255 Illegals From Countries That ‘Promote, Produce, or Protect’ Terrorists Apprehended Along U.S.-Mexico Border

June 20th 2012 · 12 Comments

(CNSNews.com)– There were 255 illegal aliens from countries such as Pakistan and Iran that have been officially linked to terrorism by the U.S. government apprehended along the southwest border by Border Patrol in fiscal 2011, data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) show.

(AP Photo)

In fiscal 2011 (Oct. 1, 2010 thru Sept. 30, 2011), the Border Patrol — under the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) component of the DHS — arrested a total of 327,577 illegal aliens along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Among those arrested, 46,997 were “Other than Mexican” (OTM), including the 255 who originated from what DHS referred to as “special interest countries,” the data showed.

CNSNews.com obtained from Customs and Border Protection a country-by-country breakdown of the nations of origin for the 327,577 total apprehensions along the southwest border, including the 46,997 OTMs.

In May 2011, the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security published a list of “specially designated countries,” defined as those “that have shown a tendency to promote, produce, or protect terrorist organizations or their members.” The IG report included an appendix listing 34 nations, plus the West Bank and Gaza, that DHS considers “specially designated countries.”

(The list of “specially designated countries” appended to the DHS IG report initially included Israel. However, after Israel’s presence on this list was reported by CNSNews, the DHS removed it and said it had been included by mistake, reducing the number of countries on the list from 35 to 34.)

In fiscal 2011, 255 nationals who came from 30 of the 34 specially designated countries were among those caught along the U.S.-Mexico border. These included:

Afghanistan: 1

Algeria: 1

Bahrain 1

Bangladesh: 76

Egypt: 5

Eritrea: 22

Indonesia: 1

Iran: 20

Iraq: 2

Jordan: 4

Kazakhstan: 2

Kuwait: 1

Lebanon: 3

Malaysia: 1

Mauritania: 1

Morocco: 2

Pakistan: 36

Philippines: 41

Saudi Arabia: 3

Somalia: 5

Sudan: 2

Syria: 3

Tajikistan: 2

Thailand: 6

Tunisia: 4

Turkey: 5

Turkmenistan: 1

United Arab Emirates: 1

Uzbekistan: 2

Yemen: 1

The bulk (about 76 percent) of the 255 aliens from terrorism-linked countries apprehended along the southwest border came from Bangladesh (76), Philippines (41), Pakistan (36), Eritrea (22), and Iran (20).

A version of this column originally appeared in cnsnews.com.