U.S. Border Patrol Florida Sen. Marco Rubio on Monday slammed President Joe Biden for putting Americans at risk of terror attacks by ISIS affilia
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio on Monday slammed President Joe Biden for putting Americans at risk of terror attacks by ISIS affiliates through his porous border policies.
The Florida Republican published an opinion article for Fox News in which he ripped Biden for giving an ISIS offshoot “clear access” to the American homeland.
Rubio was discussing ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, a “descendant” of the ISIS terror network.
In 2014, former President Barack Obama infamously called ISIS the “JV team.”
Read: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio Slams Biden For Making The American Dream Out Of Reach For Most
The terror group went on to kill 130 people in Paris the following year and inspire the murders of 14 more in San Bernardino, California, in 2015 and the slaughter of 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016.
The group also made large territorial gains in Iraq and Syria until being subdued by former President Donald Trump.
ISIS-K is extending its violent reach around the world, Rubio argued, adding that “In the face of this danger, the U.S. government should be working day and night to uphold our national security. Instead, President Biden’s illegal immigration policies are giving ISIS-K clear access to the homeland, raising the threat of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.”
He pointed out recent media reports about ISIS-K operatives crossing the southern border – such as an illegal Uzbek immigrant, Jovokhir Attoev, who was captured by Customs and Border Patrol in February 2022.
Read: Idaho Teen Arrested For Attempting To Attack Churches For ISIS: FBI
Following Biden’s protocols, CBP subsequently released Attoev into the country. Yet a year ago, the Uzbek government announced Attoev was wanted for his ties to ISIS-K.
The Biden administration finally recaptured him last month after spending two years “under the radar inside the United States,” Rubio noted.
The senator then spotlighted an illegal Afghan immigrant, Mohammad Kharwin, a suspected member of Hezb-e-Islami, a terrorist group that has killed American military personnel.
Kharwin crossed the border illegally in March 2023 because U.S. officials couldn’t verify his identity.
“So once again, they let a single, military-aged male who had traveled thousands of miles through multiple countries roam the homeland freely,” Rubio noted. “It took 13 months for law enforcement to confirm his presence on the FBI’s watch list and arrest him.”
“These examples are disturbing enough, but they are just a drop in the bucket compared to the threat posed by terrorists who have entered the United States and remain undetected,” Rubio noted.
Read: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio Says He’s On Board With Trump’s Plan To Stop The Border “Invasion”
Since Biden took office, federal authorities have recorded more than 9 million encounters with people who have entered the United States illegally — almost all of whom have been released without any knowledge of who they are.
More than 6,000 of these illegals are native to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, or Uzbekistan — all of which are ISIS-K recruiting groups, said Rubio.
“There is no telling exactly how many affiliates of ISIS-K or other terror groups are now living among us,” he added. “Things look even grimmer when you consider the public reporting that foreign smugglers with ISIS ties have facilitated illegal immigration at the southern border. In short, our soft underbelly is ripe for exploitation by fanatical killers.”
Rubio argued the answer is simple: secure the border and enforce America’s immigration laws.
“Yet, aside from dropping idle hints about executive orders, Biden has done nothing to reverse the open-border policies he campaigned on and spent the last three years enacting,” Rubio continued. “This is unacceptable and places American lives in jeopardy.”
“ISIS-K is no longer a distant threat hiding in the Middle East. It may already be here, just waiting for the right moment to inflict mass destruction,” said Rubio, noting that this is the same terrorist group that murdered 13 U.S. troops during Biden’s hasty and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The senator pointed out that this is also the same group that the intelligence community asserts is planning chemical, biological, and radioactive attacks on Western targets, in addition to the usual suicide bombings and mass shootings.
“Meanwhile, Biden continues to facilitate the largest, least secure migration event in modern U.S. history,” Rubio concluded.
“We’re playing right into the hands of terrorists who seek our destruction. I hope and pray I’m wrong, but I fear that under this administration’s policies, we are sitting ducks. The time for change is now.”
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