The Daily Caller News Foundation has obtained an internal email from a supervisor with the U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement. The email, sent out in April 2023 to about 500 Border Patrol agents, instructed CBP officials to radically reduce the number of interview questions for Chinese migrants apprehended after illegally crossing into the country from roughly 40 to just five "basic questions."
As a result, says the Daily Caller, the scaling back of the vetting process fast-tracked the release of Chinese illegal aliens into the U.S., making it more difficult for agents to identify potential threats to national security. Those who "successfully" pass the five basic questions, says the report, are likely to be "street-released."
Art Arthur, a resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, questions the revised approach of vetting.
"We should run the most vigorous background checks against individuals who come from countries of concern or countries that have interests that are inimical to the United States," he tells AFN. "But instead, the Biden administration is doing exactly the opposite. This is a serious national security concern, and the Biden administration is not going to do anything differently unless it's forced to."
And Arthur says China is particularly problematic.
"We know that Beijing is in many ways hostile to the United States. It actively seeks to replace the United States as the world's military power," says the CIS fellow. "This is an almost shocking abrogation of the federal government's responsibility to protect the American people and to protect our institutions.
"This shows that the Biden administration is placing its migrant policies ahead of the national security of the United States."
Arthur says this is a vulnerability that Congress needs to take note of and react to – otherwise, the consequences could be dire.
