Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) recently stumped FBI Director Christopher Wray during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing. The discussion centered around potential threats to national security amid elevated concerns about terrorist activity.

During the hearing, Scott asked Wray if the United States is “safer from foreign threats today” than the country was before President Joe Biden took office.

In response, Wray took a pause that was so pregnant one might think it was giving birth to quadruplets. After what seemed like an eternity, Wray finally managed to eke out an answer: 

What I would say to you is that the terror threats have elevated. But I also think there are a lot of things the country has done throughout law enforcement to be better prepared to deal with them.

I asked FBI Director Wray a simple question: is the U.S. safer today than it was before @JoeBiden took office? After nearly 10 seconds of silence, he finally admitted what we all know…

“…the terror threats have elevated…” pic.twitter.com/w90YKhRrCf

— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) October 31, 2023

Wray’s remarks came against the backdrop of heightened risks of terrorist attacks against Americans because of the current conflict in the Middle East. Some have expressed worries that the war between Israel and Hamas could spill over into other nations and inspire terrorist attacks – especially in Western nations.

The ongoing border crisis has only added to fears about potential terrorist attacks carried out by radical extremists who manage to sneak into the country through its porous borders. Indeed, this has been a concern since the problem started. But now, it is receiving more attention from lawmakers.

The San Diego Field Office of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Department’s Intelligence Division issued a stark warning for law enforcement agencies close to the southern border. It cautioned them to expect terrorists aligned with radical Islamic extremist groups to attempt entry into the U.S. through the southern border amid the ongoing immigration crisis the nation is experiencing.

In the advisory, which is marked "Law Enforcement Sensitive," the agency says that people in the U.S. who are sympathetic to Hamas and are attempting to join the group in the area of the war may attempt to leave through the southern border. In addition to this, they further warn that foreign fighters associated or sympathetic with Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad will most likely attempt to conceal their travel or transit to the United States by coming through the open southern borders.

The Biden administration has failed repeatedly to curb the influx of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants into the country, which has placed a burden on border towns and major cities across the country. And with the flow of people trying to get into the country comes potential threats from terrorists.

Indeed, last month it was revealed that Border Patrol had apprehended a record number of illegal immigrants with ties to terrorist groups at the southern border.

According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics released on Saturday, border officials arrested 18 people on the FBI’s terrorist watch list in September alone, making fiscal year 2023 a record year for terrorist-related encounters at the southern border.

Moreover, 169 illegals on the watch list were encountered between ports of entry at the border in the past 12 months, exceeding not only the record-setting total (98) of 2022; but the number of encounters also exceeded the last six fiscal years combined.

Of course, this raises the obvious question: If CBP caught 169 of these individuals, how many more managed to slip through the cracks? In light of this, it can be no wonder that Wray had such a difficult time answering Scott’s question. This wasn’t nearly as much of a concern under former President Donald Trump. Unfortunately, when the U.S. has an administration that does not take the border issue seriously, it places people in grave danger.