Arrests of eight people with suspected links to IS in the US raise renewed fears of terrorist attack

Washington – The Arrests of eight Tajik nationals with alleged links to IS have renewed fears that the terrorist group or its allies could potentially carry out an attack in the United States

The arrests in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia came while US authorities have been warning of a possible terrorist attack for months and the US is on heightened alert.

“Wherever I look, I see flashing lights.” FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in December and told lawmakers: “I have never experienced a time when all the threats were so great all the time.”

In April, he warned that people smuggling operations in US-Mexico border brought people into the country who may have had links to terrorist groups.

On Friday, the State Department announced that the United States and Turkey were imposing sanctions on three individuals with ties to ISIS who are involved in facilitating entry into the United States.

Republican lawmakers used the arrests as the latest opportunity to call for tougher measures at the border.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina sent a letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, calling for a confidential briefing for all senators detailing the threats posed to the United States by ISIS.

“I believe the threat is acute,” the South Carolina Republican wrote, asking for a briefing before the Senate recesses at the end of next week.

A spokesman for Graham said they had not received a response. Spokespeople for Schumer and McConnell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a speech in the Senate on Wednesday, Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma called on officials to “wake up” and criticized the border controls Procedure.

“We are literally living on borrowed time,” he said. “What happens day in and day out is that we hope the FBI gets information on the individuals crossing our border after they have already been released into the country.”

The Tajik migrants crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without proper paperwork and received summonses to appear in immigration court, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official. Sources familiar with the operation said the individuals were vetted by law enforcement upon entering the U.S. and there was no indication at the time that they had ties to ISIS.

There was no active terrorist attack, but sources said law enforcement became aware of suspicious information, at least in part, through wiretapping after the individuals were in the United States.

“It is only a matter of time before one of these people associated with a terrorist group is involved in something devastating on U.S. soil, and this administration will be responsible. How much longer will we allow this madness to continue?” Mark Green, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement Wednesday.

Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell said in a commentary he co-wrote before the arrests were announced that officials’ warnings must be taken seriously.

“Taken together, the terrorist groups’ stated intentions, the growing capabilities they have demonstrated in recent successful and failed attacks around the world, and the fact that several serious plots have been thwarted in the United States point to an uncomfortable but inescapable conclusion,” said the article published in Foreign Affairs. “Simply put, the United States faces a serious threat of terrorist attack in the coming months.

Andres Triay, Robert Legare and Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed reporting.