Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stated Sunday on CBS News that his agency is doing “everything” they can to fight migrant gangs in the U.S., just before being pressed on an Afghan migrant allegedly planning a terrorist attack.
Federal authorities announced the arrest of 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi on Oct. 8 for allegedly planning a terrorist attack in the U.S. on Election Day after he entered the country in September 2021 through a humanitarian parole during the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul under the Biden-Harris administration. On “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan questioned Mayorkas about the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, citing former President Donald Trump’s comments about deporting the group and asking if Mayorkas is doing enough to combat the gang.
“Yes, we are and I think you’re speaking of Tren de Aragua, TDA. Margaret, I was a prosecutor for 12 years. We had criminal gangs to battle back then. We are indeed doing everything we can to dismantle criminal gangs and transnational criminal organizations. Quite frankly we’ve devoted an unprecedented level of resources and personnel and focus to this effort. This is not a new phenomenon, but we are bringing new tools, new capabilities and new resources to the fight,” Mayorkas said.
“Can you quickly explain what the status is with this arrest this past week — or this prosecution we learned of this past week — of this Afghan national who was apparently planning an Election Day terrorist attack on behalf of ISIS. He was in this country. He had immigration status. Was he radicalized before he came to the United States?” Brennan pressed back.
The DHS approved Tawhedi’s humanitarian parole, which would have him held in a third country to be screened and vetted, in 2021 and immediately applied for a special immigration visa (SIV) after entering the U.S., according to Fox News. It is unclear when the 27-year-old’s SIV was approved, however, officials told the outlet there were no red flags that would’ve prohibited him from the U.S.
Mayorkas stated that due to it being an “ongoing prosecution” he wouldn’t be able to speak on the “facts,” but hoped the public would understand what the agency is dealing with.
WATCH:
“So Margaret, it is an ongoing prosecution, so I won’t speak of the facts. But the viewing public is getting an idea of the breadth and diversity of the missions that we in the Department of Homeland Security tackle – ” Mayorkas said.
Brennan followed up by focusing on “vetting versus whether he was radicalized here,” prompting Mayorkas to defend the agency’s vetting process.
“Remember, the individual came through parole, an Afghan national. When we vet, and we do so intensively – when we vet an individual, it’s a point in time screening and vetting process. If we obtain information subsequently that suggests the individual could be of danger, we take appropriate law enforcement action. That’s exactly what we did in this case,” Mayorkas responded.
While border crossings have dropped to their lowest levels since President Joe Biden’s June immigration executive order, illegal crossings under the Trump administration were still significantly lower than under the Biden-Harris administration. By the end of Trump’s term, illegal border crossings totaled around two million, while Biden averaged two million per year from 2021 to 2023, according to the Washington Post.
The Tren de Aragua gang made headlines in September after reports indicated the group had “taken over” multiple apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado, according to property managers cited by the Denver Post. Despite claims by the city’s Republican mayor and Democratic Gov. Jared Polis that the issue was exaggerated, authorities confirmed in mid-September that ten gang members had been living in the city and were “committing acts of violence against members of the migrant community,” according to FOX 31.
Featured Image Credit: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
