President Joe Biden is facing mounting criticism after news broke late on Tuesday that eight suspected ISIS-linked terrorists were arrested over the weekend in multiple U.S. cities after they illegally crossed the southern border.
The New York Post, which broke the story, reported that part of the investigation “featured a wiretap which revealed one of the now-arrested individuals was talking about bombs.” Out of the eight suspects, at least two entered the U.S. last spring, and one of those men used the Biden administration’s CBP One app to claim asylum.
Personnel from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made the arrests in New York City, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.
“I am not shocked this happened — we’ve seen this coming from a mile away,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). “For over a year, I’ve been saying this is the most susceptible America has been to a terrorist attack since 9/11/01. This is a direct result of Joe Biden’s border policies.”
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott posted on X: “Joe Biden’s open border policies endanger the lives of Americans. He’s letting in dangerous criminals and people with ties to terrorist organizations like ISIS. We need a president who will put national security FIRST.”
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said the story was “an unbelievable indictment of Biden’s policy of catch-and-release as long as no negative information immediately pops up.”
“Erring on the side of releasing people from Tajikistan who show up at the U.S.-Mexico border—and who we know nothing about—is insane,” he added.
Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick (R) tied the incident to the record of his Democrat opponent, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), saying that he supports Biden’s “open border,” which he said was “putting countless American lives across the country and in Pennsylvania at risk.”
“After 9/11, thousands of us, including my wife and friends, volunteered to protect America and ensure it never happened again on our soil,” said Montana Senate candidate Tim Sheehy (R). “Today there’s a terrorist invasion coming through @JoeBiden and @JonTester’s open border. They’re weak and complicit. SEAL THE BORDER!”
NBC News reported that the eight men were all from Tajikistan. The Post said that among those arrested, six were Russian nationals.
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The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force was reportedly monitoring the men after becoming aware of a potential terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland originating out of central Europe, NBC News reported.
Federal border officials said the suspects were vetted at the border, and no flags came up when they were screened against existing databases. They claim information later became available that indicated the men had ties to terrorism.
This is far from the first time terrorists from around the world have entered the southern border under Biden’s watch. Examples include an ISIS terrorist from Uzbekistan, a Hezb-e-Islami (HIG) terrorist, and an Al-Shabaab terrorist.
The terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland has worsened as a direct result of Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Since then, Islamic terrorists from around have gathered in Afghanistan and started rebuilding their organizations, and the U.S. has very limited options to surveil and disrupt their networks.
