Review
"In his new book, Bensman delivers an accurate and nonpartisan look at the threat, details what the American counterterrorism effort has done behind the scenes to address it, and how the counterterrorism project can be strengthened as the threat of terrorist infiltration intensifies. Bensman takes both Republicans and Democrats to task over cases of the former overstating the threat and the latter completely understating it." –Leah Barkoukis, online features editor for Townhall.com
"Amidst multiple international crises, most of the media has lost sight of the jihadi threat to America. Todd Bensman is a welcome exception. His investigative reporting on continuing terrorist attempts to infiltrate the United States deserves wide attention from specialists and the general public alike." –Clifford D. May, Founder and President, The Foundation for Defense of Democracies
"Drawing upon his unique experiences, both as a counterterrorism professional within the Texas Department of Public Safety, as well as his many years as an investigative journalist, Bensman utilizes a vast range of primary sources to provide an unmatched, richly detailed account of the vulnerabilities to terrorist infiltration that exist at the United States' southern border. Timely and engaging, this book cuts through the otherwise deeply politicized debate that surrounds this topic to give a clear-eyed, factually based account of the treat as we know it, the counterterrorism machinery that was put in place after 9/11 to defeat it, and the worrisome holes in the system that persist to this day. Simply put, it is a must-read for anyone wishing to get to grips with this issue." –Sam Mullins, professor at Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies and author of "Jihadist Infiltration of Migrant Flows to Europe: Perpetrators, Modus Operandi and Policy Implications"
"Journalist and former counterterrorism intelligence manager Todd Bensman shines a spotlight into a complex issue that few truly understand. Trust me when I say this: Bensman has been in the trenches and behind the scenes to safeguard Texas. He deserves our thanks." –Fred Burton, former Diplomatic Security Special Agent and New York Times bestselling author of "Beirut Rules," "Chasing Shadows," and "Ghost"
"Progressives on the cultural and political left harbor a lot of dangerous and seditious ideas about illegal immigration. Chief among them is that lax border enforcement and massive waves of third-world migrants are not an invitation to terrorist infiltration. But Todd Bensman's new book, America's Covert Border War, is even more dangerous and seditious because it speaks plain, powerful truth about the very real problem of jihadi infiltration, backed up by the kind of deep reporting that will challenge the assumptions of even the most willfully ignorant, glib, or smug. The book is a well-grounded warning from a longtime veteran of the War on Terror, as well as a bold rebuke to the media's unfortunate culture of denial, avoidance, and resistance." –William McGowan, author, "Coloring The News" and "Gray Lady Down"
"Todd Bensman provides a deeply disturbing national security perspective to failed immigration controls from Panama through Mexico to the southern borders of Mexico to which we were blind. Bensman now examines the threat of lone jihadists and organized groups moving through those countries to the United States. He knows this world from his reporting on the ground in Central America and Mexico and as a government intelligence worker. With this book, we are far less blind." –Dr. Michael Lauderdale, University of Texas at Austin, Clara Pope Willoughby Centennial Professor
"Bensman draws on his many years studying the U.S.-Mexican border to establish the presence of a major, but secret, national counterterrorism project; then to show the serious neglect that hobbles it; and finally, to recommend solutions. He needs urgently to be heeded, lest disaster come via the Rio Grande." –Daniel Pipes, founder of The Middle East Forum, thought leader of U.S. foreign policy in the region, and author of sixteen books on Islam and the Middle East
"Todd Bensman is one of the last remaining authentic counterterrorism experts and investigators on jihadist terrorism, whose new book will mesmerize, shock, inform, and totally enlighten you on the covert war against Islamist militants fought by the government inside the U.S., as well as around the world. Bensman is also an amazingly gifted writer whose book unfolds as though one were reading a great crime novel—with a plot line made for a Netflix series. Even though I have specialized in terrorism for more than twenty-five years, I have learned more from reading the work of Todd Bensman than any other counter terrorist official or 'expert' in the world, bar none. I guarantee you that once you open the first page, you won't put it down till the last." –Steven Emerson, Executive Director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, author of 7 books on terrorism and national security, and the executive producer of two award winning documentaries on jihadist terrorism
"Bensman thus provides revealing insight into a little examined, yet vital topic. As he shows, America’s southern border is one vulnerable point of entry for jihadists into the United States, which only often unheralded vigilance has kept closed. Maintaining this vigilance will require wider public understanding of the border security operations Bensman has experienced firsthand." –Andrew Harrod, author and writer for The Blitz, Jihad Watch, and other publications
"I highly recommend everyone to purchase this book. It probably has some of the most insightful, first-hand accounts of what’s going on with our immigration all throughout Latin America and up through to the border and how that migration chain has evolved and can be abused by nefarious actors that are looking to basically sneak illicit actors into the United States." –Joseph Humire, Executive Director of the Center for a Secure Free Society
About the Author
Todd Bensman currently serves as the Texas-based Senior National Security Fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a Washington, D.C. policy institute for which he writes, speaks, and grants media interviews about the nexus between immigration and national security. For nearly a decade prior to joining CIS in August 2018, Bensman led counterterrorism intelligence for the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division and its multi-agency fusion center. Before his homeland security service, Bensman was a journalist for twenty-three years, covering national security after 9/11 as a staff writer for major newspapers. He earned accolades—such as two National Press Club awards—for his border reporting. Bensman holds an MA in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security (2015, Outstanding Thesis designee). He also holds an MA in journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism (2009) and an undergraduate degree in journalism with honors from Northern Arizona University.
