Top Senate Dem calls for probe into Muslims prosecuted by DOJ for illegal border crossings

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called on the Department of Justice on Thursday to investigate whether migrants from Muslim-majority countries are being targeted for prosecution when crossing the southern border in Texas.

In letters to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Durbin cited "the rise of Islamophobic attacks" and urged the officials to respond swiftly to questions over potential discrimination against individuals from Muslim-majority countries.

The Senate Judiciary chairman noted that in a Los Angeles Times investigation of prosecutions during an 18-month period beginning in October 2021, over 60% of individuals charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas - Del Rio under a section of the U.S. code that criminalizes failure to report oneself at a designated U.S. border crossing point were from Muslim-majority countries. The Los Angeles Times gave examples of Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and Mali as some of the countries that the prosecuted individuals hailed from. 

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"These trends are extremely troubling," Durbin claimed. "Prosecutions targeting individuals based on their religion, national origin, or other protected characteristics are anathema to the rule of law." 

As for the increased usage of a certain section of customs law, as alleged by Durbin in his letter, Lora Ries, the director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital, "It is possible that this hasn't been used much as a charge, but so what?"

"If people are crossing illegally, what's wrong and tragic? I mean, Congress passed this law, so why can't prosecutors use that to charge people crossing illegally?" she asked. 

Iran and Syria are both designated by the Department of State as state sponsors of terrorism. In the State Department's 2022 Country Reports on Terrorism, it outlines threats beyond these countries. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) "maintained an enduring global enterprise, promoting a large-scale terrorism campaign across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia," it wrote at the time.

The State Department also identified threats in Afghanistan following the U.S.'s 2021 withdrawal deemed by many to have been conducted improperly, such as attacks on civilians by ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K). 

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According to Durbin, "The concern that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is targeting for prosecution migrants from Muslim-majority countries is heightened by the use" of the failure to report law. 

"I write to express serious concern over reports that asylum seekers from Muslim-majority countries are being disproportionately prosecuted for alleged improper entry by the Justice Department," he said, also citing the increase in prosecution under the law "nationwide."

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Durbin's letter to Horowitz additionally requested that the inspector general "investigate whether the Justice Department is or has been targeting migrants for prosecution based on their religion, national origin, or any other protected characteristic."

The DOJ declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

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This comes as FBI Director Christopher Wray recently warned Congress of the heightened threat of terrorism, particularly as it relates to the vulnerability of the southern border. 

Asked about international terrorism threats, Wray told Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the Judiciary Committee ranking member, last year, "I am concerned that we are in… a heightened threat environment from foreign terrorist organizations for a whole host of reasons," highlighting "Their ability to exploit any port of entry, including our southwest border." 

"We have seen an increase in so-called KSTs, ‘known or suspected terrorists’, attempting to cross over the last five years," he said at the time. 

Reacting to the letters, Ries claimed Durbin was "trying to make this about Islamophobia, but the cartels shift where they're crossing [and] who they're crossing constantly." She noted that Durbin wasn't asking Customs and Border Protection for information related to "the makeup of foreign nationals crossing western Texas at that time or those times."

She additionally questioned Durbin's choice to highlight the case of an incarcerated Afghan, without considering the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Afghan parole program already in place to assist individuals seeking entry to the U.S.

Durbin's office did not provide comment regarding Ries' questions in time for publication. 

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee, slammed Durbin. "Under Chairman Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committee has not held a single markup on an immigration bill in three years," he said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

"Instead of wasting time and resources on this baseless political attack against the Western District of Texas, which is led by a U.S. Attorney I was proud to recommend, the Chairman should allow the Committee to do its job and focus on the unprecedented humanitarian and national security crisis at our southern border," the senator added. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's office for comment.