Under President Joe Biden’s watch, a human smuggling network affiliated with ISIS has brought more than 400 illegal aliens into the United States.
Identified by the Department of Homeland Security as “subjects of concern,” more than 150 of the migrants from Central Asia and other locations have been arrested but over 50 of them are unaccounted for and have not been located within the nation’s borders, NBC News reported.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is searching for them to make arrests on immigration charges after they were smuggled in via the Islamic terrorist network and are believed to be spread out over 17 states.
(Video Credit: NBC News)
The Biden administration boasted about tracking down the illegal migrants out of “an abundance of caution.”
“In this case, it was the information that suggested a potential tie to ISIS because of some of the individuals involved in [smuggling migrants to the border] that led us to want to take extra care,” a senior administration official said, “and out of an abundance of caution make sure that we exercised our authority in the most expansive and appropriate way to mitigate risk because of this potential connection being made.”
The official noted that since the arrests, there have been no reports of a threat to the homeland tied to the ISIS-linked smugglers.
“Many of the more than 400 migrants crossed the southern border and were released into the U.S. by Customs and Border Protection because they were not on the government’s terrorism watchlist, according to the three officials, and the agency did not have information raising concerns at the time,” NBC News noted.
But migrants from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Russia have reportedly been under more scrutiny as of late because of ISIS-related activity in those areas and in light of recent terrorist attacks in Russia.
“The fact that the whereabouts were unknown is clearly alarming,” former FBI counterterrorism section chief Christopher O’Leary said.
“I believe the [U.S.] is scrambling to locate these individuals, and using the immigration charges is not uncommon,” O’Leary added. “They are in violation of that law. And if you need to take somebody off the street, that’s a good approach to do it.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray warned of a “possibility” of an upcoming terrorist attack on U.S. soil when he testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee last year.
Wray warns of Hamas-inspired terror attacks while his FBI has been busy chasing Trump supporters https://t.co/dHpPr2Ldm1 via @americanwire_
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) November 1, 2023
Earlier this month it was reported that eight migrants with suspected ties to ISIS were arrested in multiple U.S. cities after they illegally entered the country through the wide-open southern border.
“Thousands of migrants from those countries are already inside the U.S. awaiting court decisions on whether they can stay,” NBC News reported. “Some of those detained or deported to date have been charged with immigration violations. None have been charged with terrorism-related offenses.”
Federal law enforcement agencies are reportedly “not panicking” about those who have been identified as causing “concern,” according to two officials cited by the outlet.
“The Department of Homeland Security’s technology, procedures, and coordination were not fully effective to screen and vet noncitizens applying for admission into the United States,” the DHS Office of Inspector General said in a recent report on vetting migrants at the border.
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Author: Frieda Powers
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