50 immigrants brought to US through an ISIS-tied smuggling ring are unaccounted for by DHS: report

Three Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials told NBC News on Tuesday that 50 out of 400 illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States through a human smuggling network connected to the Islamic State are still unaccounted for.

The revelation comes after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested eight men from Tajikstan in New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles this month over suspected ties to the Islamic State of Iran and Syria (ISIS).

Another illegal immigrant from Uzbekistan was arrested in Maryland in April over a suspected affiliation with ISIS. 

The officials told NBC News that 150 of the 400 illegal immigrants have been arrested, but that 50 remain missing, and that ICE agents are looking to arrest those migrants on immigration charges. 

“In this case, it was the information that suggested a potential tie to ISIS because of some of the individuals involved that led us to want to take extra care," a senior Biden administration official told NBC. "Out of an abundance of caution [we made] sure that we exercised our authority in the most expansive and appropriate way to mitigate risk because of this potential connection being made.” 

The official also said ICE has been arresting people smuggled into the country through the ISIS-tied network for several months.

Three DHS officials said the 400 illegal immigrants were released into the country because they were not on the government's terrorism watch list themselves, and they did not have the concerning information about the ISIS smuggling group at the time.

Two federal officials said the administration is "not panicking" over the missing illegal migrants, but is prioritizing their arrests. Law enforcement officials are also expected to arrest other illegal immigrants that were smuggled in through the group soon. But some of the 150 who were already arrested have been deported, and others might have left the country voluntarily.

Some of the illegal immigrants who have been arrested or deported have been charged with immigration violations, but none have been charged with terrorism or terror-related offenses. 

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.