78 terrorists attempted to enter through the southern border in the last year

The Border Patrol recorded a notable increase in the number of immigrants on the terrorist watch list attempting to enter the country through the border. According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, the period between October and August of this fiscal year, agents intercepted 78 immigrants on the terrorist watch list.

The CBP figures reflected a large increase compared to the 2021 fiscal year, when there was 15 arrests recorded of illegals who were listed as terrorists.

Abbott declares Mexican drug cartels terrorists

In the midst of the immigration crisis, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott declared the Mexican drug cartels to be terrorists. Abbott urged President Joe Biden to do the same to combat human trafficking at the border.

Abbott's order was more specifically targeted at the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels, as well as any other criminal organization that can be identified as carrying out these activities that are now classified as "terrorist".

Migration crisis

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also reported that 2,493,723 illegal immigrants were apprehended in the current fiscal year: from last October through August. Of that number, 2,150,244 were apprehended at the southern border. In addition to traditional immigration from countries such as Mexico, large numbers of people fleeing communist regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba are driving a new wave of immigration, CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said in a statement.

The number of detainees in August 2022 was 157,921, an increase of 2.2% compared to the previous month. Of the total number of arrests, 55,333 were from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. They account for a third of the total (35%), an increase of 175% over the previous year.