Washington – The arrests of eight Tajik nationals with alleged ties to ISIS have renewed concerns about the terrorist group or its affiliates possibly carrying out an attack in the US
The arrests in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia came as US officials have been warning for months about the possibility of a terrorist attack and as the US is on heightened alert.
'Everywhere I go I see flashing lights' FBI Director Christopher Wray testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee in December, telling lawmakers, “I have never seen a time when all the threats were at such a constant level.”
In April, he warned of human smuggling operations at the US-Mexico border brought in people who may have been linked to terrorist groups.
On Friday, the State Department announced that the US and Turkey are imposing sanctions on three individuals with ties to ISIS involved in facilitating travel to the US.
Republican lawmakers have used the arrests as the latest flashpoint in their calls for stricter border measures.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina sent a letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, requesting a classified briefing for all senators detailing the ISIS threats against the US were described.
“I believe the threat is urgent,” the South Carolina Republican wrote, asking for a briefing before the Senate goes into recess at the end of next week.
A spokesperson for Graham said they have not heard anything yet. Spokespeople for Schumer and McConnell did not immediately return requests for comment.
In a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma called on officials to “wake up” and criticized the border control process.
“We're literally living on borrowed time,” he said. “What's really happening on a daily basis is that individuals are crossing our border, we're hoping that the FBI can gather information on them after they've already been released into the country.”
The Tajik migrants crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without proper documentation and were issued notices to appear in immigration court, a senior Department of Homeland Security official said. Sources familiar with the operation said the individuals were vetted by law enforcement upon entering the U.S. and there was no indication at the time that they were affiliated with ISIS.
There was no active terror plot, but sources said troubling information came to law enforcement's attention at least partly through a wiretap after the individuals were in the US.
“It is only a matter of time before one of these individuals associated with a terrorist group becomes involved in something devastating on American soil, and this administration will be responsible. How long will we allow this madness to continue?” Representative Mark Green of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement on Wednesday.
In an op-ed he co-wrote before the arrests were reported, former acting CIA director Michael Morell said officials' warnings should be taken seriously.
“Combined, the stated intentions of terrorist groups, the growing capabilities they have demonstrated in recent successful and failed attacks around the world, and the fact that several serious plots have been foiled in the United States point to an uncomfortable but inevitable conclusion. ” according to the piece published in Foreign Affairs. “Simply put, the United States faces a serious threat of terrorist attack in the coming months.
Andres Triay, Robert Legare and Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed reporting.
