they were connected to ISIS or other terrorist organizations, among other questions.
DHS was given a deadline of Tuesday to provide the requested information.
Quantico town held a fireworks show on May 25, 2024, to celebrate Memorial Day. Read More
By Bethany Blankley
(The Center Square) – Multiple members of Congress are demanding answers about the federal government’s ability to prevent a terrorist attack after two Jordanian nationals attempted to break into Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
This is after concerns were raised about a Chinese national who recently breached a Marine Corps base in the El Centro CBP Sector after illegally entering the country, and after individuals identified as known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) are continuing to be apprehended at record numbers after illegally entering the country, The Center Square reported.
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, led a group of 12 Republican members of Congress demanding answers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation about the Quantico breach, questioning if it constituted a terrorist attack. The letter was announced Tuesday and is dated May 23.
“A brazen attempt to infiltrate a military installation by foreign nationals from a terror-prone region rightly raises concerns as to whether this constituted a possible terrorist attack,” the House coalition said in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Yet, the federal government has not disclosed whether this breach was terror-related.”
On May 3, two Jordanian male nationals attempted to breach a Marine Corps base using a box truck. They were eventually detained and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It was later revealed that one illegally crossed the border last month and was released into the interior by Border Patrol agents. The other overstayed his student visa and was in the country illegally. One was identified as a KST.
“The American people deserve to know the scope of the threat posed by potential terror suspects and the extent to which the open border policies of this administration are facilitating it,” the coalition said.
Joining Roy are Republican Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Bob Good of Virginia, Mary Miller of Illinois, Barry Moore of Alabama, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, and Randy Weber of Texas.
Last week, a coalition of 12 U.S. senators demanded answers, led by U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., of Mayorkas and Wray.
“This deeply concerning incident occurred mere weeks after a Chinese national who was in the country illegally broke into Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms on March 27,” they said.
House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., and three other Republican committee chairmen also demanded answers from Mayorkas, Wray and Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The committee is investigating the incident, they said, and is concerned about previous requests that remain unanswered.
In September 2023, Green and Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, sent a letter to Mayorkas, Wray, and Austin requesting information about how the agencies were responding to possible breaches of U.S. military installations and critical infrastructure from the Chinese Communist Party. According to Wall Street Journal report, Chinese nationals attempted to access U.S. military bases and other sensitive sites roughly 100 times in recent years.
DHS and the FBI “failed to provide any substantive response” to their request, they said.
In a November 2023 hearing, Mayorkas “repeatedly refused to answer when asked by Chairman Pfluger whether DHS continuously detains those found to be on the terrorist watchlist,” they said.
The greatest number of KSTs have been apprehended by CBP and Border Patrol agents under the Biden administration, The Center Square has reported. This fiscal year, they total 277, after the greatest number in U.S. history was apprehended in fiscal 2023 of 736, The Center Square reported.
“The alarming conclusion from these numbers is every day we have individuals that are on the FBI terrorist watch list that could have an intention to harm our country and are entering every single day,” former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square. “It’s not if or when the threat tries to come to our country. We already know that’s happening already. The threat is already here,” he said, referring to the at least two million foreign nationals who illegally entered the country and evaded capture, some of whom may be KSTs.
The attempted breach at MCB Quantico “reflects a possibly more dire reality for the state of U.S. national security,” Green’s coalition said.
DHS’s “relaxed vetting standards” have created “an environment ripe for exploitation by individuals aiming to undermine the United States at its most critical points. If individuals on the terrorist watchlist are so emboldened to attempt to breach a Marine Corps base, the Department of Homeland Security and the entire executive branch must act swiftly to identify, apprehend, and detain such hostile actors on American soil.”
Two Jordanian nationals were known to federal authorities before they attempted to breach security at Quantico Marine Corps Base.
The first unidentified man was admitted into the U.S. on a student visa on September 11, 2022, which expired 18 weeks later, on January 14, 2023. The second man crossed the U.S. from Mexico to California six weeks ago, on April 8, 2024. The next day, the U.S. Border Patrol issued a notice to appear before an immigration judge and, later that day, released the man into the U.S.
Just 24 days later, on May 3, 2024, ICE agents detained both men after military police at Quantico’s main gate on Fuller Road said the driver of a box truck ignored commands to wait patiently on the side of the road while they worked to identify the two men inside the truck, who did not have ID. Instead, the driver hit the gas and collided with a hydraulic barricade, known on base as a vehicle denier. This metal contraption rises from the street to prevent unauthorized entry into the critical military installation 37 miles south of the nation’s capital. No one was injured.
The two men have not been identified, and both remain in ICE custody awaiting the outcome of their removal proceedings, according to a May 24 statement from ICE, which adds, “ICE has no information that would suggest either noncitizen is associated with any organization that would pose a public safety or national security threat.”
Multiple sources told Potomac Local News at least one of the men is on a terror watch list, which is maintained by the FBI, an agency that has not made a statement about the security breach. Its prestigious training academy sits on Quantico Marine Corps Base.
ICE’s statement comes one day after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin appeared on Fox News demanding the Biden Administration provide him with a full briefing on the events that occurred on May 3. In a letter to the president, Youngkin expressed his frustration with federal authorities, who he said kept him and the public in the dark following the attempted security breach.
“The White House, ICE, nor the military police have yet to disclose any public information on the names of those involved in the breach, if they were in the country illegally, or if they are on the terrorism watch list. While revealing the names of those involved could interfere with deportation proceedings, Virginia’s Public Safety and Homeland Security leadership and I deserve to know the nature of the threats occurring in our backyard,” he wrote.
Youngkin also demanded the contents of the box truck driven by the two men who used to ram the gate. The federal government has yet to say what was inside the car, though multiple sources tell Potomac Local News the truck contained boxes with no weapons. The would-be intruders posed as Amazon employees and told the gate sentry they were headed to the Quantico town post office to make a delivery. It’s not known if the two men worked for Amazon.
In September 2023, The U.S. House Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security and Enforcement held a hearing on terrorist entry through the U.S. Southwest border. During the proceeding, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-California) said of the nearly 6 million immigrants who have illegally crossed the border since Biden has been president, 146 were found to have been on the terror watch list, while 1.7 million evaded Border Patrol and are considered “got-aways.”
“Why would 1.7 million illegal aliens want to invade the Border Patrol? The only two reasons I can think of are that they are either hiding criminal records or they are conducting criminal acts,” McClintock said during the hearing.
The May 3, 2024, incident at Quantico follows several other similar incidents at military bases across the U.S. and the White House, where foreign nationals have used vehicles to ram the front gates. Just two days before the run on the Quantico gate, a driver was killed after he attempted to breach security gate at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story near Virginia Beach and collided with a hydraulic barricade.
Two days after Quantico, a driver slammed into a security gate at The White House and was killed after his car exploded.
On March 27, a Chinese national was killed after he rammed the gate at Twentynine Palms, near San Bernardino, California. On April 5, three people inside a car were injured after the vehicle rammed the gate at San Diego Naval Base. One sailor manning the entrance also suffered injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening.
Federal authorities have not released the names of anyone involved in these incidents.
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We're getting a clearer picture of the two men inside a box truck used by two illegal immigrants to ram the main gate at Quantico Marine Corps Base.
Sources tell Potomac Local that the box truck that rammed the gate at Quantico Marine Corps Base contained only boxes and miscellaneous items—no weapons.
Federal officials have been tight-lipped about the contents of the truck and the two men, Jordanian nationals, who were turned over to federal immigration authorities shortly after the May 3, 2024, incident.
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The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation (MCHF) announces that the last remaining USMC Mounted Color Guard will appear at the National Museum of the Marine Corps on May 23 and 24. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet the Mounted Color Guard and watch live demonstrations. This event is a rare occurrence for the west coast-based Mounted Color Guard.
The Mounted Color Guard’s origin dates back to 1911 during the Chinese Revolution when the Mounted Detachment, known as the “Horse Marines,” was the Marine Corps’ only designated cavalry unit. This elite unit, stationed in China, was tasked with maintaining contact with American citizens in Peking, conducting census, patrols, and delivering dispatches.
The visit coincides with MCHF’s annual tradition of placing flags in Semper Fidelis Memorial Park for Memorial Day to honor fallen Marines. The event will take place on May 23 from 3 to 6 p.m. and on May 24 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, located at 1775 Semper Fidelis Way, Triangle.
Established in 1979, the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Marine Corps history. The Foundation supports the historical programs of the Marine Corps in ways not possible through government funds.
This incident has raised concerns among local officials and the public about the transparency and handling of security matters at the base. The lack of immediate disclosure has led to demands for answers and accountability from the authorities involved.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a statement on May 16 confirming that two Jordanian nationals were turned over to ICE custody. However, ICE did not respond to the request to confirm whether one or both men were on the Terrorism Watch list or address the contents of the box truck.
Captain James Covington, ICE spokesman, confirmed: “On May 3, 2024, Marine Corps Base Quantico’s Criminal Investigations Division arrested two Jordanian noncitizens for trespassing. Marine Corps Base authorities notified the ICE Eastern Regional Office (ERO) in Washington, D.C., of the apprehensions. Deportation officers from ERO Washington, D.C.’s Criminal Apprehension Program responded and arrested both individuals without incident. Both individuals will remain in ERO custody pending removal proceedings.”Â
