The detained foreigners included 30,830 Turkish citizens, 15,594 Mauritanians, 13,624 Uzbeks, 6,386 Afghans, 3,153 Egyptians, 1,613 Pakistanis and others
Washington
More than 73000 people from different countries were detained in the United States while attempting to illegally cross the border during last two years.
Fox News reports, citing internal data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection that from September 2021 to October 2023, in total, tens of thousands of individuals, categorized by the U.S. government as “special interest aliens” — a term used by U.S. authorities to denote individuals who potentially pose a national security threat due to their travel routes, affiliations, or suspected ties to terrorism — attempted to enter the U.S. illegally via Mexico in the span of two years. Among them were:
30,830 Turkish citizens
15,594 Mauritanian citizens
13,624 Uzbekistani citizens
6,386 Afghan citizens
3,153 Egyptian citizens
1,613 Pakistani citizens
Among those detained at the border were also citizens of Iran (659), Syria (538), Jordan (185), Lebanon (164), Yemen (139), and Iraq (123).
It is unknown how many of the detained individuals were deported from the U.S. or allowed entry into the country, with immigration court dates yet to be determined, as noted by the television channel.
According to sources cited by Fox News, the border service is “extremely concerned” about individuals categorized as “special interest,” as U.S. authorities have “virtually no ability” to vet their criminal history, as the countries of their citizenship do not share data with the U.S.
Earlier, CNN reported on how the FBI initiated an investigation into a dozen migrants from Uzbekistan who entered the U.S. through Mexico with the assistance of an individual suspected by American authorities of having ties to ISIS.
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Courtesy: Central Asian Light (Poste on October 16, 2023)
