(RepublicanReport.org) – Illicit drugs, illegal migrants, trafficked persons, and terrorists continue flooding across the nation’s borders in increasingly alarming numbers. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) service reported more than 3.2 million encounters in 2023. Stunningly, the CBP has already encountered nearly 1.24 million individuals in fiscal year 2024 as of March 18. Recent reports indicated that agents stopped a foreign terrorist at the border who was plotting an attack on New York City.
On March 17, media outlets reported that CBP agents captured a Lebanese migrant while he was attempting to cross the border into the United States in Zone 24, near El Paso, Texas, on March 9. Officials transferred Basel Bassel Ebbadi to the El Paso Sector Hardened Facility (EPT-EHF) for “further processing and investigation.” Shortly after his arrival, the 22-year-old admitted to being a member of Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group.
Medical officials at the EPT-EHF asked Ebbadi why he attempted to cross into the United States. He responded that he was “going to try to make a bomb” once he gained entry. Personnel immediately placed him in isolation and contacted Tactical Terrorism Response Team (TTRT) investigators. Officers from the Joint Terrorist Task Force (JTTF) later joined TTRT agents to question Ebbadi.
Ebbadi told TTRT and JTTF investigators that he originally planned to travel to New York City and later travel around the country. He also admitted that he spent roughly seven years training with Hezbollah and guarded weapons storage sites for the terrorist group for an additional four years as an active member.
Ebbadi later changed his story and claimed he was captured after he fled Lebanon and Hezbollah. He told investigators he “didn’t want to kill people” anymore. However, he said, “Once you’re in [Hezbollah], you can never get out.”
News outlets reported that internal CBP documents showed that Ebbadi was marked for deportation. However, it remains unclear where they plan to send him.
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