A Special Interest Alien “potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests,” according to DHS
Syrian nationals were discovered among a group of migrants who illegally entered Texas on the same day that federal authorities revealed more than 50,000 “Special Interest Aliens” have been encountered at U.S. borders so far in Fiscal Year 2024.
On Wednesday, the Texas Department of Public Safety (TxDPS) published information about a horde of 31 illegal migrants from across the globe who were apprehended in Maverick County.
While most members of the group were citizens of countries in the Western Hemisphere, two adult males identified themselves as Syrian nationals who had been living in Venezuela before making their way to the U.S.
In a video interview with TxDPS, the men explained in Spanish how they had departed from Venezuela with other U.S.-bound migrants and were both hoping to reach Houston, TX.
They were taken into custody and brought to the Val Verde Processing Center, along with the rest of the group.
Just an hour after TxDPS revealed the troubling bust, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) Chief Jason Owens announced more than 52,000 Special Interest Aliens (SIAs) have been encountered illegally entering the U.S. since October 1, 2023.
Incredibly, more than 45,000 (around 88%) of all SIAs apprehended this fiscal year have been caught in USBP’s San Diego Sector, which is now the busiest in the country.
Interestingly, Chief Owens chose to use the phrase “special interest migrants (SIMs)” in lieu of Special Interest Aliens, which is a term introduced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at least two decades ago.
DHS defines Special Interest Alien thusly:
Generally, an SIA is a non-U.S. person who, based on an analysis of travel patterns, potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests. Often such individuals or groups are employing travel patterns known or evaluated to possibly have a nexus to terrorism. DHS analysis includes an examination of travel patterns, points of origin, and/or travel segments that are tied to current assessments of national and international threat environments.
The surge of SIAs comes amid concerns over an increase of security incidents involving foreign nationals at and around military facilities across the U.S.
U.S. Fleet Forces Command Commander Admiral Daryl Caudle recently appeared on Fox News to explain how attempted penetrations of military bases by foreign nationals are occurring nearly on a daily basis.
“This thing of our military bases getting penetrated by foreign nationals is happening more and more. This is something we see probably two or three times a week, where we’re stopping these folks at the gate,” Adm. Caudle said.
“And this is just Navy alone, where we’re seeing folks trying to come in.”
We don’t really have a border
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 30, 2024
When X owner Elon Musk saw the troubling news about tens of thousands of SIAs flooding the U.S., he concluded, “We don’t really have a border.”