The border crisis could be the perfect opportunity for Islamic terrorists looking to sneak sleeper cells into the U.S., experts say.
Patrols on the Mexican border have been stretched to the breaking point in recent weeks by a tidal wave of immigrants from Central America. Among the estimated 60,000 people who have streamed across is a small percentage of what agents term “Special Interest Aliens,” or SIAs. Terrorism experts say airport security is effective at keeping dangerous jihadists out, but the border breakdown could be America’s Achilles heel – providing an entry point for groups like ISIS.
It’s been known for a long time that a small percentage of illegals caught sneaking across from Mexico hail from terror-sponsoring states. And some of the Islamic terror groups have ties to Latin American drug cartels and gangs, including MS-13. The combination of terrorists’ desire to infiltrate the border and gangs’ know-how could prove dangerous to American security, say experts.
“It’s obviously a concern,” Shawn Moran, vice president and spokesperson for the Border Patrol Council, says. “If you pay the cartels enough, they will sneak you across or assist in getting anything you want across the border.
“It’s definitely a nightmare scenario if they use the borders, north or south, to cross and conduct a terrorist attack,” Moran adds.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry says the record wave of illegal immigrants includes record numbers of SIAs.
“We have record high numbers of other than Mexicans being apprehended at the border,” Perry says. “These are people that are coming from states like Syria that have substantial connections back to terrorist regimes and terrorist operations. So we’re seeing record, historic high numbers of these individuals being apprehended.”
