IS-affiliated smuggling network responsible for arrival of 400 migrants to US
A human smuggling network with links to the Islamic State brought more than 400 immigrants to the US, 50 of whom are yet to be tracked down by authorities.
The Department of Homeland Security is looking into “subjects of concern” tied to the terror group who crossed the southern US border, according to NBC News.
The authorities have arrested more than 150 of the illegal migrants in the past several months and are planning to detain more, but around 50 have disappeared.
A network of criminal gangs and smuggling groups have long operated in Mexico and other central American countries, with the aim of trafficking migrants into the US for a fee.
But US authorities are concerned about recent activity by a smuggling group linked to IS and its offshoot Isis-K, which operates in central Asia.
Many of the 400 people who arrived in the US originated from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Russia.
Most were caught after crossing and released by US customs and border protection because their names were not on the government’s terror watchlist.
Authorities have since discovered the terror link and have started to track them down.
Risk of potential connections
Amid record illegal migration, border security has become a major issue in the presidential election.
Donald Trump, who is set to be named as the Republican nominee next month, argues that Joe Biden’s administration has encouraged “migrant crime” by failing to prevent migrants making the crossing into Texas, Arizona and California.
A US government official told NBC that the administration was taking “extra care” over migrants that had arrived with the help of the Isis-linked group.
Immigration officers have “exercised our authority in the most expansive and appropriate way to mitigate risk because of this potential connection being made”, the official said.
No direct threat to the US homeland has yet been identified from those who crossed with the IS-affiliated group.
Mr Biden has begun tightening border security, in an attempt to dispel concerns about the record number of people entering the US.
However, the plans are hampered by a months-long backlog in the processing of asylum cases in the US. Many who are apprehended by immigration officials are released into the US.
