Shocking numbers reveal 400 ISIS-affiliated migrants snuck into US
US federal agents are racing to round up over 400 immigrants who were smuggled into the US through the border by an ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network from Central Asia and are considered 'subjects of concern.' The migrants crossed the southern border, and although they were vetted by US Border Patrol during entry, they could not be detained at the time since they were not on the government’s terrorism watchlist, according to NBC News.
While the migrants are not currently tied to a specific terror threat or plot against the American homeland, they could still pose a danger given their ties to ISIS which carried out an attack in Russia last week . In recent months, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has already arrested 150 of the 400 migrants.
However, the location of 50 of them is totally unknown to US authorities. 'The fact that the whereabouts were unknown is clearly alarming,' former FBI counterterrorism section chief Christopher O’Leary, told NBC. The security expert added that when these particular migrants are taken into custody, they're being arrested on immigration charges, not terrorism related violations.
'I believe the (US) is scrambling to locate these individuals, and using the immigration charges is not uncommon,' he said. '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.' For the 400 that have been caught, some have already been deported.
The rest are scattered in 17 states across the nation and their arrests are imminent. The over 400 migrants are believed to be from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Russia. Those nations have well-established connections to ISIS and its offshoot, ISIS-K.
Eight Tajikistan men were detained in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles for their possible ties to ISIS earlier this month. In April, a man from Uzbekistan who'd been living in the US for over two years was arrested after his country alert the US that terror. He was arrested in Baltimore in April.
'The problem is the volume of people coming across the Southern border,' O'Leary added. 'Individuals from ISIS and other affiliated groups have recognized it as a weak point in our defense, and they're using this opportunity to try to sneak in.'
From October to May, over 2.2 million migrants have been encountered at the nation's border, trying to cross the international boundaries. This includes so-called asylum-seeking migrants who seek out Border Patrol agents so they can surrender in hopes of being allowed to stay in the US while the courts decide if they qualify for asylum.
It also includes those who enter illegally and are caught and deported to their home countries. This year's crossings are already on track to eclipse 2023's border encounters, which totaled 3.2 million for the entire year.
