Citing its sources, NBC News reported yesterday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested eight men from Tajikistan with potential ties to ISIS in Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles over the weekend.
According to NBC News, the men were on the radar of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force due to their potential ties to ISIS, the sources said.
A joint statement from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI says, “Over the last few days, ICE agents arrested several non-citizens pursuant to immigration authorities. The actions were carried out in close coordination with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces. The individuals arrested are detained in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”
Sources told NBC News the eight men crossed through the southern border into the United States and their criminal background checks came back clean at the time. At least two of the men crossed the border in the spring of 2023 and one of the men used the CBP One app, which was created by the Biden administration to allow migrants to book appointments to claim asylum, according to officials.
Sources said the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Taskforce was aware of a potential terror threat originating in central Europe and began monitoring the eight men as part of the investigation. The FBI monitored the men for several months and kept a close eye on their activities, an official said.
None of the eight men are currently charged with terrorism. However, the FBI still alerted ICE that the men should be arrested due to potential ties to ISIS. The eight men were all arrested on immigration charges, sources told NBC News. They are currently detained and are facing removal proceedings in front of an immigration judge. They could later face terrorism-related charges, sources said.
As it had been reported earlier, New York Post (NYP) reported on June 9 that according to a leaked memo obtained by NYP, adult migrants from Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan who illegally crossed into the San Diego border sector will be immediately sent for removal from the United States.
The Republican Party senator Steve Daines reportedly told reporters at a press conference on February 27 that a 'high-level individual' warned him that over 50,000 Central Asians crossed illegally into the United States last year. That same individual from Central Asia, Daines said, also expressed concern about a possible terror attack within the U.S., as the migrants could be a 'part of sleeper cells for a possible terror attack on American soil.'
