United States

Most US Terrorists Foreign Born, But Check the Fine Print, Report Says

The numbers in the report may be misleading because it included people arrested overseas and brought to the U.S. to face trial

A report released Tuesday by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security found that the majority of convictions for international terrorism brought by U.S. courts since 2001 have been against people born outside of the U.S., bolstering the Trump administration's argument for tougher immigration standards, NBC News reported.

The report found that out of 549 convictions for international terrorism-related charges since Sept. 11, 2001, 254 were not U.S. citizens, 148 received U.S. citizenship through naturalization and 147 were U.S. citizens by birth.

But testimony from DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen paints a more nuanced picture, as do several national security analysts.

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Nielsen said the report included people arrested overseas and brought to the U.S. to face trial. A U.S. official estimated the number of those arrests at close to 90, further skewing the numbers towards foreign-born defendants.

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