Shocking numbers reveal 400 ISIS-affiliated migrants snuck into US

US federal agents are racing to round up over 400 immigrants who were smuggled into the US through the border by an ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network from Central Asia and are considered 'subjects of concern.'

The migrants crossed the southern border, and although they were vetted by US Border Patrol during entry, they could not be detained at the time since they were not on the government’s terrorism watchlist, according to NBC News. 

While the migrants are not currently tied to a specific terror threat or plot against the American homeland, they could still pose a danger given their ties to ISIS which carried out an attack in Russia last week.

In recent months, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has already arrested 150 of the 400 migrants. 

However, the location of 50 of them is totally unknown to US authorities.

Illegal immigrants from over 170 countries have been flooding across the border in the San Diego area, one of the busiest border crossings in the nation 

'The fact that the whereabouts were unknown is clearly alarming,' former FBI counterterrorism section chief Christopher O’Leary, told NBC. 

The security expert added that when these particular migrants are taken into custody, they're being arrested on immigration charges, not terrorism related violations. 

'I believe the (US) is scrambling to locate these individuals, and using the immigration charges is not uncommon,' he said. 'They are in violation of that law. And if you need to take somebody off the street, that’s a good approach to do it.'

For the 400 that have been caught, some have already been deported.  

The rest are scattered in 17 states across the nation and their arrests are imminent.

Chinese migrants are among the nationalities entering the US in unprecedented numbers in the last year 

In April, the San Diego region surpassed Tucson, which had been the nation's busiest, and fell to second with 31,219 border encounters. El Paso sector, which includes the West Texas city and all of New Mexico, rose to third with 30,393.

East of San Diego, migrants who have paid human smugglers to come across the border arrive to remote areas of the border with suitcases, suggesting they likely flew into a large city in Northern Mexico and had a relatively easy and quick journey into the US

The over 400 migrants are believed to be from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Russia.

Those nations have well-established connections to ISIS and its offshoot, ISIS-K. 

Eight Tajikistan men were detained in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles for their possible ties to ISIS earlier this month. 

In April, a man from Uzbekistan who'd been living in the US for over two years was arrested after his country alert the US that terror.

He was arrested in Baltimore in April. 

A $13 billion business of trafficking humans from Mexico into the US has been described as whac-a-mole by border experts- where one area flares up as others quiet down. Since February, the Mexican government has also stepped up its efforts to keep migrants in Mexico before they can ever reach the US.

The San Diego sector of the Border Patrol has become the busiest in the nation in recent weeks 

Asylum seeking migrants from South and Central America, including South Asia, walk between two border walls as they look to surrender to immigration officials after crossing into the United States from Mexico in San Diego, California

'The problem is the volume of people coming across the Southern border,' O'Leary added. 

'Individuals from ISIS and other affiliated groups have recognized it as a weak point in our defense, and they're using this opportunity to try to sneak in.'

From October to May, over 2.2 million migrants have been encountered at the nation's border, trying to cross the international boundaries. 

This includes so-called asylum-seeking migrants who seek out Border Patrol agents so they can surrender in hopes of being allowed to stay in the US while the courts decide if they qualify for asylum.

It also includes those who enter illegally and are caught and deported to their home countries.

This year's crossings are already on track to eclipse 2023's border encounters, which totaled 3.2 million for the entire year.