Read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VIII, Part IX, and Part X of What People Really Care About When They're Mad About Immigration.
“We have terrorists coming through the southern border because they find that’s probably the easiest place to come through. They drive right in and they make a left.”
– Donald J. Trump[1]
“I remember the old man who said he had had a great many troubles in his life, but the worst of them never happened.”
– James A. Garfield[2]
Being asked to testify in front of Congress is a serious honor. When representatives and senators select you to answer their questions on the record after swearing that you’re telling the truth, you feel a great responsibility to deliver. The rule of thumb is to assiduously prepare research, submit thorough written testimony with clear statements supported by evidence, attempt to answer questions unemotionally and directly, and present the facts while defending your opinion. You want to treat the elected officials with respect and dignity since they represent millions of American voters, and you expect cordiality and professionalism in return.
That’s what you think beforehand. The experience is even more degrading and humiliating when you testify in front of Congress on immigration. Not humiliating or degrading for the person testifying, but for the politicians asking questions and the entire institution of Congress. From the witness’s perspective, the goal is to treat Congress with respect, but it’s hard because they rarely earn it. When I was asked to testify on the topic of “Terrorist Entry Through the Southwest Border” in September 2023, I knew I was walking into a fact-free hornets’ nest of nastiness and exaggeration bordering on dishonesty. “The title of this hearing is ‘Terrorist Entry Through the Southwest Border,’” is how I began my statement. I continued, “When I first heard that was the title, my reaction was ‘what terrorist entry through the southwest border?’” Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) was so flustered by my statements that he slipped Freudian style with the statement, “I am answering the questions,”[3] when he was grilling me. Then he proceeded to answer all his own questions. Congress isn’t sending its best, but some of them are good people, I assume.
Politicians tend to lump bad things together, like death and taxes. It’s no surprise then that they try to link illegal immigration and border chaos with terrorism. From late 2020 to late 2024, Border Patrol had over 7-and-a-half million encounters with illegal immigrants and asylum seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border.[4] That record-breaking number of encounters doesn’t necessarily mean a record-breaking number of illegal immigrants entered the United States. However, that was probably the case, because large shares of them were encountered more than once, apprehended by the government, sent back over the border, and then were encountered again as they tried the next day, but others escaped detection as so-called “gotaways.”
The border was more chaotic and out of control during the Biden administration than at any time in American history, regardless of the true number of illegal immigrants who crossed. At a very minimum, the public perception was that the border was more out of control than ever before, as nightly images of illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, Border Patrol agents on horseback running down people in the Rio Grande, and other videos of disorder filled the media. Fear of terrorism rose with chaos, and politicians couldn’t resist the temptation to link the two together. The elderly woman in Arizona who asked me what immigrants who cross the border illegally have to hide was thinking of all manner of harm, but I’d be willing to bet my citizenship that illegal immigrant terrorists were prominently on her mind.
I wouldn’t have written a chapter about illegal immigration and terrorism in a rational world because there’s almost nothing to write about, but we don’t live in a world where politicians and voters are rationally interested in reality. Near the end is a mathematical equation that will help explain why the terrorism danger along the border is so small, but it’s just for fun and helped keep my attention while writing the chapter. You don’t have to solve the problem with pencil and paper. I hope you enjoy this chapter more than I enjoyed writing it. Illegal immigrants are not sneaking across the border to blow you up in a terrorist attack.
Illegal Immigration and Terrorism
Stephen Miller was a senior policy advisor for Donald J. Trump at the White House during his first term. Since the end of the Trump administration, he’s spent much of his time tweeting about how illegal immigrant terrorists are here and ready to attack but haven’t done so yet . . . but they’ll definitely attack soon.[5] Elected officials join in the fearmongering, too. Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said, “If you look at the threats that we face, terrorists have crossed the southern border,” during a 2023 Republican presidential primary debate.[6] Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said that “President Joe Biden and the Democrats are effectively inviting terrorists into this country . . . and the Democrats are inviting in any terrorist who wants to murder Americans, effectively, to come across our southern border.”[7]
No foreign-born terrorist who entered illegally has carried out an attack. Ever. The biggest indication that terrorism could be a growing threat along the border is the 348 foreigners on the Terrorism Screen Dataset (the watchlist) who were apprehended by Border Patrol as they tried to illegally cross the US-Mexico border from April 2022 to November 2024.[8] The numbers have multiplied over the years. Border Patrol apprehended two watchlisted migrants in 2017, which grew to 169 in 2023 before falling to 103 in 2024.[9] On the surface, it sure looks like terrorists are taking advantage of border chaos. However, that surge in encounters of migrants on the terrorism watchlist was probably just a mirage caused by a large increase in illegal migrants colliding with a goofy terrorism watchlist that mostly contains non-terrorists.
These issues are all detailed in great depth in my Congressional testimony on September 14, 2023, where I explain the reasons why more hits on the terrorism screening watchlist don’t mean there are more terrorists.[10] The reasons are many and can be complex, but they’re important to understanding why migrants on terrorism watchlists are not synonymous with terrorists trying to enter the country.
First, the data quality in those watchlists is mediocre, and they include many false positives. A false positive is when a test says that something is true when it’s false, like a fire alarm blaring when there’s no fire. The terrorism watchlist version of this is when it says a specific illegal immigrant is on the watchlist when they aren’t. A recent example of this happened when the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) arrested an Iranian national named Alireza Heidari at a traffic stop in Val Verde County, Texas, in late 2022 or early 2023, when he was smuggled into the country.[11] DPS handed Heidari over to Border Patrol, who initially identified him as a match for somebody on the terrorism watchlist, with the media breathlessly reporting the analysis of a hysterical Twitter user that read, “Of course Joe Biden’s DHS didn’t catch this terrorist.”[12] DHS then looked at the data again and announced that Heidari was not a match for somebody on the watchlist and that the original identification was a false positive, meaning that they incorrectly identified him as on the watchlist.[13] The Fox News reporters dutifully corrected their earlier statements, but didn’t quote a liberal tweet that said, “Of course you were wrong, you imbeciles.” The more you read about terrorism and the border, the more you hear fire alarms blaring, but you never smell any smoke.
According to DHS, errors such as “[f]alse positives are an inevitable consequence of any screening program,” and have been known to exist in terrorism watchlists for decades.[14] Most government auditing of errors in the watchlists is primarily concerned with not including all possible terrorists, with much less attention paid to removing those who are not terrorists.[15] Suppose you were a government employee tasked with maintaining the government’s terrorist watchlists. What would get you in more trouble with your boss – including too many innocent people or not including a terrorist who ended up committing an attack on US soil? We all know the answer.
Another reason why you shouldn’t take government terrorism watchlists too seriously is that almost everyone included isn’t a terrorist. The Terrorism Screening Database (TSDS), for instance, includes known and suspected terrorists (KSTs) – a group of people less dangerous than it sounds. According to the FBI, a known terrorist is somebody the US government knows is a terrorist, a member of a terrorist organization, or convicted of a crime related to terrorism.[16] Meanwhile, a suspected terrorist is just what it sounds like – somebody who is reasonably suspected of being a terrorist or who has committed conduct related to terrorism.[17] Those two groups of people are lumped together into one watchlist based on flimsy evidence.
The inclusion of people in the TSDS who have undertaken actions that are related to terrorism leads to overinclusion. After all, “related to” is open-ended and causes vague talk of “ties” or “links” between people being mistaken for actual evidence of terrorism. Nobody talks of murderers having committed crimes “related to homicide” if we’re sure he’s a murderer. “Terrorism-related” or crimes “related to terrorism” are just a fudge phrase to signal terrorism, but don’t actually mean terrorism. It makes it easier for prosecutors, politicians, and scared voters who are looking for reasons to clutch their pearls.
The convictions of Nasser Abuali, Hussein Abuali, and Rabi Ahmed show how the government abuses the term “terrorism‐related.” An informant told the FBI that the trio attempted to purchase a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, but the FBI found no evidence supporting the accusation. They were instead convicted of receiving two truckloads of stolen cereal. The government classified their convictions as “terrorism‐related” despite the lack of an actual terrorist connection, terror threat, planned attack, conspiracy, any mention of terrorism by anybody arrested, or any tentative steps toward the execution of a terror attack, because the FBI began the investigation with a terrorism claim.[18]
The process of adding an individual to the TSDS inflates the numbers in a way that would be especially likely to show up in increased numbers of hits that turn out to be spurious. There is some vetting of people included in the watchlists against a so-called “reasonable suspicion,” but the government relaxes that standard for immigration enforcement purposes. You read that right, the government intentionally increased the number of false positives on the theory that it would help Border Patrol and Customs agents do their jobs.
Christopher Piehota ran one of the centers responsible for maintaining the watchlists at the FBI. He testified that individuals can be included in the watchlist he oversaw without a reasonable suspicion to help border screening.[19] In other words, the terrorism watchlist includes individuals who did not meet even the flimsy reasonable suspicion standard. As a result of these lax standards, 99 percent of people nominated to be on the terrorism watchlists are included.[20] How this helps border security is never explained.
The ties that supposedly bind those on the watchlists with terrorists are frequently imagined. South African Umar Farooq Ashraf was arrested by Texas DPS in September 2024 and flagged as on the watchlist.[21] His tie to terrorists was that he may be the spouse or child of a known or suspected terrorist. Ashraf isn’t the only one who could earn his 15 minutes of infamy by maybe being the spouse or child of somebody who probably isn’t a terrorist. He was deported a few months later.[22]
Many people on terrorism watchlists who have deeper connections than just ties aren’t even affiliated with foreign-terrorist organizations targeting the United States. Most of them are former Colombian insurgents fighting to spread communism and the less dangerous drug of cocaine.[23] These groups, like FARC, were serious threats in Colombia, but they have never been threats to the US homeland.
Border Patrol apprehended Isnardo Garcia-Amado in Arizona in early 2022 and released him into the country on April 18, 2022.[24] Days later, the government said he was on the watchlist. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rushed to arrest him just a few weeks later.[25] There is no indication that he intended to commit an attack or was involved in any terrorism whatsoever. He wasn’t even charged with any crimes related to terrorism.
There has never been a terrorist attack committed on US soil by those Colombian groups, there is no evidence that they have ever intended to target the US homeland, and no foreign-born person from Colombia has ever committed, planned, attempted, or been convicted of attempting to commit terrorism on US soil. But the terrorism watchlists and those who breathlessly report every new “hit” by an apprehended illegal immigrant don’t waste any time reporting those facts.
Not all illegal immigrants who show up on the watchlists are Colombian. Arif Tanhah, an Afghan, was arrested after crossing the border in California.[26] Another migrant from Pakistan was released accidentally for one day after showing up on the watchlist and then being rearrested.[27] Another named Jovokhir Attoev was living for two years in the US after being apprehended by Border Patrol, released, and then later identified as being on the terrorism watchlist.[28] There are a handful of other cases as well.[29] How dangerous were these people? Prosecutors have not filed terrorism charges against anyone who entered between a port-of-entry and who was flagged by the terrorism watchlist. That includes all the individual border crossers listed above. There have been no attacks committed or thwarted by an individual who was flagged by the terrorism watchlists and entered illegally.
Reporters exaggerate the risk whenever anything vaguely terroristy seems to happen. In June 2024, ICE arrested eight Tajik nationals who crossed the US-Mexico border illegally, claiming that they had suspected ties to ISIS. Those “ties’ are probably related to their use of a suspected human trafficker who may have had contact with ISIS at some point. According to the government, those eight Tajiks had no active terror plot, no nascent terror plot, and had made no moves to carry out an attack.[30] The government filed no terrorism charges against those individuals – it’s a big nothing. No doubt, these individuals should be apprehended or at least questioned, but it’s quite a leap to assume that they are terrorists. But that didn’t stop the media from jumping to conclusions.
In two tweets, Fox News reporter and former male model Bill Melugin went from saying the arrestees had “suspected ISIS ties” to saying they were “terror suspects” to writing that The New York Times was wrong to argue that no terrorists have illegally crossed the border in decades.[31] Notice how Bill effortlessly moves from declaring the arrestees had suspected ties to ISIS, which could mean almost any type of connection, but most probably through a human trafficker, to then stating they were suspects even though there is no terrorism case against them, to then using the arrests as evidence that terrorists have actually crossed the Southwest border illegally as easily as Bill crossed the runway in Milan.
That doesn’t mean a terrorist threat is entirely absent; it just means that it is small.
If the terrorist threat from illegal immigrants is so high, then the earlier cases of Asif Merchant and Naji Sharifi Zindashti are difficult to explain. As a quick recap, Merchant contracted with a US hitman who was an FBI informant before he entered the US and his entrance to the country was sponsored by the FBI so they could build a terrorism case against him.[32] Zindashti contracted with a Canadian member of a motorcycle gang living in Canada, who subcontracted with another Canadian living in Minnesota to kill two Iranian defectors in Maryland.[33] If terrorists have entered across the US-Mexico border and are just biding their time to commit an attack after receiving orders from abroad, why did Merchant and Zindashti have to hire hitmen who, in the latter’s case, weren’t even in the United States? It’s tempting to say that the Iranian government and its intelligence agencies are spectacularly incompetent, which could be true, but it’s more likely that there just aren’t any terrorists who have entered illegally.
In the real world, nine foreign-born terrorists have entered the United States illegally since 1975. Three convicted illegal immigrant terrorists crossed the US-Mexico border. They are Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka, and Shain Duka, and they entered illegally in 1984 when they were young children. They were arrested in 2007 while plotting to attack Fort Dix, New Jersey. “Plotting” is perhaps too strong a word because the Dukas were disorganized buffoons and petty criminals who didn’t even manage to graduate high school.
Their goofy plot was discovered when a video clerk viewed a VHS that the trio had asked him to convert into a DVD. The clerk alerted law enforcement when the video showed the three brothers shooting guns while shouting Jihadist slogans.[34] Of the other illegal immigrant terrorists, five illegally crossed the US-Canada border, and one was a stowaway on a ship. They did not kill or injure anyone in attacks. The Duka brothers’ plot was the most serious security threat in the same way that a hangnail is the most serious medical condition faced by a healthy person who has the habit of biting his fingernails.
Say Something, See Something
Since the Duka brothers accidentally showed a videotape of themselves cosplaying as terrorists, the closest thing to a terrorist attack committed by an illegal immigrant is when two Jordanian men were arrested for trespassing after attempting to drive onto a military base in Quantico, Virginia, in 2024.[35] One of the men entered as an illegal immigrant, and the other was a former foreign student who had since dropped out of school and begun working unlawfully. Terrorism analyst Todd Bensman describes the arrest as a “box truck ramming attack on Quantico Marine Corps Base.”[36]
No weapons, plans of an attack, motives, or statements about wanting to attack were found in the truck or on the two men. The driver did not even attempt to ram the gate to gain entry – he stopped when soldiers deployed the road barriers.[37] Bensman doesn’t explain how it can be a ramming attack when there was no ramming or attack. The driver had a delivery itinerary and other documents when he was checked, he had numerous Amazon packages for delivery, he worked for an Amazon subcontractor . . . his offense was not stopping right away in a turn-off lane and halting before the road barriers.[38]
The government initially thought that the driver was on the terror watchlist, but it turns out he wasn’t.[39] The Joint Terrorism Task Force determined that neither the driver nor his friend was a terrorism risk, an admission that the driver wasn’t on the watchlist.[40] The federal government dropped all charges against the men because prosecutors determined that there wasn’t even any trespassing.[41] There are only so many ways to say that there is nothing to this, but there’s nothing to this.[42]
A Fox News article about the Quantico trespassing case says, “The same truck, had it been loaded with explosives, could have been a devastating weapon if it made it close enough to an occupied building.”[43] Here’s a different way to write that sentence: “The same truck, had it been driven by terrorists, could have been a devastating weapon if it made it close enough to an occupied building.” But the truck wasn’t driven by terrorists, nor was it filled with explosives, so it was nothing. The drivers were in government detention on criminal trespassing charges and released on bond months later.[44] If there was any evidence that they were terrorists plotting an attack, they’d be in custody, awaiting trial, and facing long prison sentences.[45] The second Trump administration has since deported them.[46]
Bensman, the hysterical writer who called the arrest at Quantico a vehicle ramming attack, now works as a senior advisor for the Border Czar Tom Homan.[47] It’s the perfect job for Bensman, who honed his ability to lie and exaggerate when writing about terrorist attacks that never happened.[48]
The Quantico non-attack isn’t the first non-attack reported as such. There are several other terrorist attacks that were widely reported or believed to have happened, but they didn’t happen despite conservatives’ and nativist attempts to make you think otherwise. The border is so safe that security analysts must make up attacks to keep from falling asleep on the job from boredom. Bensman, the same terrorism analyst mentioned above who now works for the federal government, is a modern Chicken Little who wrote an entire book about how terrorists could cross the border illegally (it was a short book), and even proclaimed that the Quantico trespassing case was “the first terror attack by a border-crossing illegal alien.”[49] The border is so safe that Bensman and others like him have to rely on make-believe attacks to make their case.
Airports, train stations, and metro systems across the country have blared the now classic government anti-terrorism warning “see something, say something,” incessantly for decades. If you see something suspicious, it is your duty as a patriotic citizen to report it to the authorities to prevent another terrorist attack. The slogan should instead be “say something, see something,” as people rush to imagine threats that don’t exist – especially from illegal immigrants.
The Quantico “Attack” is not a repeat of 9/11 and will dim in our memories just like the Bowling Green massacre, the first such fictitious attack mentioned by Trump’s presidential counselor, Kellyanne Conway, in 2017.[50] Her statement was then spread far and wide by online media personalities like Sean Davis, CEO and co-founder of the online publication The Federalist, who didn’t bother to check the facts. The origin of that fictitious massacre was the arrest and conviction of two former Iraqi insurgents for their crimes in Iraq and their attempts to send money and weapons overseas to Al Qaeda in Iraq.[51] Mohanad Shareef Hammadi and Waad Ramadan Alwan should not have been let into the United States and allowed to settle in Bowling Green, but they were not planning attacks here. Suffice it to say, there was no massacre in Bowling Green, but it has now entered the lexicon and occasionally is mentioned as a terrorist attack by people who Google too quickly. One downside of internet publications like The Federalist is that you can’t even use it for toilet paper because it’s not in print.
After the Bowling Green Massacre didn’t happen, there was the Thanksgiving “Attack” of 2023. You don’t remember this one because it didn’t happen either, but how it unfolded is a fascinating case study of how hyperbole and panic can accelerate.
If you followed the news up until about 5 pm on November 22, 2023, you would have learned of a possible terrorist attack at a US port of entry between Canada and the United States. At about 11:30 am that day, as Americans were traveling for Thanksgiving, there was an explosion near the Rainbow Bridge crossing into the United States near Niagara Falls, New York.[52] A witness reported seeing “a huge plume of black smoke” over the port of entry just 150 feet from Niagara Falls State Park. Another witness described a loud “boom” from a restaurant near the bridge.[53] Customs and Border Protection immediately closed four border crossing points.[54] Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) were briefed by the FBI who rushed to investigate. The thought in everyone’s mind was “is this a terrorist attack?” But the thought just didn’t stay in their minds.
X (formerly Twitter) went wild with speculation, rumors, and blame. The extremely online then-GOP presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy assumed the explosion was a terrorist attack and dunked on Chris Christie for mocking Vivek’s earlier demands for a wall along the US-Canada border.[55] Bill Melugin initially tweeted out that, “High level local police forces” informed a colleague of his that the “explosion at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing in NY was an attempted terror attack w/ a vehicle full of explosives.”
Tweeters and reporters were grappling with the facts in real time. Some said the explosion happened on the Canadian side, others on the US side, then their stories changed over the course of a few hours, and sometimes even changed back. The New York Times set up a real-time update of developments at the top of their website and app, while the Fox News Channel was covering nothing else. My testimony from two months previously on the low risk of terrorists crossing the US-Mexico border resurfaced on X, with several tweeters asking me variations of, “How does it feel to be wrong?” and “Do you feel guilty for peddling lies?”
Around 5 pm on November 22nd, Governor Hochul gave a press conference where she stated, “Based on what we know at this moment, and again, anything can change, there is no sign of terrorist activity with respect to this crash.” Investigators found no sign of explosives or terrorism. The driver of the car was an American who frequented casinos in Canada and somehow lost control of his car, launching it through the air at such high speed that it exploded on impact. The video is like something from an action movie, but of a film like Cannonball Run rather than an episode of 24.[56]
Bill Melugin, who earlier tweeted that the explosion was an attempted terror attack, deleted and corrected his tweet. Then the news cycle ended, and the last New York Times post was at 7:16 pm that day.[57] Turns out getting facts right is harder than hitting a runway pivot.
One of the reasons why terrorism narratives spread like COVID-19 on a cruise ship is the chaos along the Southwest border. Republican politicians, pundits, and others have been warning about terrorists crossing the Southwest border for decades. Congress has held several hearings about it. I testified at one such hearing where the three other witnesses were hysterical. At the same time, I calmly explained that the risk is small and that zero attacks have been committed by terrorists who illegally entered the United States so far.[58] To be clear, a terrorist could cross the border, but it’s unlikely, and there is an even smaller chance that he’d commit an attack or kill anyone. Remember, most foreign-born terrorists who committed domestic attacks or who were convicted of planning attacks didn’t kill or injure anyone.
The Quantico “Attack,” Bowling Green Massacre, and Thanksgiving “Attack” were all grossly exaggerated cases of trespassing that prosecutors dropped, entirely fictional, or panicky responses to a car accident, respectively, but at least there was a core truth that something happened. Some guys really did drive up to Quantico, there were arrests in Bowling Green, and there was a bad car accident near the border a few days before Thanksgiving 2023.
However, the unexplainable and totally absurd bit of terrorism-immigration-related chicanery is the edited video with spooky music that supposedly shows a terrorist on the border saying, “Soon you’ll know who I am.”[59] This obviously fictitious video was posted on X on January 23, 2024, and spread like botulism at the buffet line when numerous ordinarily sane people independently sent it to me and asked about it.
It was originally posted by Sarah Fields, president of the conservative activist organization Texas Freedom Coalition, before being picked up by other Xeratis.[60] The video claims that the man supposedly threatening an attack with the words, “Soon you’ll know who I am,” was Movsum Samadov, head of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan. Of course, it wasn’t Samadov, and he gave an interview from Azerbaijan the next day.[61] Samadov was dumbfounded after seeing the video. “I just got acquainted with the video,” he said. “First of all, that person doesn’t look like me. When you compare, you will see that outwardly there is very little similarity, except for the glasses. Another important issue is that I am banned from leaving the country . . . The video is said to have been widely circulated in America. I don’t know why it spread.” Nobody, except maybe the head of the Texas Freedom Coalition knows, Sammy.
Social media users, terminally online journalists racing to be first to tweet, and partisan commentators are all too eager to pump up terrorist attacks that turn out to be nothing. There are massive rewards for being the first to report on a real news story like a terrorist attack, but almost no downsides to saying an attack happened before all the facts are in. The only downside is a momentarily embarrassing tweet like Melugin’s above – and Melugin is more responsible than almost everyone mentioned in this chapter. Representative John Carter (R-TX) said:
None of us are naïve enough to believe that there aren’t terrorist coming across that border with the intent of hurting us, and we are going to see an incident. You can mark my word. We are going to see an incident soon, and it is going to be from one of those terrorists who came across that border.[62]
When attacks don’t happen, few people say that’s evidence that the threat is small. They usually ignore the nonevent, argue that we’ve been lucky so far, or say that our luck is about to run out. Those who think the threat of foreign-born terrorism is exaggerated are called naïve, but those who make dire predictions that turn out again and again to be false are the standard bearers of naivete.
FBI director Christopher Wray has repeatedly warned Congress about the threat of foreign-born terrorists crossing the US-Mexico border. In March 2024, he told Congress, “We have had dangerous individuals entering the United States,” but couldn’t reveal details.[63] Wray’s statement launched a thousand op-eds portending doom, including a particularly hysterical piece by Graham Allison and Michael Morell – the former famous for frequently predicting a terrorist nuclear strike on the United States and the latter for once being the head of the CIA.[64] The source of Wray’s worry was revealed in June 2024 and turned out to be much less worrying.
A human smuggler who may have affiliations with ISIS apparently helped smuggle 50 illegal immigrants to the US-Mexico border from Central Asia. ICE was looking to arrest them for immigration charges, and there is no indication of a terrorist plot, nor have any charges been filed against those already arrested or deported.[65] Trump advisor Stephen Miller said, “Only a matter of time until they attack.”[66] There’s no evidence that ISIS was even involved! How could such a small threat cause Wray to exaggerate so much? It’s been years since then and nothing has happened. Don’t hold your breath waiting for Miller, Wray, Allison, or Morell to say they were wrong.
Reporters exaggerate for the clicks and readership. Politicians and bureaucrats also exaggerate because the public is unreasonably afraid and because there is no punishment for predicting devastation but their careers would end when they predict peace and the opposite happens. A poll found that 51 percent of Americans were afraid that they or a member of their family will become a victim of terrorism, which is only slightly more unreasonable than believing you’ll be abducted by a UFO.[67]
On one side, we have facts about the scale of foreign-born terrorism, how dangerous it’s been, and clear ways for people to think about the tradeoffs of extra security.[68] On the other side, we have threat inflation, hysterical speculation, conspiracy theories, edited videos with spooky music, and fictional terrorist attacks.[69] Bad public policy on the border, heightened voter concern about border chaos, and political candidates and politicians making outlandish claims can explain much of the November 22, 2023 freakout on X. Most of the rest can also be explained by reflexively thinking of 9/11 when anything vaguely looking like terrorism happens. The remainder can be explained by events in foreign countries.
Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis in a brutal attack that escalated the almost 80-year-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel’s problems with border security are vastly different than those faced by the United States on its border with Mexico, but those differences didn’t stop politicians like Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Republican presidential hopefuls like Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy from saying that something similar could happen here.[70] No, it can’t.[71]
Mexico isn’t Palestine and the US isn’t Israel. Israel’s borders with the Palestinians are essentially aspirational ceasefire lines from numerous wars and conflicts over the last several generations. Rockets, terrorists, warplanes, and soldiers frequently cross Israel’s borders, and the Israeli government retaliates with force.
By contrast, the US‐Mexico border is riven with arms smuggling (southward bound), drug smuggling (northward bound), illegal immigration (northward bound), and the violence that comes with all black-market activity (both ways). Governments on both sides of the border sometimes deploy troops to crack down on crime, but that’s about it. There aren’t numerous bomb shelters, frequent rocket attacks don’t blast American towns, and acts of terrorism or military incursions don’t punctuate a long-simmering insurgency. If the Israel-Palestinian border were as violent as the US-Mexico border, nobody outside of the Middle East would even know about that conflict. Hamas’ attack on Israel is not evidence that such an attack is likely to happen here.
The Illegal Alien Terrorist Equation
The observable universe is almost 13.8 billion years old and 93 billion light-years in diameter. It contains over 100 billion galaxies, each with millions or billions of stars and many trillions of planets. In 1950, Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi was hanging out with his buds and fellow geniuses Edward Teller, Herbert York, and Emil Konopinski discussing recent UFO sightings.[72] According to legend, Fermi asked, “but where is everybody?” Indeed, where are all the space aliens? The universe is old and vast, but Earth is the only planet with life that we know about. There should be life common and the aliens should be everywhere by now – even on Earth. It was a good question.
Frank Drake was an astrophysicist, radio astronomer, and astrobiologist who devoted much of his life to searching for alien messages in the cosmos. At the first scientific meeting on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence in 1961, Drake formulated an equation as a thought experiment to approximate how many alien civilizations there could be. It was not as a serious attempt to model the unknown, but just to get the scientists thinking about the possibilities and to spur others to devote more time to this question.
His famous Drake Equation is that the number of civilizations in the Milky Way that could potentially communicate with humans is equal to the average rate of star formation multiplied by the fraction of those stars that have planets multiplied by the average number of planets that can potentially support life multiple by the fraction of plants that could support life that where it actually evolves multiplied by the fraction that do on to develop intelligent life and civilizations multiplied by the fraction of civilizations that develop technology that release detectable signs of their existence into space time the length of time that they release those detectable signals.
The answers to the equation vary widely based on the numbers for the different variables, some of which are known, others of which are educated guesses, and others that are totally made up. Drake’s equation can be a helpful starting point to answer the question, “but where is everybody?”
Whether alien civilizations exist and can communicate with us is an important question, but I’m concerned with a more terrestrial worry: Where are all the illegal alien terrorists? We can start to answer that with the Illegal Alien Terrorist Equation. Just as the Drake equation is useful for thinking about alien civilizations that humans have never encountered, the Illegal Alien Terrorist Equation is useful for thinking about illegal immigrant terrorist attacks that also haven’t happened.
We can start our formulating with the population of foreigners worldwide, then multiply by the fraction who want to come to the US, multiplied by the fraction who can only come illegally, multiplied by the fraction who hate the United States, multiplied by the fraction who hate the US enough to become a terrorist, multiplied by the fraction who plan an attack, multiplied by the fraction who actually commit the attack, multiplied by the fraction who commit an attack that kills somebody. Using reasonable assumptions at each step informed by historical data, my equation gets a few illegal immigrant terrorists and zero committing attacks or killing anybody – exactly what we’ve experienced since 1975. You can include the effectiveness of counterterrorism efforts by discounting each of the variables above by the immense bravery and competence of those agencies, but I don’t recommend that exactly because the quantity of humor may be lethal.
However, you can change the values for each variable in the equation and get whatever answer you want. It’s the perfect equation for students who fear their math teacher’s red pen. Give it a try.
You can see how the answer to the equation differs across countries. The number of immigrants who want to go to Israel is significantly smaller, but every other variable is much higher. The share who want to go there under false pretenses because they hate Israel, want to attack it after thoroughly planning, and commit an attack that kills people is substantially higher. As the world or the United States changes, so should the variables in that equation.
Like the Drake Equation, the Illegal Alien Terrorist Equation is just a thought exercise, meant to make you think about what’s possible. However, mere possibility is not an argument for acting as if it has already occurred, is likely to occur in exactly the way you predict, or is certain to occur. After all, if the threat from illegal alien terrorists is so great, where are all the illegal alien terrorists?
Illegal Immigrants Are Not Coming to Kill You in a Terrorist Attack
The chance of terrorists crossing the US-Mexico border and carrying out an attack in the United States is greater than zero. It could happen, but any attack that could happen would be orders of magnitude less destructive than what recently happened in Israel on 10/7 or in the US on 9/11. It would not be the end of the world if a terrorist illegally crossed the border or entered the United States on another visa. It would obviously be a tragedy for the victims and their families. To them, illegal immigrant terrorism would be the only hazard that mattered, and the unlikelihood of such a crime occurring would not make them feel better – nor should it. They would rightly demand justice and vengeance against the terrorists, and they’d be entitled to both. However, public policy can’t pursue the goal of reducing the already small risk of terrorism to zero because doing so would be too expensive. Filling the Rio Grande with crocodiles, shooting every illegal immigrant, and blocking all foreign travel and immigration would impose far greater harm and end up killing many more people than would ever die at the hands of terrorists.[73]
If an illegal immigrant does commit an attack, many people will jump on my writings and claim I was wrong the entire time. However, I’ve never said it’s impossible for an illegal immigrant terrorist to strike the United States. On the contrary, I’ve done more work than any other scholar to identify illegal immigrant terrorists who have entered the country and how they have done so. I’m merely saying that the chance is small, that such an attack likely wouldn’t result in great damage, and that the focus on illegal immigrant terrorists is a distraction from other threats that aren’t as sexy as male models gliding down the runway in Milan. It would take a scale of terrorism never before witnessed to prove me wrong on those points.
The median terrorist plot killed zero people. If an illegal immigrant terrorist killed 13 people in an attack, it’d be a deadlier attack than those committed by 99 percent of all foreign-born terrorists and literally infinitely deadlier than all illegal immigrant terrorists before, combined. It would be a tragedy for the actual victims, but no more so than any of the other approximately 20,000 or so homicides committed every year in the United States. The government should continue to punish criminals and attempt to exclude would-be terrorists from the United States, but we should all take a deep breath and realize how safe we all are. If terrorists were really crossing the border to kill Americans, people wouldn’t create fake terrorist attacks on slow news days. There’d be real attacks. Illegal immigrant terrorists are not coming to blow you up.
Read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VIII, Part IX, and Part X of What People Really Care About When They’re Mad About Immigration.
[1] Associated Press, “AP Fact Check: Trump’s Myth of Terrorist Tide from Mexico,” Voice of America, January 27, 2019.
[2] Quoteresearch, “Quote Origin: I Am an Old Man and Have Known a Great Many Troubles, But Most of Them Never Happened,” Quote Investigator, October 4, 2013.
[3] US House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, “Hearing: Terrorist Entry Through the Southwest Border,” 118th Cong., 1st. sess., September 14, 2023.
[4] U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Southwest Land Border Encounters,” last modified August 12, 2025.
[5] Stephen Miller (@StephenM), “And just think: how many terrorists are among the millions of releases and got aways?,” X post, February 13, 2024, 11:29 a.m.
[6] Elias Atienza, “Fact Check: Have Terrorists Crossed the Southern Border?,” CheckYourFact, November 10, 2023.
[7] FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, “Texas Sen. Ted Cruz: Joe Biden Is ‘inviting terrorists’ to cross the border,” YouTube Video, April 28, 2024, 2:05.
[8]Alex Nowrasteh, “Terrorism and Immigration: 50 Years of Foreign-Born Terrorism on US Soil, 1975–2024,” Cato Institute Policy Analysis no. 991, March 10, 2025.
[9] “CBP Enforcement Statistics,” US Customs and Border Protection, last modified August 20, 2025.
[10] Hearing on Terrorist Entry Through the Southwest Border, Before the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, Committee on the Judiciary, 118th Cong. 1st. sess. (2023) (statement of Alex Nowrasteh, Vice President for Economic and Social Policy, Cato Institute).
[11] Luke Gentile, “Iranian immigrant on terror watchlist detained near southern border: Report,” The Washington Examiner, February 1, 2023.
[12] Luke Gentile, “Iranian immigrant on terror watchlist detained near southern border: Report,” The Washington Examiner, February 1, 2023; Joe Gooding (@joegooding), “Of course Joe Biden’s DHS didn’t catch this terrorist,” X post, February 1, 2023, 10:26 a.m.
[13] Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin, “Iranian Illegal Immigrant Caught at Border Not on Terror Watchlist after Further Vetting: DHS Official,” Fox News, February 1, 2023, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/iranian-illegal-immigrant-terror-watch-list-caught-southern-border-sources.
[14] Paul Rosenzweig, “Report: The Use of Commercial Data to Reduce False Positives in Screening Programs,” Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, Department of Homeland Security, September 28, 2005.
[15] “Review of the Terrorist Screening Center,” U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, June 2005; “Follow-Up Audit of the Terrorist Screening Center,” U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, September 2007; “Audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Management of Terrorist Watchlist Nominations,” U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, March 2014.
[16] “Terrorist Screening Center: Frequently Asked Questions,” U.S Department of Justice, April 11, 2016.
[17] “Terrorist Screening Center: Frequently Asked Questions,” U.S Department of Justice, April 11, 2016.
[18] Alex Nowrasteh, “Terrorism and Immigration: A Risk Analysis, 1975–2022,” Cato Institute Policy Analysis no. 958, August 22, 2023.
[19] Hearing on Safeguarding Privacy and Civil Liberties While Keeping Our Skies Safe, Before the Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Transportation Security, 113th Cong., 2nd sess. (September 18, 2014) (statement of Christopher M. Piehota, Director, Terrorist Screening Center, Federal Bureau of Investigations, US Department of Justice)
[20] See page 7: Jerome P. Bjelopera, Bart Elias, and Alison Siskin, “The Terrorist Screening Database and Preventing Terrorist Travel,” Congressional Research Service, November 7, 2016.
[21] Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez), “Texas DPS Troopers Arrested 15 Illegal Immigrants for Criminal Trespass in Normandy, with One Individual, Umar Farooq Ashraf from South Africa, Flagged by the Terror Screening Center as Potentially Related to a Known or Suspected Terrorist,” X post, September 21, 2024, 12:42 p.m.
[22] Jennier Taer, “‘Real deal’ illegal migrant terrosuspect released at border by Biden admin is caught in NYC, ordered deported,” The New York Post, February 28, 2025.
[23] “Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” U.S. Department of State Bureau of Counterterrorism.
[24] Bill Melugin and Adam Sabes, “Border Patrol released suspected terrorist who crossed into U.S. illegally, ICE took weeks to rearrest him,” Fox News, May 23, 2023; Anders Hagstrom and Bill Melugin, “Border agents confirm 1.2 million ‘gotaway’ migrants under Biden administration,” Fox News, January 22, 2023.
[25] “CBP Released a Migrant on a Terrorist Watchlist, and ICE Faced Information Sharing Challenges Planning and Conducting the Arrest (REDACTED),” Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General, June 28, 2023.
[26] Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer), “EXCLUSIVE: Feds Nab Afghan Illegal Immigrant On Terror Watchlist Deemed A ‘Known Associate’,” X post, February 13, 2024, 9:27 a.m.
[27] Jennie Taer, “EXCLUSIVE: Pakistani Illegal Immigrant On Terror Watchlist Given Free Day Of Release In US,” Daily Caller, February 9, 2024.
[28] Julia Ainsley, “Migrant with alleged ISIS ties was living in the U.S. for more than two years, officials say,” NBC News, May 1, 2024.
[29] Todd Bensman, “Terrorists Welcome,” The American Mind, April 22, 2024.
[30] Andres Triay, Robert Legare, Nicole Sganga, Pat Milton and Camilo Montoya-Galvez, “ICE arrests 8 with suspected ISIS ties,” CBS News, June 11, 2024.
[31] Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_), “The New York Times Has Not Reported on the ICE and FBI Arrests of Eight Tajik Nationals with Suspected ISIS Ties Who Crossed the Southern Border, despite Coverage from Major TV Networks and Some of the Arrests Occurring in New York,” X post, June 12, 2024, 12:34 p.m.
[32] Louis Casiano, Bill Melugin and David Spunt, “Pakistani man accused of plotting political assassination admitted into US via immigration parole: sources,” Fox News, August 7, 2024.
[33] Robert Legare, “Justice Dept indicts 3 in international murder-for-hire plot targeting Iranian dissident living in Maryland,” CBS News, January 29, 2024; “United States v. Naji Sharifi Zindashti, Damion Patrick John Ryan, and Adam Richard Pearson,” Indictment, United States District Court, District of Minnesota, filed December 13, 2023.
[34] John Mueller, ed., Terrorism Since 9/11: The American Cases (Columbus, OH: Mershon Center, Ohio State University; Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2020), p. 360.
[35] Todd Bensman, “Jordanians in Quantico Truck-Ramming Finally Identified,” Center for Immigration Studies, July 31, 2024.
[36] Todd Bensman, “Jordanians in Quantico Truck-Ramming Finally Identified,” Center for Immigration Studies, July 31, 2024.
[37] Michael Ruiz, “Former Quantico staffer warns of terror attack ‘dry run’ after Jordanian nationals tried to breach base,” Fox News, May 24, 2024; Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick), “Bensman’s Attempt to Portray the Arrest of Amazon Flex Subcontractors as a “Terrorist Truck Ramming Attack” Is Undermined by the Incident Reports He References, Which Clearly State that No Ramming Occurred,” X post, June 26, 2024, 11:29 a.m.
[38] Jennie Taer, “Illegal Jordanian migrants who ‘tried to breach’ Quantico base allowed to walk free after posting bail,” New York Post, August 1, 2024; police incident report; Stephen Dinan, “Jordanian who tried to enter Quantico Marine base was on terror watchlist, incident report says,” The Washington Times, August 7, 2024; “Serious Incident Report: Unauthorized Access at Marine Corps Base Quantico,” Judicial Watch, May 3, 2024.
[39] Corruption Chronicles, “Jordanian Illegal Alien who Tried to Breach Military Base Released Despite Being on Terror Watchlist,” Judicial Watch, August 5, 2024; “Serious Incident Report: Unauthorized Access at Marine Corps Base Quantico,” Judicial Watch, May 3, 2024; Stephen Dinan, “Jordanian who tried to enter Quantico Marine base was on terror watchlist, incident report says,” The Washington Times, August 7, 2024.
[40] Stephen Dinan, “Jordanian who tried to enter Quantico Marine base was on terror watchlist, incident report says,” The Washington Times, August 7, 2024.
[41] Stephen Dinan, “Feds dismiss charges against Jordanians who trespassed on military base,” The Washington Times, November 15, 2024.
[42] Stephen Dinan, “Jordanian who tried to enter Quantico Marine base was on terror watchlist, incident report says,” The Washington Times, August 7, 2024.
[43] Michael Ruiz, “Former Quantico staffer warns of terror attack ‘dry run’ after Jordanian nationals tried to breach base,” Fox News, May 24, 2024.
[44] Todd Bensman, “Jordanians in Quantico Truck-Ramming Finally Identified,” Center for Immigration Studies, July 31, 2024.
[45] Michael Lee, “Biden border chief must answer after Jordanian nationals nearly breach Quantico: senators,”FOX News, May 23, 2024.
[46] Michael Ruiz, “Jordanian Quantico breach suspect freed under Biden arrested again by ICE: report,” FOX News, March 4, 2025.
[47] Matt Seldon, “Todd Bensman Named Senior Advisor to “Border Czar” Tom Homan,” Homeland Security Today.US, June 3, 2025.
[48]Alex Nowrasteh, “Book Review: A Clear and Present Lack of Danger,” Cato Institute, September 10, 2021.
[49]Alex Nowrasteh, “Book Review: A Clear and Present Lack of Danger,” Cato Institute, September 10, 2021; Todd Bensman, “Calling It: America Just Suffered the First Terror Attack by a Border-Crossing Illegal Alien,” Center for Immigration Studies, May 28, 2024.
[50] Samantha Schmidt and Lindsey Bever, “Kellyanne Conway cites ‘Bowling Green massacre’ that never happened to defend travel ban,” The Washington Post, February 3, 2017.
[51] U.S. Department of Justice, “Former Iraqi Terrorists Living in Kentucky Sentenced for Terrorist Activities,” January 29, 2013.
[52] Associated Press, “Fiery Crash Kills 2 at Niagara Falls’ Rainbow Border Bridge. Officials Say No Sign of Terrorism,” U.S. News & World Report, November 22, 2023.
[53] Associated Press, “Fiery Crash Kills 2 at Niagara Falls’ Rainbow Border Bridge. Officials Say No Sign of Terrorism,” U.S. News & World Report, November 22, 2023.
[54] Kayla Jimenez and Kayla Canne, “Explosion at the Canada border: Officials say no sign of terrorism in blast that killed 2,” USA Today, November 22, 2023.
[55] Bernd Debusmann Jr., “Vivek Ramaswamy idea for US-Canada border wall labelled ‘extreme’,” BBC News, November 9, 2023.
[56] Ang Li, “Rainbow Bridge Explosion: No Sign of Terrorism in Vehicle Explosion at U.S.-Canada Bridge, Hochul Says,” The New York Times, November 23, 2023.
[57]Ang Li, “Rainbow Bridge Explosion: No Sign of Terrorism in Vehicle Explosion at U.S.-Canada Bridge, Hochul Says,” The New York Times, November 23, 2023.
[58] Hearing on Terrorist Entry Through the Southwest Border, Before the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, Comittee on the Judiciary, 118th Cong., 1st. sess. (2023) (statement of Alex Nowrasteh, Vice President for Economic and Social Policy, Cato Institute); Hearing on Terrorist Entry Through the Southwest Border, Before the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, Committee on the Judiciary, 118th Cong. 1st. sess. (2023) (statement of Alex Nowrasteh, Vice President for Economic and Social Policy, Cato Institute); Alex Nowrasteh, “My Recent Congressional Testimony,” Laissez-Faire, Laissez-Passer w/ Alex Nowrasteh & David Bier (blog), September 16, 2023.
[59] Angry Frog™ (@angrifrog), “The ‘Alleged’ Terrorist Warning Americans ‘Soon You’ll Know Who I Am’ Appears to Be Movsum Samadov, a Muslim Who Was Released in January 2023 after Serving 12 Years for Being a Terrorist. Will the Democrats Voters Ever Wake up to the Invasion at the Southern Border?,” X post, January 23, 2024, 11:53 a.m.
[60] Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored), “Movsum Samadov, Former Azerbaijani Islamic Party Chairman, Reportedly Warned Americans before His Release in January 2023. Convicted in 2011 for Arms Trafficking, Conspiracy, Treason, and Sedition, He Served 12 Years for Attempting to Overthrow the Government,” X post, January 23, 2024, 2:29 p.m.; Angry Frog™ (@angrifrog), “The ‘Alleged’ Terrorist Warning Americans ‘Soon You’ll Know Who I Am’ Appears to Be Movsum Samadov, a Muslim Who Was Released in January 2023 after Serving 12 Years for Being a Terrorist. Will the Democrats Voters Ever Wake up to the Invasion at the Southern Border?,” X post, January 23, 2024, 11:53 a.m.
[61] Freedom Radio, “Mövsüm Səmədov: ‘Həbs etmək istəyirlərsə, yaraşacaq ittiham qoyulsun’,” AzadliqRadiosu, January 24, 2024.
[62] “A Threat to Every Community: Assessing the Safety, Health, and Economic Consequences of President Biden’s Border Policies,” U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Energy and Commerce, January 17, 2024.
[63] Luke Barr, “FBI director warns of ‘dangerous individuals’ coming across southern border,” ABC News, March 11, 2024.
[64] Graham Allison and Michael J. Morell, “The Terrorism Warning Lights Are Blinking Red Again,” Foreign Affairs, June 10, 2024.
[65] Isabel Keane, “Feds ID 400 migrants smuggled into US by ISIS-affiliated network —with the whereabouts of 50 unknown,” New York Post, June 26, 2024.
[66] Stephen Miller (@StephenM), “Biden let isis terrorists into America. Now, no one can find them. Only a matter of time until they attack — unless Trump is elected to launch mass deportations,” X post, June 26, 2024, 11:35 a.m.
[67] Robert P. Jones et al., “How Immigration and Concerns about Cultural Change are Shaping the 2016 Election | Findings from the 2016 PRRI/Brookings Survey,” PRRI | Brookings, June 23, 2016.
[68] Alex Nowrasteh, “Terrorism and Immigration: A Risk Analysis, 1975–2022,” Cato Institute Policy Analysis no. 958, August 22, 2023.
[69] Hearing on Terrorist Entry Through the Southwest Border, Before the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, Comittee on the Judiciary, 118th Cong. 1st. sess. (2023) (statement of Rodney S. Scott, Senior Distinguished Fellow, Border Security and Immigration, Texas Public Policy Foundation; Retired Chief, U.S. Border Patrol); Hearing on Terrorist Entry Through the Southwest Border, Before the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, Comittee on the Judiciary, 118th Cong. 1st. sess. (2023) (statement of Charles Marino, Former Senior Law Enforcement Advisor, U.S. Department of Homeland Security); Hearing on Terrorist Entry Through the Southwest Border, Before the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, Comittee on the Judiciary, 118th Cong. 1st. sess. (2023) (testimony of Todd Bensman, Senior Fellow, Center for Immigration Studies; Former Manager, Counterterrorism Intelligence, Texas Department of Public Safety Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division); Hearing on Terrorist Entry Through the Southwest Border, Before the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, Comittee on the Judiciary, 118th Cong. 1st. sess. (2023) (testimony of Ammon Blair, Senior Fellow, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Secure & Sovereign Texas Initiative); Angry Frog™ (@angrifrog), “The ‘Alleged’ Terrorist Warning Americans ‘Soon You’ll Know Who I Am’ Appears to Be Movsum Samadov, a Muslim Who Was Released in January 2023 after Serving 12 Years for Being a Terrorist. Will the Democrats Voters Ever Wake up to the Invasion at the Southern Border?,” X post, January 23, 2024, 11:53 a.m.
[70] Kelly Garrity, “Nikki Haley: Attack on Israel should be wake-up call for America,” Politico, October 8, 2023; Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis), “A Recent Attack on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas Terrorists Left over 800 Israelis Dead, Including at Least Nine American Citizens. The Brutality Targeted Civilians, and Critics Argue the Attack Was Emboldened by Biden’s Policies toward Iran. We Call for Decisive Support for Israel, Halting U.S. Funds to Iran and Hamas, and Strengthening American Borders to Protect against Similar Threats,” X post, October 9, 2023, 12:53 p.m.; NewsNation, “At US-Mexico border, Ramaswamy says ‘We’re looking abroad without protecting US’ | The Hill,” YouTube video, October 13, 2023; Stephen Dinan, “Hamas attack puts new attention on terrorism at U.S. border,” The Washington Times, October 9, 2023.
[71] Alex Nowrasteh, “Don’t Conflate US and Israeli Border Security Challenges,” Cato at Liberty (blog), October 18, 2023.
[72] Garrett M. Graff, UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government’s Search for Alien Life Here—And Out There (Avid Reader Press - Simon & Schuster, 2023).
[73] Alex Nowrasteh, “A Foreign-Born Terrorist Could Cross the Southwest Border,” Laissez-Faire, Laissez-Passer w/ Alex Nowrasteh & David Bier (blog), July 9, 2024.