The FBI is trying to locate more than 12 migrants from Uzbekistan that were released into the U.S. after receiving help from an ISIS-tied smuggler at the southern border, CNN reported Tuesday.
The migrants were permitted to enter the U.S. after seeking asylum earlier this year, according to CNN. Their smuggler is believed to be an independent contractor of the terrorist organization.
A classified intelligence report circulated among Biden administration cabinet officials in a morning briefing book, and urgent meetings were held between top national security and administration officials, according to CNN. (RELATED: Latin American Gangs Have Adopted This New Tactic To Enter The US)
“Intelligence reporting alerted us to a human smuggling network working to facilitate the travel of Uzbek nationals to the United States. As with all identified human smuggling networks—which seek to prey on the vulnerable and evade nations’ legal systems—the U.S. government immediately took steps to successfully disrupt it,” National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“There was no indication—and remains no indication—that any of the individuals facilitated by this network have a connection to a foreign terrorist organization or are engaged in plotting a terrorist attack in the United States,” Watson told the DCNF.
The group of migrants didn’t set off any alarms when they were screened and released from federal custody earlier this year after crossing the southern border, according to CNN.
The FBI solicited the help of the Turkish government, which arrested the smuggler and other members of the smuggling network, according to CNN.
“While the FBI has not identified a specific terrorism plot associated with foreign nationals who recently entered the United States at the southern border, we always work with our field offices across the country, as well as our domestic and international partners, to identify any potential illegal activity or terrorism threats. As always, we ask anyone with information about federal crimes or threats to public safety to report it to the FBI,” the FBI said in a statement to the DCNF.
“DHS and our intelligence, counterterrorism, and law enforcement partners screen and vet individuals prior to their entry to the United States to prevent anyone known to pose a threat from entering the country. DHS continually monitors all available sources of intelligence and information related to potential threats and if any new information emerges, we work closely with the FBI and other partners to take appropriate action,” a DHS spokesperson told the DCNF.
YUMA, ARIZONA – MAY 11: A U.S. Border Patrol agent points as immigrants seeking asylum, who were apprehended at the time Title 42 expired, prepare to board a bus to a U.S. Border Patrol processing center after crossing into Arizona from Mexico on May 11, 2023 in Yuma, Arizona. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
In recent years, federal authorities patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border have recorded an illegal immigration surge. In fiscal year 2022, Border Patrol recorded more than 2.2 million migrant encounters, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
Additionally, Border Patrol has already recorded 1.6 million migrant encounters between October 2022 and July, according to CBP.
Border Patrol also saw a spike in arrests of individuals whose names appeared on the terror watchlist, jumping from 15 in fiscal year 2021, to 98 in fiscal year 2022 and 146 in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2023, according to federal data.
The overwhelming nature of the surge is the perfect opportunity for bad actors to enter the U.S., former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Anybody that doesn’t think that serious threats to this country are sneaking in right now is naïve,” Scott told the DCNF.
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