Lafayette Reporter

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) has joined Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and other colleagues in demanding that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas brief senators on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) arrest of eight illegal aliens from Tajikistan who have suspected ties to ISIS.

Reports indicate that these suspects entered the U.S. through the southern border under the Biden administration, with at least one suspect using the administration’s CBP One application to enter the country.

“We write to express our grave concerns regarding reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of eight individuals from Tajikistan suspected to have terror ties to ISIS who crossed the southern border to enter the U.S. last year and this year,” stated the senators.

“We are deeply concerned by reports that a wiretap shows that one of the now-arrested individuals was talking about bombs and that the target of the wiretap was previously released by federal authorities at the southern border with a court date of next year,” they continued.

“We are further concerned by reports that federal authorities vetting these individuals upon entry into the U.S. did not detect any ties to ISIS at the time and only discovered these ties ‘[l]ater and in recent weeks,’” added the senators.

The group requested DHS inform senators about details regarding how these suspects crossed the border, their connections to terrorist organizations, and what threats were known by the Department of Justice.

Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John Thune (R-S.D.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Pete Ricketts(R-Neb.) and Tim Scott(R-S.C.) also signed the letter.

In May 2024, Kennedy joined Budd and others in seeking answers on two illegal aliens’ attempt to break into Marine Corps Base Quantico. In January 2024, Kennedy authored an op-ed in The New York Post highlighting terrorists exploiting Biden’s open border policies. In October 2023, Kennedy collaborated with Marshall on introducing legislation requiring DHS to provide monthly updates on encounters with individuals on FBI’s terrorist watchlist at the southern border.