Three Palestinian migrants with possible terrorist connections were detained by border agents this month after illegally crossing the San Diego-Mexico border, reflecting a wider inability by the state to prevent threats from entering the country, the New York Post stated in an exclusive Sunday report.
Border agents found pictures of a masked man holding an AK-47 in the phone of one of the migrants. The federal authorities also detained a Turkish migrant with suspected terror connections.
While the Post was not told what terrorist groups the migrants were affiliated with, San Diego Customs and Border Protection agents were told in October to look closely for individuals with Palestinian terror ties in the aftermath of the October 7 attack.
“San Diego Field Office Intelligence Unit assesses that individuals inspired by, or reacting to the current Israel-Hamas conflict may attempt travel to or from the area of hostilities in the Middle East via circuitous transit across the Southwest border,” agents were advised, according to the Post.
“Foreign fighters motivated by ideology or mercenary soldiers of fortune may attempt to obfuscate travel to or from the US to or from countries in the Middle East through Mexico.” The alert listed Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah.
ABC reported on the alert at the time, stating that agents were given an intel document showing various insignias worn by Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Many other migrants have turned themselves in to border officials, sources told the Post. An investigation into the migrants is underway, and the group of Palestinians has been transferred to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force alongside Immigration Enforcement for further checks.
This is in light of the increasing number of security threats entering the US southern border, particularly through San Diego.
In April, San Diego Chief Border Patrol Agent Patricia McGurk-Daniel posted statistics of migrant arrests on X, which were shown to make San Diego the top region for migrant arrivals across the southern US border since October 1999.
The Post spoke to Border Patrol agents, who said they felt under-equipped to vet migrants coming in and also spoke of the difficulty in recognizing terror threats without having access to other countries’ criminal databases. The agents are only allowed access to US terror watch lists, the Post added.
In a separate article by the Post, Border Patrol facilities in the San Diego region were revealed to be at 150% capacity.
“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.
“I wanted to get into Border Patrol and protect from terrorists. And it’s like, well, I probably let terrorists in the country.”
Biden's crackdowns - did they work?
The group of Palestinian migrants arrived just after the Biden administration restricted the ability of migrants to request asylum. However, the Post claimed this had loopholes.
According to the Post, the San Diego administrative area has a legal loophole. Migrants who arrive there from a list of 100+ countries that won’t accept deportees are then exempt from restrictions and can request asylum.
SCOOP: Border Patrol facilities in the San Diego region were at 150% capacity w/ over 1,500 migrants in custody as of Tuesday AM even w/ Biden's 'crackdown.'The sector is a huge loophole to Biden's order, exempting more than 100 countries from removal.https://t.co/4JiS5TfBVk
— Jennie Taer ️ (@JennieSTaer) July 11, 2024
In April, the Washington Examiner reported on San Diego official Jim Desmond, who said that the region had “3 to 4 boats washing on the shores a week, with illegal immigrants running into neighborhoods, on top of the over 130,000 migrants dropped on the streets of San Diego.”
By Desmond’s estimates “nearly 1,000 people a day dropped on the streets.”
Migrants with terror ties
In June, the Post first reported on eight Tajik migrants with ties to Islamic State who all crossed through the southern border.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been working to locate 50 migrants who arrived in the US with the help of ISIS.