Republican Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona raised alarm during a recent interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson, citing testimony he said was provided to the House Homeland Security Committee regarding the number of known or suspected terrorists who entered the United States during the Biden-Harris administration.

Johnson opened the exchange by referencing the figure discussed during the interview.

“There were, there were 18,000 people on the known terrorist watch list. Led into this country under Joe Biden and suicidal,” Johnson said.

Crane responded by describing his reaction to testimony he said was delivered during a Homeland Security Committee hearing.

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“Yeah, Benny, thanks for having me on. Man, I've only been in Congress for three years, but I will tell you that this last week in Homeland Security, when Director Kent, from the center of, you know, counter terrorism here in the United States, came to testify before us. He brought up that statistic, and it made me sick to my stomach, and it shocked me, 18,000 known or suspected terrorists in the country under Joe Biden,” Crane said.

Crane told Johnson that he and other members of Congress had previously warned against what he described as vulnerabilities at the southern border and in visa programs.

“Benny, many of us were screaming about this during the Biden administration, saying, Don't do this. Please shut the border down, secure the visa program. You know, these guys are not stupid. They saw it. We all. We could see it. They most certainly saw it. They knew to exploit it,” Crane said.

According to Crane, the figure cited during the hearing represented only individuals already identified by authorities.

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“And now the data is 18,000 and I had director Ken in my office this morning. I wanted to, you know, ask him some more questions about this and Benny. The thing that he said to me that, you know, compounded the shock factor was he said, and those are just the ones that we know of,” Crane said.

Crane compared the number to the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks.

“Benny, okay, and I want to remind you and your audience, it took 19 operators to pull off 911 who I will remind you, shared the same ideology as these. 18,000,” he said.

Crane said he sought clarification on how the total number was broken down.

“I asked Joe Kent to unpack that number for myself and other members of the Home Security Committee, Homeland Security Committee, because I was expecting Benny, he might say, well, you know 5000 of them are, you know, from ISIS al Qaeda, other jihadi organizations and the other you know, you know 13,000 of them. Are, you know, you know cartel members who are now considered you know terrorist members,” Crane said.

He stated that was not the explanation he received.

“Nobody, that's not what he said. He said there were 2000 Afghanis, and then the other 16,000 were from jihadi organizations like ISIS and Al Qaeda right here in this country,” Crane said.

Crane further described what he said were legal obstacles to removing individuals who entered the country.

“And you know what else is scary Benny that he told me, he said, in most cases we can't even remove these people until they commit a crime, because of the way that the Democrats orchestrated that invasion and allowed many of them to claim asylum,” Crane said.

Crane added that, according to his account of the briefing, removal may still be restricted even after criminal convictions.

“And he told me this too. Benny, he said, in many cases, even if they do commit a crime, we cannot send them back to their country of origin because of their asylum claims and because we have anti torture laws,” Crane said.

Crane told Johnson that he believed the issue was not receiving sufficient public attention.

“And I just wanted to bring that up to your audience, Benny, because to me, this is the biggest story in the country that is not getting covered,” he said.

Crane warned of potential future consequences and attributed responsibility to Democratic leadership.

“Benny, I'm telling you right now, Americans are going to die. A lot of Americans are going to die, and this could have been completely preventable by not allowing these people in,” Crane said. “And once again, Benny, it is death by Democrats.”

Crane said he believes lawmakers across party lines understand the implications.

“And now, when, now in these briefings where these numbers are being brought up. You can almost see you can look across the aisle. Benny, you can see all of them with their heads down because they know they caused it, and it is disgusting,” Crane said.

Crane also addressed the issue beyond party affiliation.

“I love Democrats, I love Republicans, I love independents. I don't care what your political affiliation is, I believe that we're all created in God's image,” Crane said. “These terrorists don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent.”

Crane concluded by referencing his military service following the September 11 attacks and issued a warning related to upcoming holidays.

“And it makes me sick to my stomach, and it's a slap in the face to every veteran like myself who dropped out of school the week after 911 to go join the military,” Crane said.

“Keep your head on a swivel over the holidays, because a lot of these people, they want to target holiday events, Christian events, Christmas events.”

WATCH:

GOP Congressman Reveals We CAN'T Deport Terrorists Until They Commit Crimes, The Threat Is WORSE Than Reported, ‘Americans Are Going To Die’ELI CRANE: “18,000 terrorists are just what we know of. We can’t even remove these people until they commit a crime. The way the Biden… pic.twitter.com/UHmNk5kcTo

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 18, 2025

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