Migrants entered US with help of smuggler who has ties to ISIS: report

August 29, 2023

The FBI is reportedly scrambling to find more than a dozen Uzbek nationals who sought asylum in the US earlier this year, after intelligence officers discovered they traveled to the southern border with the help of a smuggler who has ties to ISIS.

Officials are working to “identify and assess” all of the individuals who gained entry into the country, National Security Council spokesman Adrienne Watson told CNN.

Migrants are pictured at the southern border with Mexico. — More than a dozen Uzbek migrants gained entry to the United States from the southern border earlier this year.

a federal agent — Officials are working to “identify and assess” all of the individuals who gained entry into the country.

Migrants turn themselves in for processing after crossing the U.S.-Mexico Border at the Rio Grande River on Tuesday, May 9, 2023 in El Paso, Texas. — Officials are also scrutinizing a number of migrants as possible criminal threats, according to two unnamed federal officials.

Authorities say no specific ISIS plot has been identified.

Migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border wait to be transported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. — Migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border wait to be transported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.

Migrants were seen being searched after surrendering to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers after crossing the U.S.-Mexico Border in Yuma, Arizona.

They are also scrutinizing a number of migrants as possible criminal threats, two unnamed federal officials told the news network. But authorities say no specific ISIS plot has been identified.

“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 stressed.

Authorities say the migrants requested asylum at the border with Mexico earlier this year, and were screened by Homeland Security.

Nothing in any of the intelligence community’s databases raised any red flags, CNN reported, and they were all released into the US pending a court appearance.

It was only later that the FBI learned of a smuggling network helping Uzbeks into the US — which involved at least one individual with ties to ISIS.

The bureau began a nationwide search for the migrants, and also worked with Turkish authorities, who apprehended the smuggler and other members of the network, the report said.

It has since received more information from that unnamed smuggler to aid in the bureau’s investigation, officials said.

Ever since, Homeland Security has been detaining, vetting, and ultimately expediting the deportation of migrants who “fit the profile associated with individuals who were facilitated by this network,” Watson said.

The ISIS-linked smuggler is not believed to be a member of the terrorist organization, but is rather an independent contractor who has personal sympathies with the organization, the NSC rep said.

The intelligence community also says it is unlikely he was assisting the migrants at the behest of ISIS, and most are simply believed to be seeking a better life in the US.

But many have not yet been located, and more than 15 that have been tracked down are still under scrutiny as possible criminal threats.

The discovery of the ISIS-linked network has set off alarm bells in Washington, at a time when Republican presidential candidates harp on the security of the southern border.

An urgent classified intelligence report was circulated to Biden’s top cabinet officials in their morning briefing book, CNN reported, and the revelation kicked off a slew of urgent meetings among top national security and administration officials.

Staff on key congressional committees have also been informed.