Florida Governor Ron DeSantis blamed immigration for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in an interview published on Monday, adding that there's a "good bet" someone who entered the United States from the Southern border will also commit an act of terror.
President Joe Biden's policies regarding the U.S.-Mexico border have long drawn the ire of Republicans. While the president has sought to strike a more humanitarian approach to dealing with immigration, his GOP critics have blamed him for a surge in migrants at the border in recent years that many experts blame on other factors, including sociopolitical and economic forces prompting many in Central America to attempt to emigrate to the U.S. Republicans have suggested a rise in encounters with individuals on the terrorist watch list at the U.S.-Mexico border could signal the potential for an attack, but there have been no instances of this.
DeSantis, who is running in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, said in his interview with conservative news outlet the Washington Examiner, which was published on the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, that he believes Biden's border policies leave the U.S. vulnerable to a potential terrorist attack.
"I think that there is a good bet that somebody that's come across that [Southern] border will commit an act of terrorism," he said.
DeSantis also claimed that the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which claimed the lives of close to 3,000 people, was in part caused by a lack of immigration enforcement. According to an April 2011 Government Accountability Office report, five of the 9/11 hijackers were in the country on overstayed visas.
"9/11 was in part an immigration issue. A lot of these guys should not have been in the country—had overstayed visas and whatnot," the Florida governor added.
DeSantis has cast himself as an opponent against undocumented immigration, pledging to construct a wall alongside the U.S.-Mexico border, a policy previously embraced by former President Donald Trump, if he is elected as president in 2024.
Other Republicans have also said Biden's U.S.-Mexico border approach could lead to potential future terrorist attacks, with Texas Senator Ted Cruz suggesting the Biden administration's border policies are an "invitation" for them.
"We have a vulnerability on our Southern border, every month people are coming across who are on the terror watch list. The numbers dwarf the number of known terrorists who would come in prior to Joe Biden," the GOP senator said on Monday during an episode of his Verdict with Ted Cruz podcast. "If you're the next planner of 9/11, it's obvious where you go. You go to Mexico and you come right across and Joe Biden and the idiots in his administration will fly you to wherever you want to go in this country and you can carry out your terror attack."
So far in 2023's Fiscal Year, there have been 146 encounters with individuals on the terror watch list at the U.S.-Mexico border, up from 98 in 2022, 15 in 2021 and three in 2020, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). The increase coincides with a general rise in encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Although Cruz said these individuals are "coming across" the border, CBP notes that those on the terrorist watch list may be denied entry into the country "barring justification for their arrest under CBP policy," according to its website, which added that these encounters are "very uncommon" and underscore "the critical work CBP Agents and Officers carry out every day on the frontlines."
"TSDS watchlisted individuals encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) after entering the country without inspection may be detained and removed, to the extent possible under CBP policy, or turned over to another government agency for subsequent detention or law enforcement action, as appropriate," the website reads.
According to CBP, agents monitor for these individuals using "a combination of highly trained personnel, ground and aerial monitoring systems, and robust intelligence and information sharing networks."
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment via email.
Update 09/11/2023, 5:34 p.m. ET: This article was republished with a headline to better reflect DeSantis' remarks.
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