In the previous two issues of Uncommon Sense, I have used this column to turn our attention to the Biden-Harris administration’s open border policy. In issue #314, I tried to think like a terrorist and speculate on what might have gone through the mind of a typical terrorist at the new reality of the open border of the United States following Donald Trump’s departure from power. In issue #315, I spelled out the high costs of an open border, including the toll on human lives due to a massive influx of fentanyl being smuggled into our country, and I also highlighted 9 specific murders of American citizens by illegal aliens due to the open border policy of the Biden-Harris administration – noting that I could have described hundreds more if space had allowed.
In this issue of Uncommon Sense, I wish to further elucidate some of the consequences of the Biden-Harris open border policy.
Let’s begin with an understanding of a term used in the world of immigration law. That term is SIA. You haven’t likely heard that term before, but it stands for Significant Interest Aliens.
Although every single person who has crossed our southern border ever since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took the oath of office in January 2021 has done so illegally because they have broken our immigration laws to be here, not every single person who has done so is a dangerous criminal. The majority of the illegal aliens, some number above 50%, are not dangerous criminals. Instead, they are people who have aspirations for a better quality of life. That fact doesn’t make it right that they are here since they have come here by violating immigration law, but their presence is not an immediate danger to anyone.
However, while a minority of the illegal aliens who have entered our country have criminal records due to criminal behavior that took place either here in the United States or in their own home country, a certain percentage of them have criminal records of very serious crimes – sexual assault, extreme violence, and murder.
But there is yet another category of illegal aliens that border patrol agents are highly fixated on.
These are people with ties to terrorism and organized crime.
These are people who come here not only illegally like all the others, but also with very dark intentions.
They are here for the express purpose of harming as many American citizens as they can. They might be from south of the border; they might be from communist China; they might be radicalized Islamic terrorists from North Africa or the Middle East. These are the people who fall under the umbrella of Significant Interest Aliens. Border Patrol officials see these SIAs as extremely dangerous to American society and so the officials make them a top priority to identify and prevent them from breaching our borders. These illegal aliens, in particular, are the worst of the worst.
And now I must bring to light some very dark realities about SIA’s and the Biden-Harris administration.
Aaron Heitke is a former Chief Patrol official for the San Diego Sector of the border. He was recently summoned to Congress to face the House Homeland Security Committee. Under oath, he made this startling statement concerning the changes that took place once Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came to power: “In San Diego, we had an exponential increase in Special Interest Aliens [SIAs]. These are aliens with significant ties to terrorism.”
Mr. Heitke went on to illustrate just how dire the situation has become by comparing SIA encounters during the Trump administration with those of the current Biden-Harris administration:
“Prior to this administration [in other words, during the Trump years], the San Diego sector averaged 10-15 SIAs per year. Once word was out that the border was far easier to cross [in the Biden-Harris Administration], San Diego went to over 100 SIAs in 2022, way over 100 SIAs in 2023, and more than that this year. These are only the ones we caught.”
In other words, during the Trump administration, border patrol agents encountered an average of 1.5 SIAs per month; that number shot up to well over 8 SIAs per month under Biden-Harris.
But the story gets darker still:
“At the time, I was told I could not release any information on this increase in SIAs or mention any of the arrests. The [Biden-Harris] administration was trying to convince the public that there was no threat at the border.”
Think about that. Dangerous thugs have come pouring into our border starting in January 2021 when Biden and Harris came to power, and yet they forbade the Border Patrol agents from releasing that crucial information to the public. Why would Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take such a position?
Who can really say just how bad the open border situation has become?
Oh, but we can. Just a few days ago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials released a candid report last week that is damning of the Biden-Harris administration. The data in this report, which focused on illegal aliens who, apart from violating our immigration laws, also had other criminal charges and/or convictions, is shocking. The data, which goes up through July 2024, is broken down by those illegal alien criminals who are currently in ICE detention, and those who are currently not in ICE detention but are freely roaming the streets of America. Let’s review.
Those who are to be removed from our country but are not currently in custody for whatever reason number over 7,000,000! Of those 7 million, 647,572 have committed serious crimes. Let’s break it down even further:
Mark Green, Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, upon reviewing the above numbers, had this to say:
“It may be shocking to hear that the Biden-Harris administration is actively releasing tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens into our communities, but their own numbers conclusively prove this to be the case. This defies all common sense. Under President Biden and his ‘border czar,’ Vice President Harris, DHS law enforcement has been directed to mass-release illegal aliens whom they know have criminal convictions or are facing charges for serious crimes—and these dangerous, destructive individuals are making their way into every city and state in this country. How many more Americans need to die or be victimized before this administration is forced to abide by the laws they swore to uphold? This is madness. It is something no civilized, well-functioning society should tolerate.”
And that, my friends, is the latest elephant in the room.
