Eight foreign nationals with suspected ties to ISIS were arrested in recent days in a series of coordinated raids in Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles, authorities said.
But officials remained tight-lipped Tuesday on the identities of the people detained and the circumstances that brought them to the attention of law enforcement.A law enforcement source familiar with the matter said all of the individuals initially hailed from Tajikistan and crossed into the United States via the southern border within the last year.
They were allowed to remain in the country temporarily after preliminary vetting uncovered no national security concerns. However, subsequent information indicated that each of the people arrested may have some affiliation to the terrorist organization, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect ongoing investigations.and Customs Enforcement and the FBI would not say Tuesday how many people were arrested in Philadelphia or where and when those arrests took place.
It remains unclear whether any of those detained as part of the investigation, which was first reported by the New York Post, had been charged with a crime. In a statement, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said only: “Over the last few days, ICE agents arrested several non-citizens pursuant to immigration authorities. … The individuals arrested are in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”