Patel Says U.S. Border With Canada Now Bigger Natl. Security Threat
FBI Director Kash Patel sounded the alarm this week that America’s security vulnerabilities are no longer concentrated at the southern border but are now shifting north. Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, Patel said terrorists are adapting to President Trump’s successful border enforcement measures by targeting less-secured entry points from Canada.
“The enemy has adapted,” Patel warned. “We need more focus on the northern border to stop known or suspected terrorists from coming in from places like China, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, Afghanistan.”
Patel praised the dramatic improvements along the southern border under Trump’s second-term leadership, noting that nearly zero terrorism suspects have been apprehended there since the border was sealed. But he stressed that the northern border’s vast geography presents new challenges.
Sharp Increase in Terror Watch List Matches
Recent federal data underscores Patel’s warning. Between May and July, Border Patrol agents arrested 37 individuals listed on the Terrorist Screening Dataset, the FBI’s terrorism watch list — a steep increase compared to the final years of the Biden administration.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also reported a surge in watch list matches at official crossings. At the southern border alone, the number flagged jumped from fewer than 10 a month earlier this year to more than 500 a month during that same May-to-July window.
Officials attribute part of the spike to Trump’s decision to classify major Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, bringing more cartel-linked suspects under federal scrutiny.
Biden’s Failures, Trump’s Fixes
Patel’s testimony also highlighted the damage caused by the Biden administration’s reckless immigration policies. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) blasted Biden-era programs that admitted potential terror threats, citing intelligence showing derogatory information on 1,600 evacuees from Kabul — including some flagged as possible terrorists.
Patel noted that Russia, China, and Iran remain the top foreign adversaries in FBI counterintelligence investigations, which have expanded significantly in recent years.
Meanwhile, the results of Trump’s enforcement-first approach are unmistakable. In just six months, his administration cut the massive Biden-era immigration court backlog from 4.2 million to 3.8 million cases, according to The Washington Times.
A senior Justice Department official credited the shift directly to Trump’s policies:
“The real change has been the drop in new cases. That is entirely due to President Trump’s policies securing the border. It’s not a novel concept: Enforcing the law, rather than ignoring it, really does work to reduce illegal immigration and the backlog.”
Under Biden, immigration judges faced nearly 150,000 new cases each month while completing fewer than 60,000. By contrast, since Trump’s return, courts are averaging only 29,000 new cases monthly while completing more than 65,000 — finally reversing the flood.
From Chaos to Control
The difference is night and day. In December 2023, at the height of Biden’s border surge, agents were making more than 8,000 arrests every single day. Last month, under Trump, that number was just 116.
Andrew “Art” Arthur, a former immigration judge, said the benefits go beyond the statistics:
“It means that newcomers’ cases are heard sooner, those with valid claims get protection faster, and those with bogus cases can face deportation. That message reverberates in their home countries, discouraging would-be migrants from attempting the journey.”
Patel’s warning makes clear that while President Trump has delivered historic security gains at the southern border, America must now apply the same focus to the north — because America’s enemies are always looking for the next opening.