A Pakistani national currently facing charges in connection with an alleged murder-for-hire plot against former President Donald Trump has been allowed into the US on “serious public interest parole” despite being on a government “watch list.”
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Announced Asif Raza Merchant, a 46-year-old Pakistani native, is accused of plotting to assassinate President Trump and other politicians.
Federal prosecutors allege in their unsealed indictment against Merchant that he first flew into George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, on April 13 and attempted to recruit US-based assassins to carry out the assassination plot.
According to document According to information obtained by Just the News, Merchant was questioned, fingerprinted and screened upon arrival at the Houston airport. During the screening, federal agents discovered that Merchant had recently traveled to Iran, a hotbed of Islamic terrorism.
Just the News reported that Merchant’s immigration record, available to federal agents at the time he arrived in Houston, “was flagged by the Department of Homeland Security’s database with the identifier ‘WATCH LIST’ and clearly stated in bright red that he was listed as a ‘Lookout Qualified Person of Interest.'”
Nevertheless, Merchant was released at the airport and allowed to travel within the United States under the terms of his “significant public interest parole” which was set to expire on May 11. Merchant was ultimately allowed to remain in the United States beyond the expiration of his parole.
Authorities told Just the News that federal agents may have allowed Marchant into the U.S. on such parole to enlist his cooperation in investigations and to apprehend others involved in similar schemes.
During his time in the United States, Merchant was permitted to board domestic commercial flights from Houston to New York City, from New York City to Boston, Massachusetts, and back to New York City between April and June.
Federal agents arrested Merchant on July 12 as he was attempting to return to his native Pakistan before the murder-for-hire plot was carried out. Prosecutors allege that Merchant was directing the plot from outside the United States and was working directly with the assassins he believed to have hired.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter. here.
