Border patrol agents apprehended at the southern border yet another Iranian on the terror watch list, officials confirmed as conflict wages on in Israel with Iran-backed Hamas terrorists.
The man in his 40s is the fourth Iranian to be apprehended by customs officials since the start of October.
The rise in crossings from individuals on the terror watch list comes in the days prior to and following Hamas terrorists launching a horrific attack on Israel, an event which many are calling Israel’s 9/11.
Iranians who cross illegally are regarded as ‘special interest aliens’ because the Department of State views the Islamic Republic as a hostile nation that poses a threat to national security.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said last week that Iran was ‘broadly complicit’ in the recent unprecedented attacks on Israel because of the nations support of terrorist organizations worldwide.
Also this month, two men from Lebanon, the home of terror group Hezbollah, were arrested at Eagle Pass, that’s in addition to an Egyptian man while in another area, a further 19 Iranians and 17 Syrians were apprehended.
Iranians who cross illegally are regarded as ‘special interest aliens’ as the US Department of State views the Islamic Republic as a hostile nation
U.S. Border Patrol agents help migrants trapped by the current of the Rio Grande river on an air boat
These latest apprehensions came after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel last week, the National Security Council has called Iran ‘broadly complicit’ in the violence
The latest Iranian taken into custody was blending into a group of Venezuelan migrants when he was located at approximately 3 a.m. on Sunday. He was arrested without incident, a Fox News report notes, just after crossing the border.
Hezbollah has pledged allegiance to Hamas amid Israel’s counter-offensive against the terror group.
Iran’s alleged link to the attacks have come under fire from Republicans who claim that the Middle Eastern country is funding Hamas terrorism in Israel – specifically through the $6 billion paid from the Biden administration to Iran for the release of five hostages who were held in Tehran last month.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, provide funding, training and weapons for the Sunni Islamist political and military organization of Hamas.
The U.S. and several other western nations have designated both Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations.
Hamas is the de facto government of the Palestinian enclave in the Gaza Strip but also has a presence in the West Bank.
Border agents are on high alert, keeping a keen eye on whether those on the terror watch list – or from hostile nations– are illegally entering the country in the wake of the attack on Israel.
There has been no confirmed repots that Iran, or any other nation, helped Hamas terrorist to plan its barbaric attack on Israel. The Biden administration has repeated several times that they have not found proof of Iran links to the attack against the Jewish State.
In September, the Department of Homeland Security said in a report that there is a growing number of ‘special interest aliens’ attempting to cross into the US while warning that ‘terrorists and criminal actors may exploit the elevated flow and increasingly complex security environment to enter the United States.’
‘Individuals with terrorism connections are interested in using established travel routes and permissive environments to facilitate access to the United States,’ the report added.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin obtained the data from Border Patrol sources
A surge in arrivals has caused New York to say that it is full, directing migrants to go elsewhere. This file photograph shows people waiting outside the Roosevelt hotel for beds
A special interest alien is a person who may pose a national security threat to the US.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, not all SIAs are terrorists, it’s just a designation.
Following the news of the apprehensions, GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy wrote on X: ‘This is unacceptable & downright dangerous. Protect the homeland without apology: that’s my top national security priority.’
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A Customs and Border Protection source told Breitbart that although most SIAs are not terrorists, the high volume of border crossings makes it harder for officials to establish who is legitimately seeking asylum and who is a threat.
‘It’s understandable that people will flee from countries where terrorism exists, but with such high numbers of migrants from everywhere crossing daily, it’s hard to distinguish between those fleeing the conditions and those who may be actively participating in those activities,’ the source said.
In all, more than 70,000 migrants have been picked up from countries of particular concern, according to leaked Custom and Border Protection data.
They include 6,386 nationals from Afghanistan, where the Taliban took control in 2021 after a 20-year war, 659 people from Iran, which backs the terrorist group Hamas, and Syria, which is designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.
But the bulk come from NATO ally Turkey and the West African nation of Mauritania, which is battling extremist violence.
The numbers were obtained by Fox News reporter Bill Melugin.
‘Border Patrol sources tell me they have extreme concerns about who is coming into the country because they have little to no way of vetting people from these special interest countries,’ he said on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter.
‘I’m told unless they have committed a crime previously in the US, or they are on some sort of federal watchlist, there’s no way to know who they are because most of their home countries don’t share data/records with the US so there is nothing to match a name to when BP agents run fingerprints.’
‘Special interest aliens’ are defined by their country of origin, rather than accusations of intelligence about particular individuals.
The term is used by federal agencies to refer to people coming from countries that have conditions that favor or harbor terrorism, or pose a potential national security threat.
The result is a conundrum for U.S. authorities. Countries that are home to violent terrorist movements are also the countries with a population desperate to flee to safety.
People arriving at the U.S. border included 13,624 people from the central Asian of Uzbekistan, which shares a frontier with Afghanistan, and which has supplied foreign fighters for other militant groups.
Last week, President Joe Biden defended his administration’s decision to waive 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow for construction of roughly 20 miles of additional border wall, saying he had no choice but to use the Trump-era funding for the barrier to stop illegal migration from Mexico.
Asked if he thought such walls work, he said flatly, ‘No.’
The new construction was announced in June, but the funds were appropriated in 2019 before the Democratic president took office.
Biden said he tried to get lawmakers to redirect the money but Congress refused, and the law requires the funding to be used as approved and the construction to be completed in 2023.
‘The money was appropriated for the border wall,’ Biden said. ‘I can’t stop that.’
The decision comes as the Biden administration is struggling to manage increasing numbers of migrants at the border and spreading out in the larger US Democratic leaders in New York, Chicago and Washington are asking for federal help to handle the growing numbers of migrants in their cities.
Administration officials on Thursday announced they’d resume deporting migrants back to Venezuela, as part of their effort to to slow arrivals.
Republicans, for their part, are hammering the president as ineffective on border policy, with some suggesting they would not fund any more efforts in Ukraine without a substantial increase to border security funding.
