{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://emmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/icymi-emmer-minnesota-house-republicans-demand-answers-on-al-shabaab-terrorist-s-travel-to-minnesota", "ICYMI: Emmer, Minnesota House Republicans demand answers on Al-Shabaab terrorist\u2019s travel to Minnesota", "2024-04-10", "2024", "2024-04", "Republican", "House", "MN", "Tom Emmer", "E000294", "emmer.house.gov", "emmer", "https://emmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Majority Whip Tom Emmer \u2013 alongside Representatives Brad Finstad (MI-01), Michelle Fischbach (MI-07), and Pete Stauber (MI-08) \u2013 today sent a follow-up letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers on how a known terrorist was able to travel from the border to Minnesota and whether that transportation was funded by taxpayer dollars.\n\nThis follows Minnesota House Republicans\u2019 initial letter to Secretary Mayorkas surrounding the alarming report that a member of Al-Shabaab was allowed to roam the country for nearly a year before being arrested in Minnesota.\n\nIn case you missed it\u2026\n\nKnown terrorist spent year in US after being wrongly released by feds \u2014 and GOP lawmakers demand answers\n\nNew York Post\n\nJennie Taer\n\nApril 2, 2024\n\nhttps://nypost.com/2024/04/02/us-news/lawmakers-demand-to-know-if-taxpayers-funded-al-shabaab-terrorist/\n\nA Somali terrorist was allowed into the country and able to operate freely for almost a year before authorities realized their error and re-arrested him.\n\nRepublican lawmakers are now demanding information from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about what happened to the man \u2013 and whether US citizens funded any part of his journey or stay in the US.\n\nThe 27-year-old Somalian \u2013 who has so far not been identified by name \u2013 was on the watchlist as \u201ca confirmed member of al Shabaab\u201d involved in the use, manufacturing or transportation of explosives or firearms, but a border bungle meant he was released after initially being arrested for crossing into the country illegally in California in March 2023.\n\nA letter from Republican lawmakers seeks to find the al-Shabaab member\u2019s path from illegally crossing the border to Minnesota, were he was eventually re-arrested in January, and if he received any government benefits.\n\nIt also seeks to find if he took a commercial flight with US citizens to reach their state and if his travel was funded with taxpayer dollars according to the Tuesday letter, first obtained by The Post.\n\nThe letter states: \u201cDue to Minnesota\u2019s far distance from the border, it is not an easy task for migrants to travel to the state\u2026\n\n\u201cDid the al-Shabbab terrorist travel to Minnesota with the assistance, either direct or indirect of an [Non-Governmental Organization]? If so, which NGO was responsible for transporting the individual to Minnesota?\u201d\n\nThe terrorist organization member had initially crossed into California and been arrested by Border Patrol. However, the Terrorist Screening Center determined he was a \u201cmismatch\u201d to the terror watchlist leading to his release.\n\nNearly a year later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) nabbed him after federal authorities made a \u201credetermination\u201d and released he was associated with the Somalian militant group, designated a terror organization by the National Counterterrorism Center.\n\nIn a February press conference, ICE Acting Director Patrick Lechleitner said his agency arrested the individual \u201cwithin 48 hours\u201d of learning his true identity.\n\n\u201cThe Biden administration\u2019s open-borders agenda allowed a known terrorist to roam freely throughout our state, and now they must answer for their inexcusable negligence,\u201d House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said in a statement to The Post regarding the probe.\n\nBorder Patrol has recorded an ever-growing number of migrants listed on the terror watchlist attempting to enter the US illegally in recent years.\n\nBetween October 2023 and February, agents have already recorded 70 encounters at both the southern and northern borders, according to federal data.\n\nThere were 172 such encounters recorded in fiscal year 2023, which ran from October 2022 to September 2023, 98 in fiscal year 2022, 16 in fiscal year 2021 and 14 between fiscal years 2017 and 2020.\n\nIn March, Border Patrol agents apprehended Lebanese national Basel Bassel Ebbadi, 22, who told personnel that he came to the US \u201cto try to make a bomb,\u201d according to internal federal documents first obtained by The Post.\n\nEbbadi admitted to a border agent he is a member of Hezbollah and was later confirmed as a \u201cpositive match\u201d on the terror watchlist.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T20:47:55Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://emmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/icymi-emmer-minnesota-house-republicans-demand-answers-on-al-shabaab-terrorist-s-travel-to-minnesota"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9319419041275978, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}