Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Thursday the problem with a lack of enforcement on the U.S. southern border, especially given the expiration of the pandemic-era Title 42 policy, is there is no way to tell who is coming into the country and where they are coming from, including those who might be on the U.S. terrorist watch list.
"We do know we're seeing a lot of people coming in from outside this hemisphere," McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren." "We do know there are hundreds that were on the terrorist watchlist. That's a concern."
McCaul said the threat of terrorists crossing the border is a reason why the House passed the Secure the Border Act of 2023 on Thursday, which among other things requires the Biden administration to restart construction of the border wall, increase the number of Border Patrol agents and provide bonus pay, end the catch-and-release program, and strengthen and streamline the asylum process.
"When you have such a wide-open situation like this, I just worry about what's coming in that we don't know about," McCaul said. "There's enough fentanyl coming in to kill 100,000 of our young people just this last year; that's more than Vietnam over two decades.
"I go back again to day one, this president rescinded what was working. The migrant protection protocols, remain-in-Mexico [policy] — and that ended catch and release. I introduced that bill — believe or not — 20 years ago.
"That's my very first bill in Congress to end catch and release, and the Biden administration brought it back. But you know, in the House, we ended that today by our vote. And I hope the Senate will pick it up."
McCaul said immigration authorities have the use of biometrics data, which was put in place when he led the House Homeland Security Committee from 2013 to 2019, to keep track of those crossing at the border.
"I hope [immigration officials are] using it because you know these individuals come in from foreign countries, even outside the hemisphere, and there's no way to know who they are unless you get biometric identification on them because they often change their names or travel documents," McCaul said.
"It's only through these biometrics that we know the person is who they say they are."
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