Federal agents have arrested eight men from Tajikistan, a country near Afghanistan, because they suspected the men might be planning a terrorist attack in the U.S., according to CBS News sources.
These men, living in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia, were taken into custody earlier this month for violating U.S. immigration laws. They are now in ICE custody and face deportation, as confirmed by anonymous sources not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
Although there was no evidence of a specific planned attack and no immediate threat, the men have ties to ISIS. They entered the U.S. via the southwest border between 2023 and 2024 without proper documents and were initially released with court appearance notices. When intelligence connected them to ISIS, ICE arrested them.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force started investigating by monitoring their communications and social media activity. They discovered the men were in contact with potential ISIS associates and obtained a court-approved warrant to surveil them.
Federal agents were trying to uncover a larger terrorist network, which led to the arrests on the weekend of June 8 in New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.
The investigation continues, but the men have not been charged with terrorism yet. The Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment further. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed the men are in custody, noting that concerns arose after their initial entry.
All eight men face deportation, but this could be complicated if they claim asylum due to potential persecution in their home country. A recent ICE policy change means men from Tajikistan and similar regions are detained while awaiting deportation or immigration hearings.