An alarming statement by a Republican congressman claimed Tuesday that at least 10 ISIS insurgents have been seized in an attempt to cross and enter the US-Mexico border into Texas. However, Fox News reported that an administration executive has denied the claim.
In a conversation with Fox News, Republican Representative Duncan Hunter said that at least 10 ISIS fighters have been caught trying to cross the Mexican border in Texas.
"There's nobody talking about it. If you really want to protect Americans from ISIS, you secure the southern border. It's that simple...They caught them at the border; therefore we know that ISIS is coming across the border. If they catch five or ten of them then you know there's going to be dozens more that did not get caught by the border patrol," Rep. Hunter said.
CBS DC reported that in August, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey cautioned that the undefended border posed a direct risk for terrorist action penetrating the country. Judicial Watch, the government watchdog group, said that ISIS insurgents were preparing to attack the US with car explosives or other vehicle born improvised bomb devices.
A member of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Hunter said that the 1,933-mile southern border with Mexico is an evident entry point for ISIS terrorists. He added that details regarding the capture of Islamic State militants crossing the border come directly from the US Customs and Border Protection.
However, Hunter's claims were denied on Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security. A senior spokesperson of the agency said that the suggestion that individuals who are linked to ISIS have been seized at the US-Mexico border was categorically untrue and not reinforced by any reliable intelligence or the evidences on the ground.
The Department of Homeland Security spokesman continued that no credible intelligence to suggest terrorist organizations is keenly scheming to cross the southwest border. However, Joe Kasper, Hunter's spokesman said that the information about ISIS affiliations trying to cross Mexico border, came from within the Border Patrol's élite source.
"The congressman was conveying what he knows -- and what he was told. It makes sense that the left hand of DHS doesn't know what the right hand is doing -- it's been that way for a long time and we don't expect that to change," Kasper stated.
Previously, the Obama administration officials have moderated the threat of ISIS militants infiltrating the US through the Mexico border, as cautions about that prospect have spread.
In an interview with Fox News last week, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson recognized reports that four men with alleged terror connections had been seized at the southern border in Texas and interrogated. But Johnson said they were cautiously scrutinized and officials found no proof that the individuals were linked to ISIS terrorism.
Sources also told Fox News that Border Patrol and Homeland Security said that they have not been able to validate Hunter's claim. They said that only five illegal immigrants from "special interest" countries were arrested between Sept. 23 and Oct. 6, at the US-Mexico border in Texas. And they were from Bangladesh with no evidence of ISIS connection.
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