U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested eight men from Tajikistan with potential ties to ISIS in Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles over the weekend, sources with NBC News confirmed on Tuesday.
Tajikistan is a country in Central Asia surrounded by Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
The men were on the radar of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force due to their potential ties to ISIS, the sources said.
“Over the last few days, ICE agents arrested several non-citizens pursuant to immigration authorities,” a joint statement from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI said. “The actions were carried out in close coordination with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces. The individuals arrested are detained in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”
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Sources told NBC News the eight men crossed through the southern border into the United States and their criminal background checks came back clean at the time. At least two of the men crossed the border in the spring of 2023 and one of the men used the CBP One app, which was created by the Biden administration to allow migrants to book appointments to claim asylum, according to officials.
Sources said the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Taskforce was aware of a potential terror threat originating in central Europe and began monitoring the eight men as part of the investigation. The FBI monitored the men for several months and kept a close eye on their activities, an official said.
None of the eight men are currently charged with terrorism. However, the FBI still alerted ICE that the men should be arrested due to potential ties to ISIS. The eight men were all arrested on immigration charges, sources told NBC News. They are currently detained and are facing removal proceedings in front of an immigration judge. They could later face terrorism-related charges, sources said.
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Sources also told NBC News the same intelligence that led to the surveillance and arrests of the eight men also led to the arrest of an Uzbek man in Baltimore for an alleged ISIS connection.
Officials have not revealed specifically where in Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles the eight men were taken into custody.
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