A South African national who entered the U.S. illegally was arrested in New York after he was identified on the terror watch list.
According to a September post by Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Chris Olivarez, the South African national and over 30 illegal aliens were first encountered near Del Rio.
Olivarez wrote that 21 family groups were then referred to federal border patrol.
U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens confirmed that the man was first detained in Texas and turned over to federal border patrol, which decided to release him “based on information available at the time.”
However, another post by Olivarez showed that Texas DPS Troopers were receiving Terror Screening Center alerts which read that Umar Farooq Ashraf “may be a spouse or child of a known or suspected terrorist.”
After a recent investigation into Ashraf yielded a positive result on the terror watchlist, an effort by the U.S. Border Patrol and National Targeting Center was initiated to arrest him in Brooklyn, New York.
“Thanks to the coordination of multiple agencies, this potential threat was located, taken into custody, and is now pending removal,” Owens stated.
“Texas arrested him. Joe Biden released him, risking the lives of every American,” Gov. Greg Abbott wrote in response to the news. “I will work with President Trump to arrest, jail, and deport dangerous criminals and suspected terrorists.”
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