- On February 5, the Border Patrol intercepted an Afghan national whose name was on a terrorist watch list who illegally crossed the southern border into California, according to an internal federal memo obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation. arrested as.
- According to the memo, Afghan national Arif Tanha was “qualified” on the terrorist watch list as a “known associate” of a terrorist organization.
- DCNF recently reported on an influx of terrorist watchlist individuals illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, some of whom have been released from federal custody for a period of time.
Federal authorities on February 5 arrested an Afghan national who illegally crossed the southern border into California on a terrorist watch list, according to an internal federal memo obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation. .
Border Patrol agents arrested Arif Tanher, 30, at Jacumba Hot Springs in the San Diego area, California, and found him a “positive match” on the terrorist watch list as a “known associate” of a terrorist organization, according to the memo. I decided that there was. The memo does not specify which terrorist organization Tanha is associated with, but the memo, which describes an interview with a federal official reviewed by the DCNF, said the undocumented immigrant had ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. denied.
The Afghan admitted in an interview after crossing the border that he was arrested for four days in 2011 after U.S. special forces and Afghan forces raided his family’s home in Afghanistan, according to interview records. Tanha said federal agents asked her why authorities searched her home and arrested her, but she “just deflected and refused to answer.” (Related article: ‘Fuck ourselves’: Rank-and-file Border Patrol agents slam funding deal to Senate)
DCNF does not release notes from background interviews with Afghan nationals to protect its sources. Tanha, who has made credible claims of fear of returning to Afghanistan, remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody pending legal proceedings, ICE officials said.
Asylum officers interview migrants and determine whether the individual is “sufficient to believe that, if returned to their country, they would be persecuted for their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” Determine whether you have a “founded fear”. Prevent them from returning home and place them in asylum proceedings. according to To U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
During his interrogation, Mr. Tanher told U.S. federal officials that he traveled from Afghanistan to Iran and Qatar, where he obtained visas for Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama before heading to the United States. He was stopped twice for biometric checks and interrogation.
Tanher said he spent $20,000 to get to the U.S. and said his main source of funds was his brother in Kuwait, according to a transcript of the interview.
He also revealed that he was refused entry to Europe in 2020 and lived and worked as a roofer in Dubai from 2014 to 2019. Tanher said he did not know why he was denied entry to Europe.
Daily Caller News Foundation //Jenny Tarr
DCNF also investigated the TikTok account Tanher provided to federal authorities. The account, which has more than 54,000 followers, appeared to share part of his journey and indicated that his goal was to reach Canada. In an interview with U.S. agents, Mr. Tanha gave his address in San Antonio, Texas, and said he planned to reside in the United States with the goal of permanently residing there.
His TikTok account includes a self-introduction, “I love Allah,” and a series of posts showing his Muslim faith and his journey to the United States. One of the posts reads, “May Allah protect Palestine,” along with an image of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Border Patrol recorded 172 arrests of people on the terrorist watch list who entered the United States illegally in fiscal year 2023. From October to December, Border Patrol recorded 50 encounters with people on the terrorist watch list. according to to federal data.
Investigators also recorded 98 encounters with people whose names appeared on terrorist watch lists in fiscal year 2022 and 16 in fiscal year 2021, according to the data.
In recent weeks, the DCNF has reported an influx of immigrants on terrorist watch lists illegally crossing the southern border, some of whom have been released from federal custody for a period of time.
According to a recently obtained internal federal memo, ICE officials in Minnesota said on January 20 that the agency had stopped members of the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab shortly after they illegally crossed the southern border near San Ysidro, California, in March. After he was released, the suspect was arrested. DCNF. The Terrorist Testing Center had deemed the 27-year-old Somali national “unsuitable” for its watch list, but later determined that he was a confirmed member of al-Shabaab after nearly a year in the country.
According to an internal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) memo obtained exclusively by DCNF, on February 6, Border Patrol agents arrested a person who illegally crossed the southern border and admitted to past ties to a Colombian terrorist organization. I was arrested.
Federal immigration authorities recently released a Pakistani national who illegally crossed the southern border into California, but his name was on a terrorist watch list for a day, according to an ICE memo reviewed by DCNF.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not respond to DCNF’s request for comment.
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