The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has flagged over 400 immigrants from Central Asia and other regions as “subjects of concern” due to their association with an ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network, according to three U.S. officials who spoke to NBC News.
To date, more than 150 of these individuals have been apprehended, while the locations of over 50 remain unknown. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is actively seeking to detain these individuals on immigration charges once they are found.
Since ICE began detaining migrants linked to the ISIS-affiliated smuggling ring several months ago, no evidence has surfaced connecting these individuals to threats against the U.S. homeland. Many of the over 400 migrants crossed the southern border and were released into the U.S. by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) because they were not on the government’s terrorism watchlist and did not raise concerns at the time.
Recent terrorist attacks in Russia have heightened concerns about ISIS and its offshoot ISIS-K. In recent months, DHS has intensified scrutiny of migrants from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Russia, where ISIS-K is known to be active.
“The fact that the whereabouts of some individuals remain unknown is clearly alarming,” said Christopher O’Leary, former FBI counterterrorism section chief and current member of The Soufan Group, a security consulting firm. O’Leary noted that ICE likely seeks to detain these individuals to mitigate potential national security threats, even in the absence of evidence of an imminent attack.
Federal law enforcement agencies are prioritizing the arrest of these individuals on immigration charges as a precaution. Some of the 150 detained have already been deported, while others’ locations in 17 states are known, with arrests anticipated soon. Some migrants may have left the U.S. voluntarily.
None of those detained or deported have been charged with terrorism-related offenses; they have been charged with immigration violations. Earlier this month, ICE arrested eight Tajik men in New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles for suspected ISIS affiliations. NBC News previously reported the arrest of an Uzbek man in Baltimore, alerted by his home country about his ISIS ties. He lived in the U.S. for over two years before his April arrest.
In April, NBC News reported on an Afghan, Mohammad Kharwin, whose name was on the U.S. terrorist watchlist. He was released by CBP due to insufficient information and was later detained and released again on bond after a court hearing. He was rearrested hours after NBC News published a story on his case.
The DHS Office of Inspector General recently criticized DHS’s screening and vetting procedures at the southern border in a report, highlighting deficiencies in technology, procedures, and coordination. The Republican-led House Homeland Security Committee has requested an unredacted version of the report to assess DHS’s handling of this national security issue.
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6 Responses
But were they in a CARAVAN??? I need to know how scared to be!
Democrat operative Alejandro Mayorkas swore to the American sheeple that our southern border is secure. If you disagree, you’re spreading racist disinformation and Merrick Garland will go after you.
Aha. So maybe when Trump says to build a wall, it’s not such a terrible idea huh?! I mean anyone with even half a brain knew this was only a matter of time before terrorists began taking advantage of the southern border that’s wide open!
Connect the dots. There are massive amounts of money on the border. It costs 5 figures to join a caravan. If you are from Africa or Asia you are spending about $72,000 per the AP to get to the US. They pay a cut to the cartels too. Cartels are affiliated with hamas/hezzy/isis as they’ve been stating since even Obama and before. There are a lot of NGO’s and organizations on the border doing their tasks as well and special interest. WSJ did a report of the charity money that flows to Gaza from corporations through all of the do-good sounding shell organizations. And so on and so forth.
The border is too big to fail and who wants to stand up to that? And risk not finishing your term? Or even being reelected?
Only 1 cure for this is known unto mankind:- Vote for President Donald Trump שליט”א the soon to be 47th President of the United States of America 🇺🇸 come November 5th
This is an argument for an immigration policy that effectively stops illegal border crossing and allows those wanting to be immigration to come legally, and be checked out before entry. The vast majority of Hispanic (largely indigenous) migrants are no threat and are a potential economic asset. Middle Easterners wanting to immigrate, unless they are fleeing Islam, are probably a threat and at least need vetting.