The ticking time bomb: Biden’s weak border security and the Iranian threat
Over the past fortnight, the unraveling crisis in Iran has underscored the crucial link between national security and border control. The swift containment of Iran’s nuclear ploys and the implementation of a cease-fire underscore the frightening destructive capability of ballistic missiles, even those not carrying nuclear warheads. While the missiles developed by Iranian clerics cannot reach the United States, another aspect of their military strategy poses a significant risk: Iranian-sponsored terrorism.
For over three and a half decades, the life of Salman Rushdie, the renowned author of ‘The Satanic Verses,’ has been threatened repeatedly by those sympathetic to the Iranian regime. An offensive in 2022 left Rushdie severely injured, costing him an eye and nearly taking his life. Such examples of Iranian extremism have not been isolated to threats against world-renowned authors. Prominent figures, including President Donald Trump himself, have been targeted as well.
Based on courtroom records, a Pakistani individual named Asif Merchant, nabbed in Texas last year, leaned towards Iran when planning to hire assassins aimed at a ‘political person’ believed to be Trump. Luckily, the conspirators he aimed to conscript were undercover FBI officers, which allowed for a prompt interruption of the plot. Compounding this, another conspiracy emerged involving Farhad Shakeri, an Afghan national currently missing in Iran.
In November, Manhattan’s federal prosecutors accused Shakeri of aiding a foreign terrorism entity and conspiring to assassinate Trump at Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ behest. Along with two accomplices, Shakeri is also charged with plotting to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who has publicly criticised the Iranian regime.
Following the U.S. bombing of three Iranian nuclear facilities, NBC News unveiled that Iran had previously cautioned Trump about the activation of ‘sleeper cells’ in the United States as a retaliation strategy for an attack on its establishments. This worrying revelation sparked Rodney Scott, the Customs and Border Protection commissioner, to spotlight the hazards posed by Biden’s flawed border control measures.
Scott penned an agency memo citing concerns over the thousands of Iranian nationals illicitly entering the United States over the last four years. The statistics become particularly concerning during Biden’s tenure, with over 1,500 Iranians caught illegally crossing the southern border. More alarming still, over a blatantly negligent 700 of these infiltrators were released into American society following their arrest.
The United States bears the scars of previous terrorist attacks facilitated by lackadaisical immigration control. Notably, five out of the 19 culprits responsible for the worst terrorist attack in our history, 9/11, were able to carry out their monstrous act while residing in the United States on expired visas.
The status of the remaining 14 9/11 attackers should equally trigger furor. It astonishes that no effective screening measures were in place to detect and prevent the entry of such dangerous individuals. Trump’s proactive measures to curb unlawful immigration and tighten border controls, yet met with unwarranted scorn by liberals, are paramount in avoiding a repetition of such brutal attacks.
For years, Iran has used terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, to threaten Israel and its neighbours, and to wage war against American forces in Lebanon, Iraq, and elsewhere. While critics fail to acknowledge this, it is clear that globalization has extended regional battlefields to our own territory, thereby emphasizing the critical requirement for vigilant border control.
Proponents of Trump believe that globalization has adversely influenced the economy and disrupted local communities. However, globalization has also evolved the face of warfare, highlighting the need for heightened vigilance at our borders. Strict monitoring of entrants is needed to ensure Iran cannot exploit its long-range terror strategies on American soil.
Israel successfully launched a preventive attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, having effectively neutralized Hezbollah. The prevention of a two-front war – one against Iran and another within its borders – signifies a victory for Israel. Unlike many nations, the United States is fortunate to be bordered by friendly nations and great oceans, distancing us from Old World conflicts.
This natural protection has granted us centuries of peace, making us the envy of many world powers. However, the benefits that our geographic location provides must be persistently defended against the dangerous aspects of globalization, including mainstreamed transcontinental terrorism.
Success in future conflicts requires stopping them before they infiltrate our borders. Trump’s achievements in this regard have laid the groundwork for similar victories in the Middle East. All we need is to emulate his effectiveness and prioritize our national security to end the threats that lie in globalization.
A strong border policy ensures truly sovereign nations, free from the threat of external forces, and this should be the leading priority of any administration. Unfortunately, the Biden administration’s lax border control presages an open invitation to catastrophic threats, a mistake we are too wise to fall for, given our historical experiences with terrorism.