Over 400 illegal immigrants entered US through ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network: report
Lawmakers are demanding answers following multiple reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has identified more than 400 illegal migrants brought to the United States through an Islamic State-affiliated human smuggling network, as the whereabouts of dozens of them are currently unknown.
The DHS identified over 400 migrants from various locations, including Central Asia, as "subjects of concern." According to an investigative report from NBC Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeks to arrest the migrants on immigration charges. While over 150 have been arrested, the location of over 50 migrants is unknown, three federal officials told the outlet.
The officials claimed that the over 400 migrants who crossed the southern border were not on the terrorist watchlist, which is why Customs and Border Protection released them into the U.S.
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Following a terrorist attack in Russia by ISIS-K, an affiliate of the Islamic State active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the DHS has grown more concerned about scrutinizing migrants from locations where ISIS-K is believed to be active.
A few of the arrested individuals have already been deported, according to NBC, and some of the detained or deported individuals have been charged with immigration violations.
At the time of reporting, the outlet noted that none of the migrants had been charged with terrorism-related offenses.
On Wednesday, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York declared in an X post that "Border security is national security."
The Republican lawmaker asserted that it's "time to END Joe Biden's failed Far Left Democrat open border policies," advocating in favor of the border policies under former President Donald Trump's administration.
Meanwhile, Democrats and some members of the GOP feel that Republicans could have taken steps to secure the border by voting for a 370-page border bill earlier this year. Detractors of the legislation, however, believe that it would have worsened the border crisis.
Earlier this month, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, R-Tenn., released a statement in response to the reports of migrants with ties to IS entering the country illegally, calling for a resolution to the situation.
"Almost weekly we are getting reports that someone with terrorist ties or other major criminal connections has been released into our country by the Biden administration and allowed to roam free for months or even years," Green stated.
"Such bad actors exploiting our borders used to be the exception — it's quickly becoming the rule under President Biden and now-impeached Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas. It's only a matter of time before one of these individuals connected to a terrorist group is involved in something devastating on U.S. soil, and this administration will be responsible. How much longer will we let this madness continue?"
In March, U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 22-year-old Basel Bassel Ebbadi, a Lebanese man who attempted to illegally cross the border near El Paso, Texas.
The man stated in a sworn affidavit after his arrest that he trained with the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah for seven years and served four more as a guard for weapons locations. He also stated that he was in the U.S. because he wanted to "try to make a bomb."
Earlier this year, the DHS denied that it knowingly released an Afghan migrant on the national terrorist watchlist into the U.S, claiming that the man's terrorist ties were not known before his release. The migrant with terrorist ties was allowed to fly domestically and apply for asylum and work authorization.
Mohammad Kharwin was apprehended in March 2023 after he illegally crossed the border, and while there were suspicions he was the same man mentioned on the terrorist watchlist managed by the FBI, U.S. CBP could not confirm the information. The agency released the man after collecting his biometric data but did not tell Immigration and Customs Enforcement bout the Afghan national's potential match to a name on the terror watchlist.
Speaking before the House Select Intelligence Committee in March, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that the agency has seen an increase within the last five years of known or suspected terrorists attempting to cross the southern border.
"The bigger concern is a situation, for example, where somebody presents fake identification documents at the border and there's not biometrics to match up — so there's no way to be able to know that they're not who they say they are," Wray said. "Then, they get into the country; then somehow we find out that they're someone in fact who's on the list."
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
