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WASHINGTON — Eight people from Tajikistan with suspected ties to the Islamic State group have been arrested in the United States in recent days, according to people familiar with the matter.
The arrests have been made in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, and individuals who entered the U.S. at the southern border are being detained on suspicion of immigration violations, the officials said. The officials were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
As of Tuesday, the suspect’s alleged ties to the Islamic State had not been disclosed, but the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) was pursuing the suspect, who is in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which made the arrest in cooperation with the JTTF, and is facing deportation proceedings.
The individuals from Tajikistan entered the country last spring and went through the U.S. government’s vetting process without presenting any information that could suggest they were related to terrorism, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued statements acknowledging “several foreign nationals” had been arrested on immigration charges but did not provide further details. Both agencies noted the US is in an “elevated threat environment.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the United States faces increased threats from domestic violent extremists and foreign terrorist organizations, particularly following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
He said at a recent congressional hearing that officials were “concerned about the impact of terrorism from potentially targeting vulnerable parts of the border.” The Biden administration announced in August that it had detected and disrupted a network attempting to smuggle people into the United States from Uzbekistan, and that at least one member of the network had ties to a foreign terrorist group.
“The FBI and Department of Homeland Security continue to work around the clock with partners to identify, investigate and disrupt potential threats to national security,” the agencies said.
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