Hyde-Smith cosponsors bill to stop terrorist suspects from being paroled into the U.S.
Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, July 31, 2024
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), of Brookhaven, is an original cosponsor of legislation to combat the bad effects of President Biden’s unauthorized upending of the migrant parole system by stopping the release of known or suspected terrorists in American communities.
The Safeguarding Americans From Extremist Risk (SAFER) at the Border Act (S.4818) would prohibit the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from paroling migrants who are designated as Known and Suspected Terrorists or Special Interest Aliens. Under President Biden, more than a million illegal migrants, some of whom have been later arrested for potential ties to terrorist organizations, have been paroled into the country.
“Criticism of the Biden administration’s failed open border policies are not political talking points. There are real threats to the American people as we learn of more illegal immigrants with terrorist links paroled in the country. It’s a national security risk that must be addressed,” said Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. “The SAFER at the Border Act is a logical step to stop Biden’s reckless and dangerous migrant parole policies.”
The seriousness of the national security threat posed by President Biden border crisis is underscored by the recent arrest of eight Tajikistan nationals with suspected ties to ISIS, who entered the country through the border, and reports of more than 400 migrants brought to the United States by an ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network.
The SAFER at the Border Act, introduced by U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.), would:
- Prohibit DHS from paroling into the United States any alien who is a refugee or who has been designated a Known and Suspected Terrorist (KST)/Special Interest Alien (SIA). An SIA is a non-citizen who, based on an analysis of travel patterns and other available information, potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests.
- Give States standing in federal court to sue DHS if the state or its residents are harmed because of DHS failure to enforce the parole prohibition.
S.4818 is endorsed by the Immigration Accountability Project (IAP), the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Heritage Action, and NumbersUSA.
Hyde-Smith has supported several measures to fight unlawful parole programs that President Biden’s DHS established without Congress’ consent to allow more migrants with weak or non-existent asylum claims to enter the United States, including a bill to force the administration to accurately report its handling of migrants encountered at the border.