U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a Russian national believed to be affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
The individual, born in Tajikistan, was encountered at a California entry point in 2023. He was given a notice to appear before an immigration judge and paroled into the United States, ICE explained.
Tajikistan officials declared the individual a fugitive earlier this month due to his connections to what ICE describes as a “criminal community.”
“Arresting individuals linked to terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda reaffirms our unwavering commitment to safeguard the homeland. Through close collaboration with our outstanding partners at the FBI, we have taken decisive action to make our communities safer and prevent potential threats to the American people,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia Acting Field Office Director Brian McShane. “I commend the dedicated men and women of ICE and the FBI for their tireless efforts and steadfast resolve in protecting this great nation.”
Bill Melugin with Fox News described the arrest as highlighting the “extreme national security concerns associated with the Biden admin’s open border policies to mass catch and release millions of foreign nationals who arrived at the border during their tenure.”
Similarly, a man from Tajikistan was arrested in February after allegedly conspiring to provide material support to ISIS. “Manuchekhri expressed his support for ISIS to others by praising past ISIS attacks in the United States and by collecting jihadi propaganda videos promoting violence and martyrdom,” the Justice Department said. He also “facilitated more than $50,000 in payments to ISIS-affiliated individuals in Turkey and Syria, including to an individual who was later arrested by Turkish authorities for his alleged involvement in a January 2024 terrorist attack on a church in Istanbul for which ISIS-K publicly claimed responsibility.”
