Smuggler with ISIS Ties Helped Refugees Cross US-Mexico Border

FILE PHOTO: Migrants stand beside a razor wire fence as members of the Texas National Guard stand guard on the banks of the Rio Bravo river, the border between the United States and Mexico, August 28, 2023. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Migrants stand beside a razor wire fence as members of the Texas National Guard stand guard on the banks of the Rio Bravo river, the border between the United States and Mexico, August 28, 2023. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo
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Smuggler with ISIS Ties Helped Refugees Cross US-Mexico Border

FILE PHOTO: Migrants stand beside a razor wire fence as members of the Texas National Guard stand guard on the banks of the Rio Bravo river, the border between the United States and Mexico, August 28, 2023. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Migrants stand beside a razor wire fence as members of the Texas National Guard stand guard on the banks of the Rio Bravo river, the border between the United States and Mexico, August 28, 2023. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo

A smuggler with ties to a foreign extremist group helped Uzbek migrants enter the US from Mexico, the White House said on Tuesday, raising questions about a potential security threat.

The smuggler was based in Türkiye and had links to ISIS, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity. CNN first reported the incident.

Record numbers of migrants have crossed the US-Mexico border illegally since President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in 2021, including many from distant nations.

Republicans say Biden encouraged crossings by reversing tougher policies of former President Donald Trump, a Republican. The Biden administration argues that it has instituted more humane policies as migration has challenged countries across the Western Hemisphere.

Of the nearly 2 million migrants encountered at the US-Mexico border between October 2022 and July 2023, 216 were on US watchlists for potential links to terrorism, according to US government statistics.

US intelligence officials discovered a smuggling network to bring Uzbeks into the country and a smuggler with ties to a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

US authorities have no indication that migrants aided by the smuggling network were tied to extremist groups or plotting terrorist attacks, Watson said.

Watson did not confirm links to ISIS specifically or that the smuggler was based in Türkiye.

Migrants who "fit the profile" of those assisted by the smugglers are being placed in rapid deportation proceedings and "thoroughly vetted," Watson said.
The US official said the FBI is trying to locate about 15 of roughly 120 Uzbek migrants who entered the US through legal border crossings via the network.

According to Reuters, an FBI spokesperson said the agency "has not identified a specific terrorism plot associated with foreign nationals who recently entered the United States at the southern border," and declined to comment on specifics.

US Customs and Border Protection encountered some 3,200 Uzbeks at US borders in fiscal year 2022, up from fewer than 700 a year earlier.



Trump May Travel to China to Meet Xi in ‘Not-Too-Distant Future’

 President Donald Trump meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
President Donald Trump meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
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Trump May Travel to China to Meet Xi in ‘Not-Too-Distant Future’

 President Donald Trump meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
President Donald Trump meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he may visit China soon for a landmark trip at a time of simmering trade and security tensions.

"President Xi has invited me to China, and we'll probably be doing that in the not-too-distant future," Trump told reporters in the White House's Oval Office.

"A little bit out, but not too distant. And I've been invited by a lot of people, and we'll make those decisions pretty soon."

Reuters has reported that Trump and Xi's aides have discussed a potential meeting between the leaders during a trip by the US president to Asia later this year, citing two people familiar with the plans.

While plans for a meeting have not been finalized, discussions on both sides of the Pacific have included a possible Trump stopover around the time of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea or talks on the sidelines of the October 30-November 1 event, the people said.

Another possible trip would be for a September 3 Beijing ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, which Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to attend.

The White House and the Chinese government had declined to comment on that earlier Reuters report.

Trump made the comment about meeting Xi during a meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a key Pacific ally who Trump said he had successfully moved away from China, even as he said it was fine for the two countries to have relations.

Trump has sought to lower tensions with Beijing in recent weeks after pausing a tit-for-tat tariff war that has upended global trade and supply chains.

Trump has sought to impose tariffs on virtually all foreign goods, which he says will stimulate domestic manufacturing and which critics say will make many consumer goods more expensive for Americans.

He has called for a universal base tariff rate of 10% on goods imported from all countries, with higher rates for imports from some, including China. Imports from China have the highest tariff rate of 55%.

Trump has set a deadline of August 12 for the US and China to reach a durable tariff agreement.

Other points of friction between the countries include China's support for Russia, trade in fentanyl-related chemicals, regional security worries, and exit bans on some American residents.