While much of the Republican Party’s focus in pushing for increased border security relates to the staggering influx of undocumented migrants from Mexico and Central America, reports show that a troubling number of potentially dangerous individuals from elsewhere around the world are similarly exploiting America’s porous border.
A new report found that a surprisingly high number of Romanian nationals have made their way into the United States illegally, where they have engaged in a variety of criminal acts across the country. In addition to crossing the nation’s southern border, many have also allegedly entered from Canada.
🧵THREAD: EXCLUSIVE: Romanian Migrants Are Crossing The Border At Record Numbers And Committing Fraud Across The UShttps://t.co/mVWamzflNC@DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/HIe2NJzZ8l
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) June 5, 2023
A U.S. Border Patrol source told the Daily Caller News Foundation that, like many of those who enter the country from Central America, the Romanians “all claim asylum [or] credible fear” in hopes that “we’ll process them and release them” to non-governmental organizations.
During the last fiscal year alone, agents reportedly encountered nearly 5,900 Romanian migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border. Many of them reportedly had lengthy criminal records in their home country.
According to an alert earlier this year by one Florida sheriff’s office, a pair of Romanian were wanted in connection with a “slight of hand” crime that allowed them to obtain eight gold coins for $6,000 less than their stated price.
About two months later in the same state, police pulled over a vehicle occupied by two other undocumented migrants from Romania. Authorities allege that they had in their possession “fraudulent passports, fraudulent credit cards, $4,000 in U.S. currency, covert cameras concealed to hide (for possible ATM PIN harvesting), [three] skimming devices, a thumb drive, and an ATM pin pad cling device.”
The number of encounters during fiscal year 2022 was more than 1,800 higher than the year before. In fiscal year 2020, which included President Donald Trump’s final months in office, the number of Romanians stopped at the border was just 266.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer provided additional details about the issue, noting that Romanian nationals are often able to evade authorities by providing home addresses that correlate with hotels or similar accommodations.
“Romanians are involved in a lot of fraud,” the individual said. “To avoid detection, they tend to give temporary addresses and/or just quit reporting.”
