How the attempted illegal migration of Basel Bassel Ebbadi a self admitted Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist come to bomb NY, underscores the fragility of U.S border policies and failure to find a solution to policing the unrelenting migration of persons into the U.S who have stoked crime, congestion and the notion of who exactly is entering the country.
Welcome to the allure of near open borders.. what could possibly go wrong?
An illegal migrant who was caught attempting to enter the United States reportedly told ‘border control’ that he was member of Iran terrorist group, Hezbollah and intending to ‘make a bomb.’
Basel Bassel Ebbadi, a 22-year-old Lebanese migrant, was caught sneaking across the border near El Paso, Texas, last week, telling agents who questioned him that his ultimate destination was New York and that he intended to ‘try to make a bomb’ once safely at his destination.
‘Didn’t want to kill people no more…’
Further interviews of Ebbadi revealed that he had trained with Hezbollah for seven years and also served as an active member tasked with guarding weapons for another four years, according to the nypost. His training with the group was focused on ‘jihad’ and ‘killing people that was not Muslim,’ the illegal reportedly told investigators.
Hezbollah is an Iran-backed terrorist group that has launched attacks in Israel, including recent strikes on the country in the aftermath of October’s Hamas terrorist attack and subsequent invasion of Gaza by Israel.
Despite his background and training, Ebbadi allegedly told investigators he intended leaving the group because he ‘didn’t want to kill people,’ while acknowledging, ‘once you’re in, you can never get out.’
Ebadi was placed into isolation and referred to the Tactical Terrorism Response Team (TTRT) after allegedly making ‘terroristic threats to personnel.’
Documents obtained by the nypost showed that Ebadi was marked for deportation from the U.S., though it was unknown what country he would be returned to.
Border control crises
According to the report, border agents encountered 98 individuals who were on a terror watchlist in fiscal 2022, a number that jumped to 172 in 2023. In the first four months of fiscal 2024, border agents have encountered 59 such individuals.
The March 9 incident comes as a ‘migrant crime wave‘ continues to sweep the United States as hundreds of thousands of people illegally crossing the border each month. The influx of unchecked individuals has led to millions of migrants pouring into the U.S and straining cities along with a spike of crime since President Biden’s tenure.
The security situation at the border, including that of Arizona and California and Texas has been the subject of an ongoing battle between Republicans and Democrats on how to police the flow of illegals and the risks of allowing ‘criminals’ into the U.S.
The Biden administration pointed to House Republicans ‘failure’ to support bipartisan border legislation that it argued would have helped alleviate the crisis and manage the inflow of migrants seeking to make the U.S their new home. The issue of migration continues to be a political football set to be a point of contention leading to the 2024 U.S Presidential elections.
