The Department of Homeland Security does not know the whereabouts of roughly 50 illegal immigrants who are "subjects of concern" and were part of more than 400 brought into the United States by an ISIS-affiliated smuggling network, NBC News reported Tuesday.
The 400 were released into the U.S., per Biden administration border policy, because they were not on the terrorist watchlist, reported NBC News, citing U.S. officials.
More than 150 have been arrested — some deported — and DHS knows the whereabouts of another 200 who are scattered across 17 states. However, there are 50 who are roaming the country, actively searched for by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the report.
The worry is that an unknown number of the 400 are possibly linked to ISIS or its offshoot ISIS-K, illegal migrants possibly from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Russia, according to the report.
"The fact that the whereabouts were unknown is clearly alarming," former FBI counterterrorism section chief Christopher O'Leary told NBC News.
ICE has charged the 150 arrested with immigration violations, a charge it will use against the remaining 50 — if they find them.
"I believe the [U.S.] is scrambling to locate these individuals, and using the immigration charges is not uncommon," O'Leary told NBC News. "They are in violation of that law. And if you need to take somebody off the street, that's a good approach to do it."
None of the 150 have been charged with terrorism-related offense, according to the report.
The report comes two weeks after eight Tajik natives with suspected ties to ISIS were arrested in New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. Further, a separate report last week said that more than 1,500 Tajiks have entered the U.S. through Mexico between October 2020 and last month.
The Republican-led Homeland Security Committee sent a letter to DHS on Monday requesting the unredacted version of the DHS Office of Inspector General's [OIG] report released June 7 which found that DHS is failing to adequately screen and vet asylum seekers.
Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., highlighted part of that June 7 report and is seeking answers.
"The Department of Homeland Security's technology, procedures, and coordination were not fully effective to screen and vet non citizens applying for admission into the United States or asylum seekers whose asylum applications were pending for an extended period. Although U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) deployed new technologies to enhance traveler screening, it could not access all Federal data necessary to enable complete screening and vetting of noncitizens seeking admission into the United States," read part of OIG's report.