Officials familiar with the operation confirmed to media outlets on Tuesday that they arrested eight people suspected of belonging to a branch of the Islamic State in New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia after they crossed the southern border into the United States.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested eight foreign nationals on immigration charges over the last few days, according to CBS News, ABC News, and NBC News sources.
Investigators claimed a wiretap later revealed that the eight individuals had suspected ties to IS-Khorasan, or IS-K, despite there being no national security concerns when they crossed the border last year and earlier this year.
“Over the last few days, ICE agents arrested several non-citizens pursuant to immigration authorities,” the FBI and Department of Homeland Security stated in a statement.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces closely collaborated with the operations. The announcement states that ICE is holding the apprehended individuals for removal proceedings.
The FBI and DHS are currently working to deport the eight migrants, citing a lack of evidence to press terrorism charges. According to sources, government agencies have stated that there is no active terrorist plot.
The eight migrants entered the country without legal documentation, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official, and they received summonses to appear in immigration court.
The arrests came months after FBI Director Christopher Wray urged Congress to raise funds and warned about the “range of threats emanating from the border.”
“Now increasingly concerning is the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, akin to the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia Concert Hall,” Wray said at the time.
“As the FBI and DHS have recently described in public and partner bulletins, the United States has been in a heightened threat environment,” according to Tuesday’s arrest announcement.
“The FBI and DHS will continue working around the clock with our partners to identify, investigate, and disrupt potential threats to national security.”
According to the National Counterterrorism Center, IS-K is one of ISIS’ deadliest branches, carrying out assaults in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, with plans to undertake similar operations in the United States and Europe.
It was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States in 2016.