42 migrants on terror watch list apprehended at southern border
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas., on Biden's open-border policies causing a national security threat.
Rep. Chip Roy torched Biden administration officials Thursday for sending the message to the American people that they "shouldn't care what is happening at the southern border."
The Texas Republican joined "Fox & Friends" after CBP data showed 42 migrants were apprehended at the southern border under the Biden administration. Roy said that he reached out to DHS last summer for information on who was crossing the border.
"We sent a letter to DHS last August, so it took eight months and my office finally got a response back eight months later for the detailed questions we had asked. One of which they answered, indicating that there were 42 individuals arrested with known ties to terrorists and had been there on the terror watch list," said Roy.
BORDER AGENTS IN TEXAS FIND UNACCOMPANIED TODDLER ABANDONED NEAR US-MEXICO BORDER
The Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) contains information about the identities of those who are known or "reasonably suspected" of being involved in terrorist activities. Republican lawmakers have repeatedly called for the number of those encountered at the border to be made public by the administration.
The number does not count the number who got past overwhelmed Border Patrol agents at the southern border. Fox News reported earlier this month that over 62,000 illegal immigrants evaded Border Patrol agents in March alone, averaging about 2,000 a day.
Roy said there are 500,000 or more "got-aways" and "some 2,000 who come across our border every day that the Border Patrol agents can't even get to."
Yuma residents at the gap in the border wall into Mexico. (Fox News)
Roy scoffed at White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki's statement that the 42 individuals represent a small fraction of migrants, noting how much death and destruction 19 terrorists caused on Sept. 11, 2001.
"These were visa overstays. Now we've got people we know to be dangerous and it's not just the terror watch list … it's the number of people coming in with massive criminal histories who come in, and we see the crimes that are committed in the United States," he said.
Roy addressed the financial toll of mass migration in the midst of rising inflation and economic issues for American citizens.
"I'm in Texas right now. … I met with a bunch of people yesterday. They want our borders secured. They want us to stop spending money we don't have," he told host Ainsley Earhardt.
Fox News' Bill Melugin and Adam Shaw contributed to this report
Fox News First
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.