The FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) say the United States is facing a heightened terror threat after the arrest of several suspected ISIS terrorists in a coordinated multi-city operation last weekend.
On Tuesday night, media outlets reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had detained eight men from Tajikistan residing in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
It seems that at least one tech-savvy suspect utilized the Biden administration's app-based scheduling system to arrange their asylum claim appointments.
Speaking to Fox News on the condition of anonymity, a federal source revealed that the suspected terrorists were “fully vetted” after they crossed the southern border, some over a year ago. At the time, border agents found no immediate evidence of extremist ties:
All eight Tajikistan nationals crossed the U.S. southern border illegally, and according to a federal source familiar with the sting, no derogatory information was initially flagged with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during processing.
Fox News' source said after the suspected terrorists were released into the U.S., derogatory information was flagged with national security concerns, including the individual's ties to ISIS.
An FBI investigation reportedly confirmed connections between the suspects and ISIS, leading to their arrests.
The sting operation was first reported by the New York Post's Jennie Taer.
According to Taer's report, part of the investigation featured a wiretap which revealed one of the now-arrested individuals was talking about bombs.
“Remember the Boston marathon [bombing]? I'm afraid something like that might happen again or worse,” one of Taer's law enforcement sources admitted.
The arrests over the weekend follows a similar action in May involving an Uzbek migrant in Baltimore suspected of having ISIS ties.
Both the FBI and DHS have confirmed that all eight suspects are now in ICE custody. The agencies also warned of a heightened threat environment for terrorism.
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