Eight Tajikistan nationals with ties to ISIS were busted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force in three major cities, a federal source confirmed to Fox News.
The arrests took place in New York City, Los Angeles and Philadelphia in recent days, according to the source.
All eight Tajikistan nationals crossed the U.S. southern border illegally, and according to a federal source familiar with the sting, no derogatory information was initially flagged with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during processing.
The suspected terrorists were "fully vetted" and nothing was flagged, according to Fox News' federal source.
1M ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS COULD BE GIVEN 'AMNESTY' AS BIDEN FACES PRESSURE FROM LEFT WING
Fox News’ source said after the suspected terrorists were released into the U.S., derogatory information was flagged with national security concerns, including the individual’s ties to ISIS.
The sting operation was first reported by the New York Post’s Jennie Taer.
According to Taer's report, part of the investigation featured a wiretap which revealed one of the now-arrested individuals was talking about bombs.
"Remember the Boston marathon [bombing]? I’m afraid something like that might happen again or worse," one of the sources told The Post.
When contacted about the report by Fox News, the FBI and ICE sent a joint statement:
