Homeland Security questioned on military base breach attempts
(The Center Square) – Two Jordanians trying to get aboard Quantico in Virginia and Chinese nationals attempting to access U.S. military bases and other sensitive sites up to 100 times led a North Carolina senator and 12 colleagues to demand answers from Homeland Security.
The incident in northern Virginia happened May 3, with two people in a box truck posing as Amazon subcontractors. A letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas led by U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., notes a March 27 incident at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Training Center Twentynine Palms in California and another at Fort Wainwright in Alaska.
The senators want answers by June 6 on 10 questions.
“This incident,” they wrote, referring to Quantico, “and a number of similar incidents in recent months are in stark contrast with your statements to Congress that the border is ‘secure,’ ‘no less secure than it was previously,’ ‘closed,’ and that DHS has ‘operational control’ of the border. The military community at Marine Corps Base Quantico and the American people deserve answers regarding the terrorism and counter-intelligence threats posed by the Biden administration’s open border policies.”
The letter cites the first news report about the incident, from Potomac Local News, saying one of the two came through the southern border illegally and one was on the U.S. terrorist watch list. The identities have not been made known by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The letter does not include reference to an April 28 incident at Fort Story in Virginia Beach, where a driver sped through an entrance gate, crashed and died in the ensuing fire. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, in a letter he wrote to President Joe Biden, said “federal officials remain silent” about the driver’s identity, national origin, and possible immigration status.
The letter says, “In fiscal years 2017 to 2020 combined, 11 noncitizens on the terrorist watchlist were caught attempting to enter via the southern border between ports of entry. That number increased to 15 in FY2021, 98 in FY2022, 169 in FY2023, and 80 in FY2024 as of May 15.”
The letter warns of an attack from within U.S. borders, echoing FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony to Congress that cited the recent ISIS attack at a Russian concert hall.
Budd’s signature was accompanied by those of Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; Rick Scott, R-Fla.; Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; J.D. Vance, R-Ohio; Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; Mike Braun, R-Ind.; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Roger Marshall, R-Kan.; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; John Hoeven, R-N.D.; and John Kennedy, R-La.
