Biden Admin admits allowing ISIS-linked group to smuggle 120 asylum seekers into US.

Smuggler with Ties to Extremist Group Helps Uzbek Migrants Enter the‍ United States

A smuggler with ties ​to a foreign ⁣extremist group helped Uzbek⁤ migrants enter the United States from Mexico, the White House said on Tuesday, raising questions about a potential⁢ security⁤ threat.

The smuggler was based ⁢in Turkey⁤ and ⁢had⁢ links to the jihadist Islamic State, also known as ISIS, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. CNN first reported the incident.

The migrants were allowed entry to the United States after​ requesting asylum at the southern border, CNN reported.

Record numbers of migrants⁣ have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, including many from distant nations. The ⁢Uzbek migrants’⁤ entry came as the administration has ignored its own limits ⁤on asylum seekers,‍ allowing more⁢ than a 1,000 migrants to cross the border every day, the‍ Washington Free Beacon reported.

Republicans say Biden⁤ encouraged⁤ crossings by reversing tougher policies of former president‍ Donald Trump, ⁤a Republican. The Biden administration argues that it⁢ has instituted more humane policies as migration has challenged countries across the Western‍ Hemisphere.

Of the nearly two million migrants⁣ encountered‍ at the U.S.-Mexico border between ⁣October 2022 and July⁤ 2023, ⁣216 were on U.S. watchlists for potential links⁣ to terrorism, according to U.S. government statistics.

U.S. intelligence officials discovered a smuggling network to‍ bring Uzbeks into the country and⁢ a smuggler with ties to⁤ a U.S.-designated ‌foreign ‍terrorist organization, White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a ⁣statement.

U.S. authorities ⁢have no indication that migrants aided by the⁢ smuggling ⁤network were tied to extremist groups or plotting terrorist attacks, Watson said.

Watson⁢ did not confirm links to the Islamic ⁤State specifically or that the smuggler ‌was based in Turkey.

Migrants who⁣ “fit the profile” of those assisted by the‍ smugglers are being placed in ⁤rapid deportation proceedings and “thoroughly vetted,” Watson said.

The U.S. official said the FBI is trying to locate about‍ 15 of roughly 120 Uzbek migrants who entered the United‍ States ‍through legal border crossings via the‌ network.

An FBI spokesperson said the agency “has not identified a specific terrorism plot associated with foreign nationals who recently entered the United States at the southern border,” and declined ‌to comment on specifics.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered some 3,200 Uzbeks at U.S borders in fiscal year 2022, up from fewer than ‌700 a ‌year earlier.

(Reporting ‌by Ted⁤ Hesson in Washington; additional reporting by‌ Humeyra Pamuk in Washington, Mica Rosenberg in New​ York, and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; editing by Mary Milliken and Andy Sullivan)