U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are concerned and are reporting over 52,000 apprehensions since the fiscal year began on October 1, 2023, of “Special Interest Aliens.”
These are considered migrants who have had suspicious travel patterns who have been flagged for additional vetting. They are usually illegal immigrants coming from countries that pose potential national security concerns to the U.S.
Jason Owens, U.S. Border Patrol Chief posted on X, “USBP agents in Santa Teresa, NM apprehended 6 special interest migrants (SIMs) from Morocco. So far this FY, USBP has apprehended +52K SIMs. San Diego Sector alone accounts for nearly 88% of those.”
Texas DPS (Department of Public Safety) reported they arrested 2 Spanish-speaking Syrian men who illegally crossed near Eagle Pass. Both men said they were trying to get to Houston and had been living in Venezuela. One said, “We walked from Venezuela to Colombia, from Colombia in a boat, to Nicaragua. Nicaragua to Honduras, to Guatemala. Guatemala to Mexico, and Mexico to here.”
Men from special interest countries such as China, Pakistan, Turkey and Iran were crossing illegally in the middle of the night.
CBP sources said the top four special interest aliens that have been encountered in the San Diego sector since October 1 are China with over 30,000, Turkey with 7,800, Mauritania with 4,000 and Uzbekistan with 3,000.
It is difficult for these special interest aliens to go through additional vetting because they are coming from countries that don’t share any records or data bases with the U.S.
By - FZ
