The former chief of the San Diego Sector Border Patrol revealed during congressional testimony that the Biden-Harris Administration forbade him from releasing information about the number of terrorist suspects who were encountered and arrested at the southern border.

As reported by Just The News, Aaron Heitke gave his testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security; the hearing on Wednesday was titled “A Country Without Borders: How Biden-Harris’ Open-Borders Policies Have Undermined Our Safety and Security.”

“I was told I could not release any information on this increase in SIAs [Special Interest Aliens] or mention any of the arrests,” Heitke revealed. “The administration was trying to convince the public there was no threat at the border.”

Following the hearing, Congressman Clay Higgins (R-La.) declared that the White House was responsible for a “self-inflicted border crisis,” which led to the United States facing a “threat to the homeland from within the homeland.”

“By ending effective Trump era policies and programs that protected us, the Biden-Harris administration has intentionally left us vulnerable to potential attacks from terrorists and criminals who are freely moving around our communities,” said Congressman Higgins.

The mass migration crisis and the unprotected southern border have proven to be one of the top concerns for most voters with less than 50 days to go before the election. In most opinion polls, immigration either ranks as the top issue, or comes in second place behind the economy.

In an effort to distance herself from past radical positions on immigration, including support for mass amnesty and taxpayer-funded handouts for illegal aliens, Vice President Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has since claimed that she will secure the southern border. By contrast, former President Donald Trump has vowed to finish building the border wall that he started in his first term, and has also pledged to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.