Illegal migrant from Lebanon admitted terror ties
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A Lebanese migrant who was caught sneaking over the border admitted he's a member of Hezbollah, he hoped to make a bomb, and his destination was New York, The Post can reveal.
Basel Bassel Ebbadi, 22, was caught by border patrol on March 9 near El Paso, Texas. While in custody he asked what he was doing in the US, to which he replied: "I'm going to try to make a bomb," according to a Border Patrol document exclusively obtained by The Post.
But Ebbadi later claimed in an interview that he had been trying to flee Lebanon and Hamas because he "didn't want to kill people" and said "once you're in in, you can never get out," according to internal ICE documents.
Border Patrol memo exclusively obtained by The Post. Customs and Border Protection
Ebbadi said in a sworn interview after his arrest that he had trained with Hezbollah for seven years and served as an active member guarding weapons locations for another four years, the documents show.
Ebbadi's training focused on "jihad" and killing people "that was not Muslim," he said.
Border agents continue to see a surge in migrants whose names appear on the terror watchlist entering the US illegally as crossings continue at record levels.
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group, has launched missiles into northern Israel following Hamas' attack on Oct. 7 that have killed about a dozen IDF soldiers and seven civilians.
Ebbadi didn't have documents when he entered the US, claiming they were robbed "with a knife" while he was in Costa Rica, according to the ICE documents.
He also admitted to using a fake birthday and name in Sweden, in Ecuador — where he claimed his father resides — and Panama this year.
He said he had originally hoped to go to New York and then move around the country.
Ebbadi was immediately placed into isolation and was referred for an interview with the Tactical Terrorism Response Team (TTRT) for making "terroristic threats to personnel."
Internal documents show he was marked for deportation from the US, although it was not clear which country he would be returned to.
Border agents recorded 98 encounters of terror watchlisted individuals at both the northern and southern borders in fiscal year 2022, an almost twice as many, 172, in the 2023 fiscal year which ends September 20.
So far in the first four months of 2024, 59 people have been apprehended, according to federal data.
The total number of terror watchlisted encounters between fiscal years 2017 and 2021 amounted to just 30 people, but after that time the criteria for being on the list, which has never been disclosed, was expanded.
In an aerial view, immigrants pass through coils of razor wire while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on March 13, 2024 in El Paso, Texas. Getty Images5Asylum seekers cross the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas on in hopes of turning themselves in to Border Patrol for processing on March 6, 2024. Omar Ornelas / El Paso Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
Just days before former President Donald Trump's recent visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, a terror-watchlisted migrant crossed into the area illegally, according to an internal agency memo The Post obtained.
Colombian national Carlos Obed Yepez-Bedoya, 40, was first apprehended by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), which handed him into the custody of Border Patrol.
Border agents made the determination about Yepez-Bedoya's alleged terror ties.
Migrants turn themselves in after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border at Jacumba Hot Springs James Keivom
"This underscores the need for border security measures as potential threats to both public safety and national security are evident and exploit security vulnerabilities," Texas DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez told The Post at the time.
"The federal government has failed to enact border security measures, and the state of Texas, through Governor Abbott's Operation Lone Star, will continue to take unprecedented action to help secure the border," Olivarez said.
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How many gotaways under Biden in 3 years?
Estimated to be in the millions. And the Biden Administration seems to be good with it.
Potentially the dumbest terrorist or person wanting to escape a terrorist organization ever.
If he really was headed to New York and make a bomb he should have kept his mouth shut. Unless his name was on the terror watch list they would have let him through.
If he was afraid of Hezbollah- being a 22 year old male in Lebanon he was prime recruiting material- he should have just said so to begin with. That is an actual asylum claim (unlike looking for employment)- if he can provide proof he (or his family) had reason to fear Hezbollah.
If Hezbollah sent him, and he wanted to be caught- he just should have said so and offered to turn evidence or better still work for the CIA/FBI as a mole.
If he was simply joking about making a bomb- he is a mighty mental midget; we don't need any more of those in the country- we have more than our quota already.
Unfortunately we can't count on them all to be as stupid as he was.
A Haitian migrant now charged with rape of a 15-year-old girl at a Massachusetts hotel housing migrants was allowed into the U.S. by a controversial parole program that allows up to 30,000 migrants a month to fly into the country, sources tell Fox News.
Local authorities in Rockland, Mass., arrested 26-year-old Cory Alvarez, a Haitian national. The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said he went before a Hingham District Court judge on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to a single count of aggravated rape of a child.
Haitian migrant charged with rape of 15-year-old girl entered via controversial parole program: sources (msn.com)
A n illegal immigrant from Venezuela has been accused of being responsible for a head-on collision that killed a 12-year-old Missouri boy.
In December, Endrina Bracho, 33, allegedly sped through a 40 mph lane at 70 mph in the wrong lane, causing her to collide head-on with a vehicle containing Travis Wolfe, 12. Wolfe was taken off life support last week while his parents were hospitalized with significant injuries.
Illegal immigrant accused of being behind head-on collision that killed 12-year-old boy (msn.com)
Well, thanks be they are just here for jobs. Can you imagine the havoc of any came for any other reason?????
/s