Border agents detained three Palestinian migrants who illegally crossed the southern border after they were found to have possible ties to terrorist organizations earlier this month, according to sources.
One of the migrants had “salacious photos” on their phone — including a picture of a masked man holding an AK-47 rifle, federal law enforcement sources said.
In addition to the three Palestinians, federal authorities caught one migrant from Turkey who was also suspected of having ties to terror groups.
The migrants were among groups of dozens of migrants who turned themselves in to border agents at the San Diego sector, said sources.
An investigation into the migrants is ongoing, sources said. The group was transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating their cases.
It’s the latest example of potential security threats entering the US via the southern border — especially at San Diego.
Overwhelmed Border Patrol agents tell The Post that they do not have the tools to fully vet the migrants who are coming in from all over the world — particularly into the San Diego area.
Mostly, they are only able to use US terror watchlists and other American resources to help determine which migrants could be a terror threat. Border agents do not have access to terror or criminal databases from other countries.
“Knowing who these guys are, we have, like, no access to anything international. Like, we really don’t and it kind of sucks,” said one border agent, who spoke anonymous because they were not authorized to give public statements. --->READ MORE HERE
As of June 26, Department of Homeland Security identified 400 migrants who have been smuggled into the United States via networks affiliated with the Islamic terror group ISIS.
The government department admitted the whereabouts of 50 of those people was still unknown. As of June 20 this year a further 90 suspected terrorists were encountered and stopped at the Southern Border.
Those fiendish undesirables are not alone. As a map assembled by The Post shows, from one end of the United States to the other, intelligence failures between government departments have allowed potential terrorists over the border.
Once their terror ties are realized, the FBI and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement then have to locate the individuals — sometimes years after they were admitted.
Although the DHS tries to keep most of these situations under wraps, The Post has identified cases involving 16 individuals from California to North Carolina who were hiding in plain sight, often blending in among the millions of migrants who have crossed into the US in recent years.
“If I am in law enforcement, I am looking at this and saying there are way too many numbers for it to be a one-off,” Seamus Hughes, terrorism expert at University of Nebraska Omaha, told The Post, while speaking of breaches at the Southern Border.
“Alarm bells are ringing and it is a significant concern for law enforcement.”
Here is a cross-country chronicle of the alleged terrorists who have thankfully been apprehended. --->READ MORE HERE
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