8 people with possible ISIS ties arrested in Philadelphia, NY, LA – NBC10 Philadelphia

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested eight men with possible ties to ISIS in Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles over the weekend, NBC News sources confirmed Tuesday.

The eight men are Tajiks, an Iranian ethnic group with ties to Central Asia. The men were on the radar of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force because of their potential ties to ISIS, the sources said.

“Over the past several days, ICE agents have arrested several non-citizens in compliance with immigration authorities,” said a joint statement from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. “These actions were carried out in close coordination with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces. Those arrested are being held by ICE pending deportation proceedings.

Sources told NBC News that the eight men crossed the southern border into the United States and their criminal background checks came back clear at that time. At least two of the men crossed the border in spring 2023 and one of them used the CBP One app, created by the Biden administration to allow migrants to make appointments to apply for asylum, according to responsible.

Sources said the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force was aware of a potential terrorist threat from Central Europe and began monitoring the eight men as part of the investigation. The FBI monitored the men for several months and closely monitored their activities, an official said.

None of the eight men are currently charged with terrorism. However, the FBI still alerted ICE that the men should be arrested because of their potential ties to ISIS. All eight men were arrested on immigration charges, sources told NBC News. They are currently detained and subject to deportation proceedings before an immigration judge. They could later face terrorism-related charges, sources said.

Sources also told NBC News that the same intelligence that led to the surveillance and arrest of the eight men also led to the arrest of an Uzbek in Baltimore for an alleged connection to ISIS.

Authorities have not revealed precisely where, in Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles, the eight men were arrested.