Update: Six Suspected Russian Terrorists Turn into Eight From Tajikistan

Courtesy of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

On Tuesday, an announcement was made that ICE used a sting operation to arrest six Russian nationals with ties to ISIS. 

According to initial reports, the sting operation involved three cities - New York City, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. The six hailed from Tajikistan. It was reported that the FBI gave ICE a heads-up last week and that is when ICE moved in. A wiretap was used in the sting. One Russian was heard talking about bombs. 

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My immediate question was whether or not the Russian nationals are in the United States legally. At the time of the initial report, one was said to have entered illegally and released into the United States with a court date for next year. That Russian was the one who was wiretapped. His ties to ISIS emerged after his release.

The more time passes, the more the story grows. It's no longer six Russian nationals, it's eight Tajikistan nationals. Now it is being reported that they were all "fully vetted." It is still reported that ICE worked with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

All eight of the men crossed the southern border illegally. Allegedly no derogatory information was flagged on any of them. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claim that nothing showed up as they were processed. 

Here's the thing - there was no real vetting going on. Tajikistan does not share information with the United States. It's good that ICE worked with the FBI on these arrests but this is something that should never happened in the first place. Real vetting of illegal aliens isn't happening if the pertinent information isn't available before they are released into the interior of the United States.

It's not a coincidence that at the end of last week, eight countries were placed on a list by DHS that declared no one could enter the U.S. from those countries. One of those countries was Tajikistan. DHS knew the story was coming out so it was a last-minute CYA move. 

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One source from inside the sting operation said, "Remember the Boston marathon [bombing]? I’m afraid something like that might happen again or worse." Me, too. Anyone who doesn't understand what is likely coming as a result of known terrorists or terrorist-related illegal aliens freely living in the United States isn't paying attention. 

The number of people on the terror watchlist coming across the border illegally is growing. That doesn't include the hundreds of thousands of gotaways that are spread across the country. We have no idea who they are, where they went, or what they are doing. 

The FBI and ICE sent a joint statement to Fox News when asked about the story.

"Over the last few days, ICE agents arrested several non-citizens pursuant to immigration authorities. The actions were carried out in close coordination with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces. The individuals arrested are detained in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.  As the FBI and DHS have recently described in public and partner bulletins, the U.S. has been in a heightened threat environment. The FBI and DHS will continue working around the clock with our partners to identify, investigate, and disrupt potential threats to national security," - DHS/FBI joint statement

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They should never have been allowed to remain in the United States. They should not have been released to do as they wished to do. They fanned out to New York City, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Talk of bombs was going on. They aren't here to live the American Dream. They are here to kill us. 

This is no time for the FBI and ICE to take a victory lap. I shudder to think how many more terrorists are out there planning horrible things against Americans. Joe Biden's border crisis is a national security threat to all of us. He doesn't care. 


 

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Ed Morrissey 12:40 PM | November 21, 2024
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