Border patrol released suspected terrorist after making ‘multiple mistakes,’ DHS inspector general finds

US Border Patrol agents released a Colombian national on the FBI’s terrorism watch list into the states last year after the agency made “multiple mistakes” upon his apprehension at the southern border, according to a damning new report by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.

The suspected terrorist was apprehended by border patrol agents near Yuma, Ariz., on April 17, 2022, and released into the US two days later, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari’s report revealed.

He was turned loose after agents failed to provide the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center with information about the individual that would’ve confirmed he was on the bureau’s watch list. 

“This occurred because CBP’s ineffective practices and processes for resolving inconclusive matches with the Terrorist Watchlist led to multiple mistakes,” Cuffari wrote in the report released last week. 

“For example, CBP sent a request to interview the migrant to the wrong email address, obtained information requested by the [FBI Terrorist Screening Center] but never shared it, and released the migrant before fully coordinating with the TSC,” the inspector general explained in the report.

Even after the CBP blunder was discovered, Cuffari noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement “prioritized arresting the migrant but faced multiple challenges sharing information within ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations while planning and conducting the arrest.”

It took ICE more than 2 weeks after the migrant’s release to bring him back into custody. 

While not identified in the DHS inspector report, the suspected terrorist was identified by Fox News last year as 36-year-old Isnardo Garcia-Amado of Colombia. 

Garcia-Amado was arrested by ICE agents in Pinellas County, Florida, on May 6, 2022. 

The DHS inspector general found that some agents at the CBP’s Yuma centralized processing center blamed the surge of migrants at the southern border as factors that contributed to Garcia-Amado’s hasty release. 

“When the [CBP’s National Targeting Center] asked the Yuma CPC to provide [redacted] to help the [FBI Terrorist Screening Center]  determine whether the migrant was a positive Terrorist Watchlist match, the Yuma CPC did not respond to the NTC’s email,” the report states. 

“A Yuma CPC agent explained that he and his colleagues try to respond to [CBP’s National Targeting Center] emails as quickly as possible but were busy processing an increased flow of migrants,” Cuffari added. 

Yuma centralized processing center agents further told the DHS inspector general that Garcia-Amado was processed and released before his status on the terror watch list could be confirmed in part because “Yuma CPC was over capacity following an increase in apprehensions, which created pressure to quickly process migrants and decreased the time available to review each file.” 

Fiscal year 2022 saw a record-breaking 2.4 million migrants cross the border into the US. 

Republicans have sharply criticized President Biden’s handling of the crisis on the southern border — and have introduced articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

The Biden administration has come under fire for ending the Title 42 border policy that allowed authorities to swiftly deport migrants apprehended crossing into the US.