Sen. Tom Cotton slams DHS for protecting the 'personal privacy' of illegal immigrants on terror watchlist

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding that he turn over available information on the nationality of illegal immigrants on the FBI's terror watchlist.

Cotton lashes out in the letter at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for refusing to reveal that information to Fox News, calling "bizarre" his argument that the privacy of those individuals "far outweigh whatever public interest, if any, exists in having their information released."

The senator asserts, instead, that "the American people have a right to know who is crossing our border, especially when those illegal aliens have ties to terrorism." Moreover, he says that behind the suspects who authorities are "unlawfully withholding" information on, there may actually be "partisan concerns that it would alarm the American people."

Another argument he wanted to dismantle is that terrorist organizations would take advantage of that data, since it would allow them to know which nationalities are less conspicuous for the radar of the authorities.

"Of course, if the Biden-Harris administration impartially enforced our laws and deported illegal aliens regardless of their origin, terrorists wouldn’t be able to game the system in the manner you describe," Sen. Cotton said.