Washington — When federal agents apprehended eight men from Tajikistan — a Central Asian nation that borders Afghanistan — they were concerned the men could have been plotting a possible terrorist attack on U.S. soil, multiple sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News.
The eight men residing in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia were taken into custody earlier this month and charged with violating civil U.S. immigration law by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They remain in ICE custody and face removal proceedings, according to two of the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the probe.
Multiple sources told CBS News there was no evidence to suggest that a specific targeted attack was planned, and U.S. officials said there was no imminent threat to the homeland.
The individuals — who sources said have ties to ISIS — crossed into the U.S. via the southwest border between 2023 and 2024 but at the time, immigration officials had no information connecting them to the terrorist group. The eight migrants were arrested by ICE when they entered the U.S. without proper documents and were subsequently released into the U.S. with notices to appear in immigration court, according to a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security.
Federal law enforcement acquired intelligence information indicating the men were inside the U.S. and had likely ties to ISIS, according to two of the sources familiar with the investigation. The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force opened an investigation.
Investigators started monitoring their communications and followed their activities on social media like chat rooms and encrypted sites, according to one of the sources.
The FBI uncovered that the individuals were in contact with bad actors with potential ties to ISIS and investigators obtained a court-authorized FISA warrant, two of the sources told CBS News. Investigators also conducted surveillance of the men.
FBI agents were aiming to unearth a broader terrorist network, two senior administration officials said, and intelligence gathered by the FBI pushed the Bureau to alert the Department of Homeland Security. This prompted ICE to pick up the men over the weekend of June 8 in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Officials were concerned that the individuals could have been plotting a terrorist attack on U.S. soil, the sources told CBS News.
The investigation is ongoing, and at this point, the men have not been charged with terrorism-related charges.
The Justice Department declined to comment. The FBI declined to elaborate further on a June 11 statement in which the bureau and the Department of Homeland Security jointly said the individuals were in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
“As the FBI and DHS have recently described in public and partner bulletins, the U.S. has been in a heightened threat environment,” the statement went on to say. “The FBI and DHS will continue working around the clock with our partners to identify, investigate, and disrupt potential threats to national security.”
Two sources told CBS News that all eight face removal proceedings, but that process could be complicated by potential asylum claims – particularly if the men face persecution or harm if returned home.
In a recent change to ICE policy, the agency now detains men from Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries while awaiting removal proceedings or immigration hearings.
