Gabbard warns of terrorist threat from 18,000 suspects currently in US

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard issued a warning about suspected terrorists inside the United States, accusing the Biden administration of posing, in her words, a “direct threat” to the lives of the American people.

The National Counterterrorism Center says about 18,000 known or suspected terrorists were allowed into the country under the previous administration. Gabbard said her biggest concern about the influx is that there are “so many more that we’re not aware of yet.”

“The Biden administration has not taken its investigative responsibilities seriously,” Gabbard said on “Saturday in America.”

GABBARD SLAMS DEMOCRATIC BENNIE THOMPSON FOR SAYING NATIONAL GUARD SHOOTING WAS AN ‘UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT’

The Trump administration has frequently criticized the Biden team’s immigration policy and review process. During his second term, Trump launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration.

BONDI DESCRIBES THE WOUNDED NATIONAL GUARD AS A ‘MIRACLE’, SAYS ‘HE CAN OPEN BOTH HIS EYES’

Of the estimated 18,000 known or suspected terrorists, 2,000 are Afghan citizens who entered the country after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Gabbard said. More than 100,000 Afghans were evacuated when the United States left Afghanistan, and multiple members of Congress said the pace of evacuation led to a lack of review.

Fox News Digital has reached out to former President Biden for comment.

U.S. Air Force load managers and pilots assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron load passengers onto a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III in support of the evacuation of Afghanistan at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Aug. 24, 2021. (U.S. Air Force/Capt. Sgt. Donald R. Allen/Report/File Photo via Reuters)

Gabbard said that after the withdrawal, whistleblowers who were part of the vetting process came forward and ordered her to rush the vetting process so that immigrants could enter the country during the massive and rapid influx.

YOU TOM COTTON: CLAIM AFGHAN ATTACK ON PROTECTERS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED, WE MUST DO BETTER AGAIN

“Them [whistleblowers] “I was told, ‘Hurry up, don’t do the thorough vetting that you normally do, because we need to hurry up and get these people into the United States,'” Gabbard said.

He called the situation “devastating” and said it was already having real-world consequences.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on July 8. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION

“What we’re seeing right now is a direct threat to the lives of the American people, and it’s the definitive outcome of the kind of tragedy we experienced with the Thanksgiving shooting,” Gabbard said.

Two National Guard soldiers were shot the day before Thanksgiving; One of them was killed, the other continues to struggle for life. It was stated that the suspected attacker was an Afghan citizen.