A Colombian migrant on the terror watch list was arrested after illegally crossing the border into a Texas city just hours before Donald Trump visited the area last month.
Colombian Carlos Obed Yepez-Bedoya, 40, was arrested by border agents on February 21 in Eagle Pass, Texas. the New York Post reported.
The arrest came just days before Trump arrived in the border city to be briefed on border security by Texas Governor Greg Abbott on February 29.
Yepez-Bedoya was determined to be a “positive match” on the terror watchlist, according to an internal memo obtained by the Post.
The Colombian national was identified in the memo as a “group member,” which would indicate he has ties to an unspecified terrorist organization, the release said.
A Colombian migrant on the terror watch list was arrested after illegally crossing the border into a Texas city just hours before Donald Trump visited the area last month.
The Del Rio sector of the border, which includes Eagle Pass, was the busiest area for illegal crossings in 2022 and 2023
The 40-year-old was caught illegally entering the US by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
After an initial arrest, DPS then alerted the Border Patrol to pick him up, the Post reported.
The arrest occurred as part of Operation Lone Star, in which Texas deploys its National Guard and law enforcement units to help secure the border.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
Texas DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez told The Post that Yepez-Bedoya’s arrest underscored the need for Texas to take steps to secure the border while the federal government falls short.
“This underlines the need for border security measures as potential threats to both public safety and national security are evident and security vulnerabilities are being exploited,” Olivarez said.
Adding, “The federal government has failed to implement border security measures, and the State of Texas, through Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, will continue to take unprecedented action to help secure the border.”
Trump, who has consistently criticized his successor over the crisis, visited the border fence in Eagle Pass last Thursday.
The former president was shown razor wire along the river by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and spoke to border guards dealing with the wave of crossings — while Biden visited another border area 320 miles away.
Trump arrived in the border city on February 29 to be briefed on border security by Texas Governor Greg Abbott
Trump gestures last Thursday near the bank of the Rio Grande River in Shelby Park in Eagle Pass
Trump said US is at ‘war’ at border because of ‘Joe Biden’s invasion’
Trump speaks with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has been feuding with the Biden administration over who has jurisdiction to handle migrants in Eagle Pass
“You’re at war,” the 77-year-old Republican frontrunner told frontline officers in Eagle Pass.
“This is a military operation,” he added.
The Del Rio sector of the border, which includes Eagle Pass, was the busiest area for illegal crossings in 2022 and 2023.
Across the border, U.S. Border Patrol had nearly 250,000 encounters with migrants in December 2023.
The border visits came at a time when immigration was exploding and becoming the biggest issue in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
A Gallup poll found that 28 percent of Americans now believe immigration is the biggest problem facing America, beyond just mentioning the economy or inflation.
This figure was an all-time high since Gallup began surveying voters about their views on immigration in 1981.
Trump previously accused Biden of allowing a “terrible invasion” of the United States and said “migrant crime is taking over America.”
Biden last week toured the border town of Brownsville, Texas, 325 miles (525 kilometers) to the east
He also promised that if re-elected, he would carry out the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”
Public concern about illegal immigration is greater under Biden’s presidency than under the last two administrations.
In the latest Gallup poll, the share of Americans citing immigration as the biggest problem was up eight points from last month.
Other leading issues were the ‘government’ at 20 percent, the economy at 12 percent and inflation at 11 percent.
The 28 percent of voters citing immigration surpassed the previous record of 27 percent in a Gallup poll in July 2019, when there was a surge at the border.