News/Commentary

Illegal alien on terror watch list apprehended in Eagle Pass days before Trump’s visit: report

March 5, 2024 | | Print Article

Ahead of dueling presidential visits to the U.S.-Mexico border, multiple arrests confirmed the real and present threat of a terrorist attack on American soil.

As leftists who once pushed for sanctuary cities try to shift the blame for the open border crisis on Republicans, the extent of President Joe Biden’s failing on national security has only increased.

Following a report that the administration had orchestrated flights for more than 320,000 illegal aliens to enter the country to temper the figures at the border, a memo from U.S. Border Patrol confirmed a man on the terror watchlist had been arrested in near Eagle Pass, Texas the week before former President Donald Trump’s visit.

According to a Border Patrol memo, Colombian national Carlos Obed Yepez-Bedoya was apprehended on Feb. 21. The partially redacted document showed the man listed as a “Category 5 (Group Member)” and that the FBI and Del Ria Tactical Terrorism Response Team (DRT-TTRT) had been notified of the arrest.

Speaking with the New York Post, Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez confirmed his agency made the original arrest as he spoke to the broader implications.

“This underscores the need for border security measures as potential threats to both public safety and national security are evident and exploit security vulnerabilities,” he told the newspaper. “The federal government has failed to enact border security measures, and the state of Texas, through Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, will continue to take unprecedented action to help secure the border.”

Less than a week earlier in El Paso, Texas, the FBI had arrested Michelle Angelica Pineda Valdez, known as La Chely, who was wanted for five murders and was accused of “extreme brutality” that including dismemberment and the display of removed hearts in front of Santa Muerta statues.

In the first four months of fiscal year 2024, Border Patrol had confirmed 59 arrests of individuals on the terror watchlist from both the northern and southern border combined. The numbers continued a rising trend that had seen 172 terror watchlist arrests in FY 2023 compared to only 98 in FY 2022. Throughout FY 2017-2020 while Trump was president, only 14 encounters were said to have occurred in total.

Meanwhile, after Trump had offered a dire prediction that a terror attack was inevitable, the Center for Immigration Studies reported that the Biden administration had flown 320,000 foreign nationals into the country using the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) One app to arrange the travel.

“This administration is both importing voters and creating a national security threat from unvetted illegal immigrants,” wrote billionaire Elon Musk in reaction. “It is highly probable that the groundwork is being laid for something far worse than 9/11. Just a matter of time.”

At the same time, the White House has pushed back on the Lone Star State’s effort to defend national sovereignty, appealing a law that would Texas law enforcement officials to arrest aliens who illegally entered the country, giving them the choice of leaving the country or prison.

As Olivarez put it, “This historic law would undeniably deter and prevent the entry of illegal immigrants with violent criminal histories and those on the terror screening database. Texas will continue to use every tool and strategy to safeguard Texas and the nation.”

Kevin Haggerty
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