'Jihadist' Lebanese migrant is caught crossing into Texas and tells Border Patrol 'he was going to try and make a BOMB' - as Biden's border crisis spirals towards catastrophe

A Lebanese migrant who was caught illegally crossing the border near El Paso said he was 'going to try to make a bomb,' according to official records. 

Basel Bassel Ebbadi, 22, also admitted he was a member of Hezbollah when he was intercepted by agents at the southwest Texas border with Mexico on March 9.

He was asked what he was doing in the US while in custody, to which he responded: 'I'm going to try to make a bomb' and he was on the way to New York. 

Ebbadi said he trained with Hezbollah for seven years before taking on a role guarding weapons locations for another four years, according to ICE records seen by the New York Post. 

It comes as a 'migrant crime wave' sweeps the country thanks to hundreds of thousands of people illegally crossing the border each month, as tensions rise between Texan officials and the Biden administration over how to police it. 

Basel Bassel Ebbadi, 22, admitted he was a member of Hezbollah when he was intercepted by agents at the southwest Texas border with Mexico on March 9

His arrest comes as a 'migrant crime wave' sweeps the country thanks to hundreds of thousands of people illegally crossing the border each month

In an aerial view, immigrants pass through coils of razor wire while crossing the US-Mexico border on March 13

Ebbadi said his training focused on 'jihad' and killing people 'that was not Muslim' - but he fled the country because he 'didn't want to kill people.'

'Once you're in, you can never get out,' he added, according to the ICE papers. 

The Lebanese national came to the US without any documentation. He said he lost his papers while he was being robbed at knifepoint in Costa Rica. 

Ebbadi said his training focused on 'jihad' and killing people 'that was not Muslim' 

He also admitted to relaying a fake date of birth and name to officials.

Ebbadi was detained in isolation at the El Paso Hardened Facility before he was interviewed by the Tactical Terrorism Response Team. 

He was marked for deportation from the US, but it's unclear which country he would be taken to.  

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist militant political party recognized by the West as a terror group. 

Members of the group killed three American troops in Jordan late January in a drone attack. At least 34 people were also injured in the strike. 

The wave of migrants arriving at the southern border has continued throughout most of President Joe Biden's tenure. It has led to millions of migrants pouring into the country and straining cities. 

America is expected to be grappling with more than 8 million asylum seekers and migrants who will have crossed over the southern border by September.

The staggering figure represents a 167 percent surge in five years and underscores the challenges faced by what is both an underfunded and antiquated immigration system.

The US' immigrations system appears to be struggling to cope with the rapid numbers of migrants flowing across the border, which reached an all-time high of 302,000 monthly crossings in December

In an aerial view, immigrants wade through the Rio Grande as they cross the US-Mexico border to request asylum on March 13

America is expected to be grappling with more than 8 million asylum seekers and migrants who will have crossed over the southern border by September

Most of the 8 million are now free to roam US streets, including 2 million 'high-priority' cases of career criminals seeking asylum.

The system appears to be struggling to cope with the rapid numbers of migrants flowing across the border, which reached an all-time high of 302,000 monthly crossings in December.

The backlog has left millions of migrants who are currently residing in the U.S., unsure of whether they will be permitted to stay or simply be deported.

Migrants who cross the border may often be forced to wait several years for a decision to be made in their applications. In the meantime, they have been released to American streets.

Recent data suggests the backlog has only swelled during President Joe Biden's term in part reflecting the difficulties his administration has faced in addressing the unprecedented influx of migrants, mainly from Central and South America.

At the end of fiscal year 2023 on September 30, more than 6 million people were recorded on what officials term the 'non-detained docket.'

Government projections, as communicated in Homeland Security documents sent to Congress, suggest the number will have risen to 8 million by October 1.

The number includes people who have been ordered to be deported or who are still awaiting their final decisions in their asylum or immigration cases.

The majority are not being held in limited available detention space and instead are free to roam.

Overall last year, some 2,045,838 people illegally crossed the southern border into the US, according to CBP figures.

These figures are expected to swell this year - while the northern border with Canada is also experiencing an unprecedented crisis.

Illegal crossings from Canada into the US surged 500 percent to 10,021 last year compared with 2022.

Overall last year, some 2,045,838 people illegally crossed the southern border into the US, according to CBP figures

Tensions have been rising for months between state and federal authorities amid a surge in recorded illegal crossings which reached an all-time high of 301,983 in December.

Immigration has become a flashpoint of the upcoming election, with both Biden and Trump conducting competing visits to the border on the same day.

Last month Texas troopers began arresting migrants crossing the border for criminal trespass before they could surrender to US Border Patrol agents and seek asylum.

The White House has asked the Supreme Court to overturn an injunction preventing it removing razor wire on the banks of the Rio Grande that is a 'risk to human life'.

The DOJ has said the blockade of Shelby Park has left its view of the border there 'limited to a narrow sliver from a single surveillance camera located outside of the newly fenced area'.

It also claims that State authorities have denied Border Patrol access to a boat ramp and a staging area previously used to inspect apprehended migrants.

'Border Patrol agents in a vehicle towing a boat to launch on the boat ramp requested access to Shelby Park, but the Texas National Guard refused to permit them to access the area,' they wrote in the latest filing.

'Border Patrol agents likewise requested access to the staging area and Texas National Guard refused.'

A spokesperson for the Texas Military Department told ABC News the move was intended 'to restrict access to organizations that perpetuate illegal immigrant crossings in the park and greater Eagle Pass area.'