Congressman Says 10 ISIS Fighters Have Been Apprehended At US Border

10:51 PM 10/07/2014
Chuck Ross
The Daily Caller

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California U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter made the alarming claim Tuesday that at least ten fighters for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have been apprehended trying to enter the U.S. at the southern border.

“ISIS is coming across the southern border,” Hunter told Fox News host Greta Van Susteren.

“You say that they’re coming in the southern border which changes all the dynamics. Do you have any information or any evidence that they are actually coming in the southern border now?” asked the host.

“Yes,” said Hunter.

“Tell me what you know,” said Van Susteren.

“I know that at least 10 ISIS fighters have been caught coming across the Mexican border in Texas,” said Hunter, who received the information from a confidential border patrol source.

“They caught them at the border, therefore we know that ISIS is coming across the border,” Hunter continued. “If they catch five or ten of them then you know there’s going to be dozens more that did not get caught by the border patrol.”

Hunter is not the first lawmaker to report such disturbing news.

Last month Utah U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz asked Department of Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson about a report that four men with ties to terrorists were apprehended trying to enter the U.S. through Texas on Sept. 10.

Johnson said that he had heard reports “to that effect,” but did not elaborate.

In his interview Tuesday, Hunter cited remarks made by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, who in August warned that, because of open borders, terrorist activity posed an “immediate threat.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=ReEsXCAlK0A

http://dailycaller.com/2014/10/07/co...-border-video/

WND EXCLUSIVE

Report: 4 Islamic terrorists found in Texas in last 36 hours

Judicial Watch sources say arrests made by state, federal authorities

Published: 2 hours ago
Bob Unruh

http://www.wnd.com/files/2014/09/ISIS-flag.jpg A noted Washington watchdog organization on Wednesday said four “Islamic terrorists” have been caught in Texas after coming into the U.S. across the Mexican border in just the last 36 hours.
Judicial Watch announced its sources within the Department of Homeland Security say the arrests were made by federal authorities and the Texas Department of Public Safety in McAllen and Pharr.
The announcement came only hours after a member of Congress, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., disclosed in a TV interview that jihadists with the Middle Eastern group ISIS have been caught coming into the U.S. from Mexico.
He said his information came from the Border Patrol.
“They were caught at the border … therefore we know that ISIS is coming across the border,” he said. “If they catch five or 10 of them, we know there are dozens more that did not get caught.”
Judicial Watch said it confirmed its information after Hunter, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, was interviewed by the Fox News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren.
Hunter said that if the administration really wants to protect Americans from ISIS, it needs to secure the southern border.
“It’s that simple. ISIS doesn’t have a navy, they don’t have an air force, they don’t have nuclear weapons,” he said. “The only way that ISIS is going to harm Americans is by coming in through the southern border – which they already have.
“They aren’t flying B-1 bombers, bombing American cities, but they are going to be bombing American cities coming across from Mexico,” he said.
Watch his interview with Fox News:

Video at the page link:

WND reported the Department of Homeland Security, which claims there is not an imminent danger of ISIS breaching the nation’s southern border, has nevertheless confirmed ISIS may be thinking about making such a move.
Francis Taylor, the undersecretary for intelligence and analysis at DHS, provided that assessment to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at a congressional hearing, Bloomberg News reported.
“There have been Twitter and social media exchanges among ISIL (ISIS) adherents across the globe speaking about that as a possibility,” Taylor said.
Taylor said ISIS “doesn’t pose an immediate threat” to the homeland, but the jihadist organization, which claims to have established a caliphate ruled by Islamic law, can attack American targets overseas without warning, the Associated Press reported.
Taylor explained during the hearing that ISIS has “capabilities” that most jihadist groups lack.
Taylor’s warning was echoed by Nicholas Rasmussen, the deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, who said there already have been attacks in France and Belgium by former ISIS fighters.
WND reported earlier that Judicial Watch warned there was an ISIS presence in Mexico, just across the border from Texas.
The warning was followed by an increase in security imposed at Fort Bliss, Texas.
“It’s a significant issue when this is done,” retired Army Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin said of the higher security measures at Fort Bliss, which is just across the border from Juarez, Mexico
“That means they’re getting a threat stream. Fort Bliss had to have a clear and present threat,” said the former Delta Force commander, who also was deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence for four years.
Fort Bliss spokesman Lt. Col. Lee Peters said that based on Department of Defense “guidance from recent nationwide incidents, and our own internal assessments coupled with recent media reporting, we decided to implement increased security measures on Bliss.”
“These changes are not as a result of a specific threat but rather to simply get prudent security measures in place to protect our military, employees and visitors,” the statement said.
The move was made shortly after Judicial Watch said Islamic terrorist groups are “operating in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez and planning to attack the United States with car bombs or other vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices.”
The report said high-level federal law enforcement, intelligence and other sources confirmed to Judicial Watch that a warning bulletin for an imminent terrorist attack on the border has been issued.
“Agents across a number of Homeland Security, Justice and Defense agencies have all been placed on alert and instructed to aggressively work all possible leads and sources concerning this imminent terrorist threat.”
The organization said the sources “reveal that the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) is confirmed to now be operating in Juarez, a famously crime-infested narcotics hotbed situated across from El Paso, Texas. Violent crimes are so rampant in Juarez that the U.S. State Department has issued a number of travel warnings for anyone planning to go there. The last one was issued just a few days ago.”
The report said commanders at Fort Bliss were briefed.
The online news source Policy.Mic said: “Forget immigration: The Islamic State may be the best reason yet to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.”
The report noted that Texas Gov. Rick Perry had warned a Heritage Foundation audience weeks ago that ISIS militants “may have already slipped across the Mexican border.”
While he said there was no clear evidence then of terrorists being in the U.S., Perry said, “I think there is the obvious, great concern that – because of the condition of the border from the standpoint of it not being secure and us not knowing who is penetrating across – that individuals from ISIS or other terrorist states could be.”
One Texas sheriff said he wasn’t really worried about it.
“If there are ISIS fighters that may already be in the United States, or in your area who’ve crossed the border, what’s your message to them?” CNN’s Don Lemon asked Midland County Sheriff, Gary Painter.
“If they rear their ugly heads, we’ll send them to hell,” Painter said


http://www.wnd.com/2014/10/report-4-...m0bFAiLLCzr.01

Rep. Duncan Hunter clarifies comment about ISIS fighters caught crossing border

Kandiss Crone2:40 PM, Oct 11, 2014
2:52 PM, Oct 11, 2014

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SAN DIEGO - Congressman Duncan Hunter is clarifying his remarks that ISIS fighters were caught trying to cross the U.S. border.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Hunter said, "At least 10 ISIS fighters have been caught coming across the Mexican border into Texas. I've asked the Border Patrol."

When asked again if ISIS terrorists were detained crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, he seemed to change his tone a bit.

"I should have been more careful talking about ISIS as opposed to terrorist Turks or terrorist Syrians," Hunter said.

10News caught up with him at a mental health public forum in El Cajon on Friday. He told reporters there is no doubt that members of terrorist organizations have been captured trying to sneak into the United States from the southwest border and that Homeland Security officials are not being transparent about the threat.

"This doesn't match the narrative that the administration wants to put across that it's only moms and toddlers and people looking for work that are getting across the border," said Hunter.

The Department of Homeland Security has said "any suggestion of ISIS crossing our borders is categorically false and not supported by any credible intelligence or the facts on the ground."

On Friday, Hunter sent a letter to a Mexican ambassador accusing Homeland Security of downplaying the recent arrests of terrorists.

"If Jeh Johnson and the administration wants to parse that and say they weren't actual ISIS members, that's fine. That's what this administration does, is give certain names to certain groups," Hunter said.

He says part of the solution includes building a border fence in Texas and bringing in the military.

"You have to put National Guard on the border, and infrastructure on the border. We have that here in San Diego," he said.

http://www.10news.com/news/rep-dunca...order-10112014

The ‘ISIS crossing the border’ claims look a little worse

10/13/14 05:03 PM—UPDATED 10/13/14 05:50 PM

By Steve Benen

It’s been about a week since Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) told a national television audience that Islamic State militants entered the United States through the Southern border. Literally every shred of publicly available evidence points in the exact opposite direction, but the far-right congressman claims to have secret evidence that Hunter – and Hunter alone – is solely aware of.

Pressed further, the congressman’s office clarified that all 10 ISIS fighters didn’t come at the same time, and one of Hunter’s aides said 4 of the 10 were identified by to Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). But Chaffetz apparently isn’t backing Hunter up – consider this exchange between the Utah Republican and Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: So I want you to react because you’ve been briefed on what’s going on. First of all, do you believe his initial statement [from Duncan Hunter] that there have been 10 ISIS terrorists who actually crossed the border into the United States?

CHAFFETZ: I’m not personally and directly aware of that. What I am personally and directly aware of is that there were four terrorists, people tied to the PKK, came out of Turkey, flew to Mexico City, came north with coyotes.

The details matter, so let’s clarify matters. As DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson has explained, four members of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) were apprehended after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. They were arrested, detained, and in the process of being deported.

But (a) these guys didn’t have ties to terrorism; (b) the Kurdish Workers’ Party is actually a fierce enemy of ISIS. I don’t mean to sound picky, but when Duncan Hunter says 10 members of ISIS terrorists entered the country, and he points to four guys who aren’t terrorists and hate ISIS, the argument seems to fall apart.

For that matter, when Hunter’s ally is asked about the Republican congressman’s claim, and the a ally chooses not to endorse the assertions, it’s safe to say Hunter has been hung out to dry.


On a related note, on ABC’s “This Week” yesterday, Martha Raddatz asked whether Hunted went “too far” with his fanciful claims. It prompted an interesting response to Matthew Dowd, a Republican political analyst.

“I don’t want to conflate the two things, with Ebola and this, but many times fear doesn’t have to be real to be powerful. And in the context of it, we don’t often have to have facts to back up our fears. We respond to our fears.

“I think everybody has the right to say what they want to say, but they have the responsibility to say what may be they believe to be factually correct. The congressman says he believes it to be factually correct. But at a time like this with terrorism and, as you say, with the Ebola thing, we should counsel our fears and look for the fact sets.”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-s...k-little-worse

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. . . there have been 155 encounters in the area “involving 344 ethnic Somalis, 21 ethnic Ethiopians, five ethnic Kenyans, two ethnic Djiboutians, two ethnic Nigerians, and one ethnic Sudanese and Congolese subjects . . .