US intelligence warns of the entry of ‘dangerous individuals’ from Mexico border

The U.S. intelligence community has warned of the national security risks facing the country following Israel’s offensive in Gaza after the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Monday that the situation on the border with Mexico, which has seen record numbers of irregular crossings in recent months, represents a risk that could be exploited by international terrorist organizations. “We are seeing a wide array of very dangerous threats that emanate from the border,” Wray said.

Asked to elaborate by Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, Wray stated that his institution has detected a human trafficking network whose overseas facilitators have ties to Islamic State (ISIS). “We’re very concerned about [the network] and we’ve been spending an enormous amount of effort with our partners to investigate,” the FBI director said. “We’ve had dangerous individuals enter the United States of a variety of sorts,” he added.

Wray made it clear that he did not want to go into detail in an open session of the annual Worldwide Threats Assessment hearing. Once a year, all the heads of the nation’s top intelligence agencies appear before lawmakers to detail the threats facing the United States. In attendance on Capitol Hill Monday, in addition to the FBI director, were Avril Haines, director of the National Intelligence Agency; William Burns, head of the CIA; Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Military Intelligence Agency; Timothy Haugh, of the National Security Agency, and Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence Brett Holmgren.

Wray indicated that the institution is currently investigating the plans of the network, which he did not mention by name. At another point, however, Wray assured the legislative body that, for the moment, the agency is “not tracking any terrorist plots” that have entered the U.S. through the border with Mexico. “Of course, we are concerned about vulnerabilities that could be exploited by terrorist organizations,” he added after a question from Texas Senator John Cornyn.

Wray briefly recalled a case from May 2022, when the FBI succeeded in dismantling a plot aimed at assassinating former President George W. Bush. The attack was planned by Shihab Ahmed Shihab, who arrived in the United States irregularly in September 2020. Months later, living in Columbus, Ohio, he applied for asylum despite operating a human trafficking ring. According to federal agents, Shihab used contacts in Egypt to locate and recruit former members of Iraq’s Baath party, loyal to Saddam Hussein. The goal was to get these men out of Iraq, send them to Brazil, and then cross them into U.S. territory through the Mexican border to expand the organization’s presence.

Drug trafficking was also discussed during the session. Avril Haines, director of the National Intelligence Agency, spoke of the fight against fentanyl, the potent synthetic opiate that has caused a health crisis of major proportions in the United States. “More than 100,000 Americans have died from drug-related overdoses during the past year and most of those deaths have been attributed to illicit fentanyl,” Haines told the committee. “As such, the threat from fentanyl and other synthetic drugs to the health and welfare of everyday Americans remains a top priority for the intelligence community.”

Republican lawmakers attempted to exploit the vulnerability of the border during the hearing. President Joe Biden’s handling of immigration policy is becoming a major campaign issue in the run-up to the November 5 presidential election. Republican politicians have described the intense activity at the border as a crisis that places U.S. homeland security at risk.

“Last year, 169 individuals on the list of potential terrorists were apprehended at the border with Mexico. And this year it’s 58,″ said Cornyn, who has announced his intention to seek leadership of the Republicans in the Senate following Mitch McConnell’s announcement that he will retire at the end of this legislature. Cornyn also recalled that last year 37,000 Chinese nationals were apprehended at the southern border, a figure ten times higher than in 2022. Wray, however, claimed it was impossible to distinguish between those who attempted to enter the U.S. with criminal intent or who simply wanted to flee the Communist Party.

Gaza repercussions

Haines also warned that the Gaza conflict is “likely” to have “a generational impact on terrorism.” She said Israel’s response to terrorist acts perpetrated by Hamas have given new motivation to jihadist cells with links to al-Qaeda and Islamic State. The National Intelligence Agency director said the war has already inspired “acts of antisemitism and Islamophobic terror worldwide.”

The risks that the conflict in the Middle East could aggravate were addressed in the annual threat assessment report of the intelligence community, which was released in February. The document notes that Hezbollah will continue to press Israel with restrained force to prevent Benjamin Netanyahu’s government from declaring open war against Lebanon. U.S. intelligence also predicts the continuation of attacks on its interests in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militias.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition