Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is demanding the Biden administration explain why it hasn't disclosed the nationality of individuals on the FBI's terror watchlist who illegally crossed the U.S. southern border.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas dated Thursday, Cotton questioned the justification of protecting the "personal privacy" of suspected illegal immigrant terrorists and suggested the decision to withhold information is a politically motivated attempt to hide evidence of the border crisis.
"I suspect that the real reason you're unlawfully withholding this information about terror suspects' nationalities isn't due to privacy or security concerns, but rather partisan concerns that it would alarm the American people," Cotton, who serves on the Senate Judiciary and Armed Services committees, wrote. "Once again, you're attempting to hide evidence of the Biden-Harris administration's border crisis."
Cotton wrote that in October 2023, Fox News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Homeland Security seeking disclosure of the nationalities of FBI terror watchlist suspects who unlawfully crossed the southern border.
Cotton wrote that the DHS denied the request by stating it is "committed to protecting the identity of individuals" on the watchlist and that the request was an "invasion of personal privacy." Cotton wrote that the DHS asserted the "'privacy interests' of illegal-alien terrorists 'far outweigh whatever public interest, if any, exists in having their information released.'
"But the American people have a right to know who is crossing our border, especially when those illegal aliens have ties to terrorism," Cotton wrote. "And that right, contrary to your bizarre assertion, 'far outweighs' the privacy rights of illegal aliens suspected of terrorism. Honestly, I can't believe I even have to write that sentence."
Cotton requested that Mayorkas provide him with the information sought in the FOIA request no later than Sept. 13.
An Aug. 5 interim staff report from the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement revealed that of the more than 250 illegal immigrants on the terrorist watchlist who were encountered at the southern border between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, DHS released at least 99 into the U.S., with at least 34 others in DHS custody but not yet removed from the country.
Newsmax reached out to DHS for comment.