The Trump team can start fixing our catastrophically broken vetting system right now - no need to wait until January 2025. By sending clear signals worldwide that exploiting our border vulnerabilities won't be tolerated, they can begin shifting the landscape immediately. A disturbing new Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report finally confirms on paper what security professionals have known for years - our border vetting system isn't just failing, it's creating massive national security vulnerabilities. The groundwork for real reform can begin now, with nations worldwide understanding that change is coming.
The hard truth about America's border vetting system isn't just that it's broken – it's that we're trying to do the impossible. I spoke to a former DHS supervisor with direct knowledge of the vetting process, who warns that "The sheer volume of people coming across the southwest border makes it impossible to vet any of these people," they're telling you what frontline professionals know all too well: even if every computer system worked perfectly, even if every country cooperated fully, we still couldn't correctly vet the flood of people pouring across our borders.
Here's why: You can't find what isn't there. When someone has never been encountered by intelligence services or law enforcement, they won't have a record to find – no matter how many databases we check or how many countries cooperate. This reality exposes the dangerous flaw in believing technology alone can secure our borders.
The numbers tell a sobering story. CBP encountered more than 3.2 million noncitizens nationwide in fiscal year 2023, including over 2.4 million at the Southwest border alone. The sheer volume overwhelms any meaningful attempt at verification. Even more troubling is that neither CBP nor ICE can determine how many of these millions entered without verified identification.
The terrorism threat isn't theoretical. "The number of known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) who have entered the US across the southwest border is impossible to estimate," the former DHS supervisor said. "In my time working in the Visa Security Unit, my team alone identified over 40 KST's previously unknown. Those individuals were then added to the terrorist watchlist." But these are just the ones they caught – how many others slipped through?
The problem extends far beyond our borders. Once inside the country, individuals without proper identification can board domestic flights after minimal additional screening. The Inspector General's report explicitly states that TSA's procedures "do not eliminate the risk that noncitizens who may pose a threat to fellow passengers could board domestic flights."
Solving this crisis demands more than superficial fixes or political posturing. We need a complete transformation of our border security approach that acknowledges the complex reality of modern threats. Simply adding more computers or hiring more agents - while necessary - won't address the fundamental flaws in our system.
First, we must deploy sophisticated resources across every possible entry point into the United States. This means upgrading our land borders and revolutionizing security at airports, seaports, and every other point where people enter our country. Advanced biometric systems, document verification technology, and enhanced screening capabilities must be universally deployed, not just at high-traffic locations.
The intelligence community must be fully integrated into our border operations. Right now, crucial information often sits in separate databases, trapped in agency silos, or arrives too late to be actionable. We need real-time intelligence sharing where a Border Patrol agent in Texas can instantly access relevant intelligence from the CIA, FBI, or military about an individual they've just encountered. This isn't about building better databases but creating a seamless flow of actionable intelligence to frontline personnel.
Our international relationships need a complete reset. Countries that refuse to cooperate with identity verification or won't accept their deported nationals must face real consequences - from visa sanctions to trade restrictions. We can no longer accept diplomatic excuses while criminal organizations exploit these international gaps. Even friendly nations must understand that cooperation on border security isn't optional.
We must end the dangerous disconnect between federal immigration enforcement and local law enforcement. When sanctuary policies prevent police from cooperating with ICE, they create safe havens for criminal enterprises. Local law enforcement needs both the authority and the obligation to work with federal agencies. They're often the first to encounter threats in our communities, and artificial barriers to cooperation put Americans at risk.
Finally, we must build a detention capacity that matches the scale of the crisis. Current facilities are overwhelmed, forcing the release of individuals we cannot properly verify. This "catch and release" approach creates an obvious security vulnerability that criminal organizations eagerly exploit. Even the best vetting procedures become meaningless without adequate detention facilities if we can't hold high-risk individuals.
Most crucially, the people implementing these changes need authority to act decisively. Our border security personnel must be empowered to make real-time decisions based on actionable intelligence without being hamstrung by bureaucratic procedures that ignore operational realities. The threats we face move at the speed of technology - our response cannot move at the speed of government paperwork.
But most importantly, we must acknowledge that no amount of database checking can verify the identity of someone who has never been documented. This means making hard choices about who we allow into the country when we cannot verify their identity.
"Sadly," as the former supervisor notes, "the only way these threats can be removed is after a crime has been committed. And even then, depending on what city and state this happens, the criminal is released without bond. Usually, in those cities and states, law enforcement is not allowed to cooperate with ICE so the predator will not be deported allowing them to continue committing more crimes."
The Inspector General's admission that "CBP and ICE cannot ensure they are keeping high-risk noncitizens without identification from entering the country" isn't just a warning – it's a wake-up call. We have the resources and capabilities to address this crisis. We lack the willingness to acknowledge that our current approach is fundamentally flawed.
The time for change doesn't have to wait. The Trump team can begin sending clear signals now to both cooperative and uncooperative nations: the era of unchecked migration and lax vetting is ending. Countries that serve as transit points for illegal migration, those that refuse to accept their deported nationals, and those that won't cooperate with identity verification must understand that there will be real consequences – from visa sanctions to trade restrictions to aid reductions.
But even allied nations need to hear the message: cooperation doesn't just mean sharing databases. It means preventing abuse of their transit systems by smuggling networks, strengthening their own border controls, and accepting that even friendly nations' citizens will face enhanced scrutiny when identification cannot be verified. The message must be clear: security cooperation is not optional, and access to the United States is not a right.
The cost of continuing down our current path is clear: more infiltration by terrorists, criminal gangs, and hostile state actors. Criminal organizations terrorize more communities. More security threats are boarding domestic flights. We don't need to wait for another election to begin fixing this crisis.