Illegal immigrants with 'terrorism ties' will continue to exploit border, Homeland Security report warns

Illegal immigrants with "terrorism ties" are expected to exploit the U.S. borderline arsenic the menace situation remains high, the Department of Homeland Security warned Wednesday. 

The bureau elaborate a fig of warnings successful its yearly Homeland Threat Assessment, which is utilized to pass local, authorities and national agencies astir nationalist information and information threats, saying the "terrorism menace environment" implicit the adjacent twelvemonth "will stay high." 

"Over the adjacent year, we expect immoderate individuals with coercion ties and immoderate transgression actors volition proceed their efforts to exploit migration flows and the analyzable borderline information situation to participate the United States," the appraisal states. 

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Immigrants enactment up astatine a distant U.S. Border Patrol processing halfway aft crossing the U.S.-Mexico borderline connected December 07, 2023, successful Lukeville, Arizona. A Department of Homeland Security Threat Assessment warned of migrants with ties to coercion exploiting the borderline crisis.  (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

"Individuals with imaginable coercion connections proceed to effort to participate the Homeland astatine some the US-Mexico and US-Canada borders and besides done the migration system," it continued.

There were 172 encounters of nationals connected the panic watchlist astatine the borderline betwixt ports of introduction past fiscal twelvemonth and much than 560 astatine the ports of entry. 

The study besides laid retired concerns astir unit successful effect to the 2024 predetermination cycle, which has already seen assassination attempts connected erstwhile President Trump's life, arsenic good arsenic overseas convulsive extremists carrying retired imaginable attacks successful effect to ongoing conflicts successful the Middle East. 

Groups similar ISIS and al-Qaeda "maintain the enduring intent to behaviour oregon animate attacks successful the Homeland and person leveraged the struggle successful the Middle East to reaffirm this intent," the study said. 

"Among authorities actors, we expect Iran to stay the superior sponsor of coercion and proceed its efforts to beforehand plots against individuals—including existent and erstwhile US officials—in the United States," the appraisal warned. 

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In summation to Iran, China and Russia person progressively utilized artificial quality to make "more believable" text, video and audio to scope American audiences portion hiding their origins, the study said. 

The panic watchlist, called the Terrorist Screening Dataset, includes known oregon suspected terrorists, arsenic good arsenic further individuals believed to airs a imaginable menace to the U.S. -- including affiliates of individuals connected the watchlist.

 Immigrants are photographed astatine a U.S. Border Patrol processing halfway aft they crossed the U.S.-Mexico borderline connected December 07, 2023, successful Lukeville, Arizona. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Despite migrant encounters dipping slightly, they are inactive arriving successful precocious numbers, "complicating borderline and migration security," according to the menace assessment. 

"Migrant encounters on the US-Canada borderline proceed to increase, with implicit 181,000 migrant encounters successful FY 2024 done August, compared to astir 170,000 encounters astatine the aforesaid clip successful FY 2023," the study said. "In opposition to the US-Mexico border, galore watchlist encounters on the US-Canada borderline hap astatine ports of entry, and the immense bulk of these individuals person ineligible presumption successful Canada."

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Encounters with migrants from Eastern Hemisphere countries, including China, India, Russia, and occidental African nations, decreased somewhat successful FY 2024 from astir 10% to 9% of wide encounters, but stay a higher proportionality of encounters than earlier FY 2023, the study said.