The Department of Homeland Security has identified over 400 migrants who were brought to the US from Central Asia and other places by an ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network — and the whereabouts of more than 50 of them are unknown, according to an unsettling report.
More than 150 of the migrants have been arrested, but the location of another 50 remains unknown, three US officials told NBC News, adding that US Customs Enforcement is looking to arrest those involved on immigration charges.
“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 Biden administration official told the outlet, “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 ICE started arresting migrants brought into the US by the smuggling group several months ago, no information has tied them to any threats to the US.
Many of the over 400 migrants involved had crossed the southern border and were released into the country by Customs and Border Protection because they were not on the government’s terrorism watchlist, the three anonymous officials said.
While the agency did not have information raising concerns at the time the migrants entered the country, recent terrorist attacks in Russia have caused heightened concern over ISIS and its offshoot ISIS-K.
“The fact that the whereabouts were unknown is clearly alarming,” former FBI counterterrorism section chief Christopher O’Leary told NBC.
According to O’Leary, ICE is likely looking to arrest these people even if there’s no evidence they are plotting a terrorist attack.
“I believe the [U.S.] is scrambling to locate these individuals, and using the immigration charges is not uncommon,” O’Leary 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.”
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