Wisconsin senator demands information on 'inadmissible travelers' at US airports

Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson requested information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week, on "inadmissible travelers" that have arrived in the country through United States airports.

A recent DHS Inspector General report found that nearly 67,000 non-citizens that have been deemed "inadmissible travelers" were identified by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials over the course of 18 months. Of those travelers, 383 from one international airport were released into the country with verbal instructions to return for their removal flights, but 168 did not return.

Johnson said the report found that the DHS failed to follow proper procedure in at least 77 of the cases, and told Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a letter on Monday to provide additional information on the travelers by July 22.

“This security lapse must be fixed so that American airports do not become yet another easily exploited avenue for illegal immigration and terrorism,” Johnson wrote in the letter, which was released by his office on Thursday.

The comment comes as the United States experiences a major immigration crisis on the U.S southern border. More than 12 million people have illegally crossed the border into the U.S. since 2021, according to data from the Center Square. Roughly 2.2 million that have crossed into the country as of May in fiscal year 2024 alone.

Some House Republicans have also emphasized a need to better police the country's northern border with Canada, which has also seen record levels of illegal immigration.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.