An African terror suspect was allowed to pass into the US and walk freely for several weeks in a disturbing security slip at the southern border.
The unnamed fugitive, 29, from Senegal, was arrested last month in New York City after it was discovered he was wanted in his home nation for alleged terrorist activities.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) said the suspect was wanted for crimes including criminal conspiracy and destruction related to a terrorist organization.
He was also being sought for acts compromising public safety or causing ‘serious political troubles’, and direct provocation of an armed crowd.
It comes as security fears are mounting at the porous southern border, with sources previously revealing to .com some of Venezuela’s worst gangsters have also snuck into the nation as the migrant crisis escalates.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agents (seen in a stock image) arrested the African terror suspect in New York City on October 18
The arrest comes as over 120,000 migrants have flooded New York City since April 2022 due to lax and ineffective border policies
A group of migrants pictured walking the US-Mexico border wall, as immigration numbers continue to set records including 269,735 border patrol encounters in total in September
The unnamed terror suspect, 29, was arrested outside the Jacob K. Javits center, which houses the Federal Plaza immigration court
The suspected terrorist was arrested on October 17 in lower Manhattan, outside the Jacob K. Javits federal office building which houses the Federal Plaza immigration court.
However, his first encounter with law enforcement in the US came two weeks earlier, when he was stopped by Border Patrol agents at the southern border near Lukeville, Arizona.
Despite his alleged criminal history, the man was merely processed by officials before he was served with a Notice to Appear in New York City and released on his own recognizance, according to Fox News.
But just a week into his stay in the United States, on October 10, ICE Homeland Security Investigation unit officers alerted ERO agents in New York that the dangerous suspect was walking freely in the Big Apple.
He was subsequently arrested seven days later ‘without incident’ in lower Manhattan by ICE’s New York City Fugitive Operations team. The press release did not explain the delay in his arrest.
His presence in New York City also came as the city is struggling to cope with over 120,000 migrants who have flooded into the Big Apple since April 2022 thanks to lax and ineffective border policies.
Journalist Bill Melugin cited Border Patrol sources who explained how the terrorist suspect was able to bypass security measures at the border.
The source reportedly said that if Border Patrol checks ‘come up negative then they assume he’s clear’, and if ‘derogatory info is developed through another source like an attaché of biometrics info, that shows up later’.
He said that information ‘gets loaded into a shared database’, and Border Patrol agents don’t have ‘the luxury of sitting on these folks for weeks.’
New York officials have warned that resources are being stretched thin by the migrant crisis, as they turn to a number of city landmarks and makeshift shelters to house them. Pictured: Migrants line up for housing outside Manhattan’s iconic Roosevelt Hotel
The migrant crisis has seen asylum seekers (pictured outside the Roosevelt Hotel in August) line the streets of New York
NYC Mayor Eric Adams says the Big Apple is receiving over 10,000 migrants every month as he warned the city could be transformed forever
Following his arrest, ERO New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo said the incident should serve as a warning to those who ‘erroneously believe they can exploit our immigration laws.’
‘Noncitizens who are engaged in or suspected of supporting terrorism are a direct threat to our country’s national security and will be expeditiously removed from the United States,’ said Genalo.
‘ERO New York City will use every tool at our disposal to keep American citizens and residents safe from those who erroneously believe they can exploit our immigration laws to escape justice in other countries.’
But Genalo’s claim that the arrest could deter would-be migrant criminals comes as the crisis continues to set records at the border, including a staggering 269,735 encounters with Border Patrol in the month of September, according to data from US Customs and Border Protection.
Increasing numbers of asylum seekers from across the globe, including a recent surge in Chinese migrants, also saw September become the first month on record Mexicans did not count for the largest number of those apprehended at the border.
The 39,733 Mexican migrants was topped by 54,833 from Venezuela, with many of the nation’s worst criminals notably crossing the border and causing chaos in major American cities in recent months.
Sources told .com that dozens of migrants, including henchmen for Venezuela’s dictator Nicolas Maduro, have struck major cities including Dallas, Miami and Chicago.
The influx into Dallas has seen one Venezuelan neighborhood become known as ‘Villa Dallas’, which has descended into mayhem filled with illegal street races, beatings, shootings and extortion attempts.
Residents, overwhelmingly migrants who had recently made the harrowing trek through several countries to reach America, pointed to videos of fights between armed men, broken windows and reckless drivers speeding through parking lots.
A man is brutally beaten in Villa Dallas, the Venezuelan community in North Texas.
In one disturbing clip from Villa Dallas, a man with a shirt pulled over his head was seen being savagely beaten by several men, including taking a kick to the head. Meanwhile, a car’s tires can be heard screeching in the background as shots are fired into the air.
‘They want to do the same thing here that they used to do in Venezuela,’ immigration attorney Rolando Vazquez said.
‘A lot of these people are criminals from the (Nicholas) Maduro regime. ‘Some are ex-security forces. They are professional criminals or part of criminal organizations.’
The group, identified as gang leaders by the person who shared the harrowing footage, comes amid mounting fears over the risks posed by rampant migration and ineffective documentation at the border.
‘The border is mess; Biden needs to admit he made a mistake. He needs to come up with a plan to deport millions of people,’ added Vazquez, of Mexican descent whose wife is Venezuelan.
‘No one’s doing anything about it. ICE could easily deport them for being here illegally or having guns. They need to get deported but nothing is being done. They just keep coming in.’