If you have been on the fence, so to speak, about whether the United States should build a border wall, this incident should push you to the right side of the issue.

Liberals have been painting melodramatic pictures of downtrodden Mexican families fleeing poverty by illegally entering the U.S. However, that misrepresents the real dangers that exist with our porous southern border.

It is likely progressive ideologists will never acknowledge dangers like this one reported by Judicial Watch: The potential for Islamic terrorists to cross our border into the United States through Mexico.

The Department of Justice issued a July 30 statement alleging that 31-year-old Moayad Heider Mohammad Aldairi, a Jordanian, was arrested by federal agents for conspiring to smuggle six Yemeni citizens into the U.S. over the Texas border from Mexico.

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A hotbed of Al Qaeda activity, Yemen has been embroiled in a multi-sided civil war since 2015. (A report by The Associated Press report Tuesday described a situation so entangled that Saudia Arabian allies of the U.S. were actually working with Al Qaeda against other militant forces in Yemen back by Iran.)

In the DOJ statement, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said the danger this activity poses to U.S. national security is clear.

“Alien smuggling puts our national security at risk, and the Criminal Division is dedicated to enforcing our immigration laws and disrupting the flow of illegal aliens into the United States,” he said.

In the statement, Special Agent in Charge Shane M. Folden of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, San Antonio, said the arrest was an example of ICE effectiveness.

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“The arrest of Aldairi showcases HSI’s unique ability to coordinate investigative efforts across international boundaries with multiple countries and different agencies throughout the U.S. government,” he said. “Attacking the leader/organizers of illicit international pathways for aliens from certain countries of interest will always be a priority of HSI.”

Apparently, this is not an isolated incident. Illegal entries into the U.S. by citizens from terrorist nations have been taking place for years.

In another story reported by Judicial Watch in 2015, Mexican drug cartels used rural farm roads to smuggle foreign nationals — members of “known Islamist terrorist organizations” — into Texas.

That story noted that, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety report, known Islamist terrorists have been apprehended around areas near El Paso for many years.

Additionally, Judical Watch reported, cartels are also using the Horizon Airport, a small facility only 11 miles from El Paso’s central business district, to smuggle foreigners with terrorist links into the United States. Security at the airport is “virtually nonexistent,” Judicial Watch reported.

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Also in 2015, Breitbart reported no less than eight Syrians were apprehended at border near Loredo, Texas.

And in 2016, a report in The Texas Tribune disclosed the threat of terrorists crossing the border from Mexico as low, but nonetheless real.

That report noted that illegals are coming from Bangladesh and Pakistan, labeled as “special interest countries” because of their connections to terrorist activity, “are making up a larger and larger percentage of the border crossers taken into custody.”

Aren’t there other ways to help struggling Mexican families seeking prosperity without compromising national security?

There should be no doubt in the minds of folks who choose to keep their heads out of the sand that a wall is needed at our southern border.

Providing for the safety and security of America is the first responsibility of government. A wall does that.

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