FBI scrambling to track migrants who entered US with help of ISIS-linked smuggler: report
By Melissa Koenig
August 29, 2023 7:48am
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.
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.
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https://nypost.com/2023/08/29/migrants-entered-us-with-help-of-smuggler-who-has-ties-to-isis-report/