Video: “Why Latinos Are Converting to Islam”



I don’t like the “Vice” media outlet, it is establishment propaganda and it causes a lot of damage.

This video which is produced by Vice promotes an organization which is Islamizing Latin Americans.  It deceitfully portrays Islam as being a “religion of peace” that is “misrepresented by the media,” and it portraits the ideology as being a “healing and redeeming force” for Latin Americans without adequately conveying its serious issues.

A Rice University sociology professor Craig Considine is shown giving a dishonest response when asked why some Latin Americans are opposed to converting to Islam: “In one word: Ignorance.  It’s lack of education.  It’s misinformation.  This is a part of the hangover from 9/11.  A lot of people in this country who are not Muslim have certain ideas which are steeped in stereotypes.  So they see Islam as oppressing women.  They see Islam as being backward.  They see Islam in association with ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and violence.  All things which can be factually disproven if we just look at the reality.”

A summary of an April 2018 Breitbart article, “Experts: Iran, Hezbollah ‘Radicalized Thousands of Latin Americans’”



A 2018 Breitbart article gives details about warnings that many high ranking U.S. officials are making about the rapidly increasing spread of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Latin America, including warnings by Adm. Kurt Todd, the top American commander in charge of overseeing most of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Iran has “converted and radicalized thousands of Latin Americans” over the past four decades by dispatching Imams to the continent in order to establish mosques and “cultural centers” that Hezbollah uses as recruiting tools.

U.S. officials have found evidence of Hezbollah-linked money laundering, smuggling, drug trafficking, and counterfeiting operations, including into the United States.

Following is a summary of the article:

— Iran has “converted and radicalized thousands of Latin Americans” throughout the years by dispatching Imams to the continent in order to establish mosques and “cultural centers” that Hezbollah uses as recruiting tools, said an expert on the Islamic Republic while testifying before a house panel.

— Emanuele Ottolenghi of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank told a House panel in a written testimony:

“Since its establishment, the Islamic Republic of Iran has viewed Latin America as a fertile ground for the export of its revolution.  Tehran wants the Western Hemisphere to become a hotbed of anti-Americanism and a forward operating base for Iran.”

“To this end, over nearly four decades, Tehran has built a network of mosques and cultural centers across the region.  It aggressively expanded its base of supporters and sympathizers by dispatching itinerant preachers, who have successfully converted and radicalized thousands of Latin Americans to Iran’s version of Shi’a Islam.”

— While testifying along with former intelligence and White House officials before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Ottolenghi went on to say that Iran has helped Lebanese ally Hezbollah to establish a dominant presence in Latin America.

— Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, recently warned that the number of Iranian “cultural centers” have proliferated in recent years, tripling from 36 in 2012 to more than 100 in the three years up to 2015.

— High ranking members of the U.S. military have publicly stated that Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are using the “cultural centers” to recruit locals, which contradict Obama’s dishonest narrative that Iran’s influence in the region in “waning”.

— U.S. military and other officials have been warning about the threat posed to the U.S. by the growing presence of Iran and Hezbollah in Latin America, with the Shiite terrorist group generating millions of dollars by trafficking illegal drugs and money laundering that it uses to fund its operations overseas.

— In 2018, Adm. Kurt Todd, the top American commander in charge of overseeing most of Latin America and the Caribbean, warned that Hezbollah “maintains an established logistical, facilitating, fundraising, and operational presence in this region that can be leveraged with little or not warning.”

— Former CIA director Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of State (DOS) warned during his Senate confirmation hearing that Hezbollah threatens Americans in the U.S., and he noted that the “toxic crime-terror nexus” in Latin America which is largely driven by the Hezbollah group “is fueling both the rising threat of global jihadism and the collapse of law and order across Latin America that is helping drive drugs and people northward into the United States.” He also said, “It is thus facilitating their efforts to build safe havens for terrorists and a continent-wide terror infrastructure that they could use to strike U.S. targets.”

— As other experts have said, Brian Katulis, a former member of the White House National Security Council and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP) said in written testimony that Iran’s narco-terrorist proxy, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, may have established “sleeper cells” inside the United States.

— Katulis told the house panel:

“U.S. officials have uncovered evidence of Hezbollah-linked money laundering, smuggling, drug trafficking, and counterfeiting operations in the Western hemisphere, including in the United States.”

“Hezbollah has never directly attacked the U.S. homeland, but there is some evidence of efforts to position sleeper cells to develop operational capabilities in America.”

— Representative Peter King (R-NY), the chairman of the House panel hosting the hearing, said that Hezbollah operatives have been arrested for their activities in the United States, mentioning recent arrests of two Hezbollah militants who where plotting attacks in New York City and Michigan. “Both individuals received significant weapons training from Hezbollah  ..  It is clear Hezbollah has the will and capability,” he said.

— The entire panel of experts agreed that Hezbollah is capable of attacking the U.S., including Micheal Pregent, an adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute, and Nader Uskowi, a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.  Pregent previously served as a U.S. intelligence officer, and Uskowi served as a policy advisor to the U.S. military.

— Uskowi testified that Iran has an “army of 200,000” militants who pose “a significant threat to the American homeland and especially to U.S. forces stationed abroad.”

— The Obama administration willfully ignored Hezbollah’s growing presence in Latin America.  This article reports that Obama “derailed” a DEA operation targeting Hezbollah’s multi-million-dollar drug trafficking activities Latin America to secure approval of the controversial Iran Nuclear deal.

— Vice-President Mike Pence also failed to address the growing threat of Hezbollah when speaking at the Summit of the Americas meeting.

A summary of an August, 2016 Breitbart article, “The Muslim population in Latin America has grown 25% since 2010 amid radicalization concerns”



A 2016 Breitbart article explains the rapid growth of Islam which is occurring in Latin America, as well as issues with the radicalization of the Muslim populations.

The article explains that the Muslim populations in Latin America and the Caribbean are reported to have about 3 million adherents as of 2015, which is an increase of 25% since 2010 due to locals converting to Islam as well as migrants coming from Middle Eastern countries including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and Pakistan.

Various high ranking U.S. military officers, such as the top U.S. commander in Latin America General John Kelly as well as Navy Admiral Kurt Tidd have been issuing warnings about the increasing radicalization in Latin America by groups such as ISIS and Hezbollah.

Also the father of the Mayor of El Salvador has been the leader of the region’s Muslim population, and his leftist guerrilla group became a legal political party in the country after launching a war with the government, however it has not at least publicly identified as Muslim despite its background.


Following is a summary of the article:

— By the end of 2015, Islam had an estimated 3 million adherents in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is a 25 percent increase from the amount living there in 2010 due to locals converting as well as immigration from Middle Eastern countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, and Pakistan.  Most of the migrants are descendants of those who have immigrated years ago.  However, a U.S. government report used for the population statistics don’t include estimates for all of the countries in the region, so the actual numbers are even higher.

— Shiites are believed to outnumber Sunnis in region, and the terrorist group Hezbollah’s growing influence is sparking concern within the U.S. government.

— Various sources including the U.S. government report show that in 2015 there were 1.5 million Muslims in Brazil, 750,000 in Argentina, 10,000 in Columbia, 100,000 in Venezuela, 14,000 in Panama, 81,200 in Surinam, and 60,000 in Trinidad and Tobago.

— A month previous to this article being written, General John Kelly, a top U.S. commander in Latin America and the Caribbean warned that ISIS/ISIL has been actively been recruiting and radicalizing converts in his area of responsibility.  Tidd also warned about self-radicalization of Muslims in the region.

— Navy Admiral Kurt Tidd, the chief of the U.S. Southern Command revealed earlier in the year that hundreds of Muslims from Latin American countries, primarily Trinidad and Tobago, have traveled to the Middle East to fight on behalf of ISIS.

— Panama has become the first [and only] Latin American country to join a U.S.-led coalition against ISIS.

— Both SOUTHCOM and the U.S. State department have warned that ISIS and the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah (an Iranian proxy), are operating in the region.

— The U.S. Military is also sounding an alarm about human trafficking groups that specialize in bringing individuals from terrorism-linked countries into the United States, with hundreds of migrants from those countries being apprehended while attempting to cross the southwest border.

— An often cited estimate claims the current number of Islam adherents in Latin America to be over four million.

— The Pew Research Center estimates the 2010 Latin American Muslim population was between 840,000 and 1,720,000, which is much lower than the U.S. State Department’s estimate.  See this link, and this link.

— Migrants have been coming to Latin America from war zones in the Middle east, in particular from Syria.  Countries in the region that already have large Muslim populations such as Brazil have brought in thousands of Syrians.

— Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, and most Muslims prefer to live under Sharia law where strict Islamic rules govern every aspect of their life.

— Islam grew in the United States at a rate of 17 percent between 2010 and 2015, from 2.75 million to 3.3 million in 2015, according to the Pew Research Center.

— The Deputy Secretary General of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), told Breitbart News that the relationship between Hispanics and Muslims in Latin America is strong and the ideology is not criticized in the region.

“[The] relationship between the Latino and the Muslim community stretches back eight centuries to Islamic Spain. Many Muslims have migrated to Latin America and have become very successful and productive citizens. .. Unlike Europe and North America, Latin America has been quite untouched with any of the anti-Islamic rhetoric and the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslim Latinos can be described as excellent and strong.”

— Also the father of the Mayor of El Salvador Nayib Bukele has been the leader of the region’s Muslim population, and his leftist guerrilla group became a legal political party in the country after launching a war with the government, however it has not at least publicly identified as Muslim despite its background.

A summary of a March 2015 Breitbart article, “Top U.S. General: ISIS May Use Latin American Traffickers To Enter U.S.”



A 2015 Breitbart article explains that John Kelly, the commander of the U.S. Southern Command, spoke at a hearing held by the Senate Armed Services Committee where he warned that Hezbollah and ISIS are radicalizing Muslim converts in Latin America as well as establishing migration routes into the United States, with some also traveling overseas to the Middle East to fight in the conflicts.


Following is a summary of the article:

— The commander of the U.S. Southern Command Gen. John Kelly warned at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that Sunni extremists are radicalizing converts and other Muslims in Latin America, also warning that the Islamic State (ISIS) is exploiting trafficking organizations to infiltrate the United States.  After speaking at the hearing, he briefed reporters at the Pentagon a few hours after.

— Kelly expressed concern about the presence of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, saying that more than 80 “cultural centers” have been recently established by Iran in order to promote Shia Islam:  “.. Iran has established more than 80 ‘cultural centers’ in a region with an extremely small Muslim population. The purported purpose of these centers is to improve Iran’s image, promote Shi’a Islam, and increase Iran’s political influence in the region  ..  As the foremost state sponsor of terrorism, Iran’s involvement in the region and these cultural centers is a matter for concern, and its diplomatic, economic, and political engagement is closely monitored.”

— He told the panel that Sunni Jihadists are radicalizing converts and other Muslims in the region:  “Sunni extremists, while small in number, are actively involved in the radicalization of converts and other Muslims in the region and also provide financial and logistical support to designated terrorist organizations within and outside Latin America.”

— He explained that a growing number of Jihadists in Latin America are traveling to Syria to fight where ISIS controls large swaths of land:  “Partner nation officials throughout the region have expressed concern over the increasing number of suspected Islamic extremists from the hemisphere who are traveling to Syria to participate in jihad.  ..  Some take part in military and weapons training before departing; last year 19 Trinidadian Muslims were detained in Venezuela for conducting training with high-powered weapons.  ..  When these foreign fighters return, they will possess operational experience, ties to global extremists, and possible intent to harm Western interests—and they will reside in a region rife with smuggling routes that lead directly and easily into the United States.”

— Kelly told the panel that Iran is seeking to strengthen alliances with Latin American governments with the intent of countering U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere:  “Over the last 15 years Iran has periodically sought closer ties with regional governments, albeit with mixed results. Iranian legislators visited Cuba, Ecuador, and Nicaragua to advocate for increased economic and diplomatic cooperation  ..  Iran’s outreach is predicated on circumventing sanctions and countering U.S. influence.”

— Kelly said in a written testimony prepared for the hearing:

“In addition to thousands of Central Americans fleeing poverty and violence, foreign nationals from countries like Somalia, Bangladesh, Lebanon, and Pakistan are using the region’s human smuggling networks to enter the United States.  ..  While many are merely seeking economic opportunity or fleeing war, a small subset could potentially be seeking to do us harm.”

“Last year, ISIS adherents posted discussions on social media calling for the infiltration of the U.S. southern border.  ..  Thankfully, we have not yet seen evidence of this occurring, but I am deeply concerned that smuggling networks are a vulnerability that terrorists could seek to exploit.”

— Kelly later briefed reporters at the Pentagon about the threat of ISIS entering the U.S. through its southern border:

“[Latin American countries] don’t have nearly the ability to track people like we do...  when you’re in this part of the world you travel pretty freely between countries.  ..  There are legal ways to do it, but then there are just simply people walking across borders.”

“[The high level of trafficking and sophistication of the smuggling networks] overwhelms our ability to stop everything.  ..  [Once terrorists reach Latin America,] it’s pretty easy for them to move around.”

“While there is not yet any indication that the criminal networks involved in human and drug trafficking are interested in supporting the efforts of terrorist groups, these networks could unwittingly, or even wittingly, facilitate the movement of terrorist operatives or weapons of mass destruction toward our borders, potentially undetected and almost completely unrestricted.”

— Nearly 500 migrants from terrorist-linked countries such as Syria and Iraq were apprehended trying to enter the U.S. Illegally in 2014.

A summary of a March, 30 2017 Daily Caller article, “Report: Growing Islamic Extremism In Latin America Poses ‘Major Security Threat’ To US”



A March 2017 Daily Caller article explains that the National Center for Policy Analysis senior senior fellow David Grantham gave statements in a report warning that the threat from Islamic Extremism in Latin America is high, with Saudi Arabia investing millions to construct Mosques and cultural centers to spread its version of Islam known as Wahhabism, and he talked about an even greater threat existing in the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago which is a breeding ground for ISIS.


Following is a summary of the article:

— The National Center for Policy Analysis published a report warning about growing Islamic extremism in Latin America constituting a “major security threat” to the United States.  [Note: The NCPA ceased its operation in mid-2017, citing financial difficulties, and the report is no longer online.  See the Wikipedia page about the organization.]

— Following are statements made by NCPA senior fellow David Grantham in the report:

The threat from Islamic extremists in Latin America remains an overlooked aspect of U.S. national security strategy ..

Saudi Arabia has invested millions to construct mosques and cultural centers in South America and Central America that expand the reach of its rigid version of Islam, known as Wahhabism.

The international spread of Saudi dogma, which the State Department’s first special representative to Muslim communities worldwide, Farah Pandith, called ‘insidious,’ has laid the foundation for likeminded radicals to thrive in other areas of Latin America ..

.. threats to U.S. security in the Greater Caribbean region are even more alarming in Trinidad and Tobago.  The small island nation off the coast of Venezuela, once the target of an overthrow by Islamic militants, has also become a breeding ground for ISIS — 70 of the 100 Latin Americans known to have joined ISIS originated from the small country.

Islamic extremism thrives where there is illicit finance and relative ease of movement across national and international borders.  The mobility of terrorists throughout Latin America poses a serious problem ..

The Islamic Republic has the capability and infrastructure to strike the United States from Latin America, but experts disagree over whether it would take that risk.  ..  Experts consistently discuss the likelihood of a preemptive or first strike attack on the United States, though, which creates too high a standard.  Instead, the argument should focus on the prospect of retaliatory attack.

The growth of extremist activity in Latin America is a major security threat.  The prospects of retaliation from Iran, in particular, should not discourage action against Iran where necessary but should heighten awareness regarding the high probability of revenge attacks ..

Iran’s influence in Latin America and extremists, in general, demand new national security strategies in the region.  Such an approach could begin with U.S. support to allied governments that improves their intelligence capabilities, and with targeted financial interdiction strategies.

A summary of a November 26, 2018 Center for Immigration Studies article, “Have Terrorists Crossed Our Border? — An initial count of suspected terrorists encountered en route and at the U.S. Southwest Border Since 2001”

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Abdulahi Sharif is a Somalian who stabbed a police officer and went on a vehicle ramming rampage in Alberta, Canada, where he injured a police officer and four other people. Sharif first entered the U.S. over the border through Mexico and was initially ordered to be deported by the U.S., but he made bond and crossed the Canadian border where he achieved refugee status.

A November 2018 article in the Center for Immigration Studies explains many different publicly known cases of terrorists being apprehended after crossing into the United States over its southern border.


Following is a summary of the article:

INTRODUCTION

— In 2018, Donald Trump said that “he had very good information” about Middle Eastern migrants traveling through Latin America, also speculating that it was likely that terrorists have been traveling along with migrant “surges” which happen, saying that the U.S. border patrol has intercepted “some real bad ones.”  However, the Trump administration never supplied supporting evidence for the claim, leaving it challenged and unresolved, whereas his supplying more information would have advanced national discourse regarding the signifiant security issue.

— Seizing upon Trump’s obscurification, the Republican Arizona Senator Jeff Flake dismissed Trump’s claim of Middle Eastern travelers through Latin America with potential terrorists among them as “pretty much a canard and a fear tactic.”

— This article provides a summary of publicly documented instances of 15 migrants with credibly suspected or confirmed terrorist ties who have been apprehended at the southern border of the U.S. or en route to it between 2001 and November 2018.  The 15 that are detailed here are the most well-known publicly reported cases, however they represent a significant undercount since most such information resides in classified or protected government archives and intelligence databases, and other public reports that strongly indicated the crossing of additional terrorist related migrants were excluded from this list due to having insufficient detail.

— Affiliations of the migrants included al-Shabbab, al-Ittihad al-Islamiya, Hezbollah, the Pakistani Taliban, ISIS, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh, and the Tamil Tigers.

— At least five of the 15 were prosecuted for crimes in American courts, and one is currently being prosecuted in Canada for multiple attempted murder counts.  Of the four in the United States, one was prosecuted for lying to the FBI about involvement with terrorism, one for asylum fraud, one for providing support to a terrorist organization, and one for false statements and passport mutilation.

— Information about specifically how often terrorist suspects are apprehended at the border or on route exist in government intelligence databases which are exempt from government disclosure, thus the information which would specifically clarify Trump’s claim is not publicly available.

— From intelligence community sources who have access to protected government information, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) [(the website which contains the article that is being summarized here)] has learned that at least 100 migrants from “countries of interest” encountered between 2012 and 2017 at or en route to the southern border matched U.S. terrorist watch lists, with the number of law enforcement encounters with such migrants rising significantly with each year after 2012.

— The 100 watch-list migrants logged between 2012-2017 compares to about 15,000 “special interest alien” migrants from countries of interest who are apprehended at the southern border during that time (about 3,000 annually).  This represents a small ratio of specific terrorist suspects apprehended, although the threat represented by each of them is very high, and the numbers of course don’t represent the many terrorist associated migrants who have evaded detection altogether, or ones who have never been specifically put on a watch list, or ones who have never raised suspicion and were released pending asylum claims into the country’s interior.


SUMMARIES OF WELL-KNOWN CASES OF IDENTIFIED MUSLIM TERRORISTS BEING APPREHENDED AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF THE U.S. OR EN ROUTE


Abdulahi Sharif, Somalia, detained in Alberta, Canada, September 2017, ISIS  —  Sharif allegedly stabbed a police officer and conducted two vehicle ramming attacks in Edmonton, Alberta, while carrying an ISIS flag in September 2017, where he injured a police officer and four other people. Sharif was earlier ordered to be deported by the U.S., but he made bond and crossed the Canadian border where he achieved refugee status.  See this link and this link.


Ibrahim Qoordheen, Somalia, detained in Costa Rica, March 2017, probable al-Shabaab  —  Costa Rican immigration authorities apprehended Qoordheen after he had passed through Panama en route to the U.S. border.  See this link.


Unidentified Afghan national, reported smuggled into the United States, between 2014-2016, Pakistani Taliban  —  In 2017, Brazil-based Sharafat Ali Khan was convicted for transporting between 25 to 99 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan from Brazil to Texas and California over the Mexican border, and at least one of Khan’s customers was an Afghan who is reported to be involved with a plot to conduct an attack in the U.S. or Canada and had family ties to member of the Taliban.   See this link, and this link.


Muhammad Azeem and Mukhtar Ahmad, Pakistani nationals, Mexico-California border, September 2015, affiliation unknown  —  U.S. border patrol agents apprehended Azeem and Ahmad north of Tijuana after they traveled from Gujrat, Pakistan through Latin America. Both were on U.S. terrorism watch lists.  Two months earlier the pair had been detained and released in Panama before they continued north.  See this link and this link.


Unnamed Somali national, detained at the Texas-Mexico border port of entry, June 2014, probable al-Shabaab  —  “This Somali entrant told U.S. immigration officials that two months prior to his border entry to claim asylum he had completed training for a suicide attack in Mogadishu but instead went to African Union troops who were able to thwart the planned terrorist operation.  He stated that he had trained with 13 other Somalis for 10 weeks to use suicide belts, AK-47s, and grenades.  Admitted involvement in any designated terror group is usually grounds for deportation, despite assertions about a change of heart.”  See this link which was uploaded by the Huston Chronicle from an unauthorized leak supplied to several media outlets from the Texas Department of Public Safety.


Unnamed Sri Lankan national, detained at Texas-Mexico border, March 2012, Tamil Tigers  —  “This Sri Lankan was with two other Sri Lankans apprehended by Border Patrol agents in McAllen, Texas.  He stated that he belonged to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. He stated that his group was en route to Canada.”  See this link which was uploaded by the Huston Chronicle from an unauthorized leak supplied to several media outlets from the Texas Department of Public Safety.  The Tamil Tigers perfected the art of suicide bombing and are reported to be attempting to reconstitute their organization abroad.  See this link about Piratheepan Nadarajah, who pleaded guilty in New York to conspiring to buy anti-aircraft missiles for the Tamil Tigers.


Unnamed Somali national, detained at Mexico-California port of entry, May 2011, probable al-Shabaab  —  “One of two Bangladeshis apprehended after traveling together and illegally crossing from Mexico admitted to U.S. Border Patrol interviewers that both had worked in the 'General Assembly' for the U.S.-designated terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh.  Subsequently, one of two detainees was deported, but the other was granted bond on an asylum claim and absconded.”  See this link which was uploaded by the Huston Chronicle from an unauthorized leak supplied to several media outlets from the Texas Department of Public Safety.


Unnamed Bangladeshi national, detained near Naco, Ariz., June 2010, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh  —  “One of two Bangladeshis apprehended after traveling together and illegally crossing from Mexico admitted to U.S. Border Patrol interviewers that both had worked in the ”General Assembly“ for the U.S.-designated terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh.  Subsequently, one of two detainees was deported, but the other was granted bond on an asylum claim and absconded.”  See this link which was uploaded by the Huston Chronicle from an unauthorized leak supplied to several media outlets from the Texas Department of Public Safety.  For this item, it is cited in end note 114 as “Information shared by HIS agents, 2012.”


Abdullahi Omar Fidse, Somalia, detained at Mexico-Texas Border, June 2008, al-Shabaab  —  “In July 2013, a U.S. District Judge sentenced Fidse on convictions for lying to the FBI about his terrorism associations after he traveled through Latin America to a Mexico-Texas port of entry in 2008.”  See this link.  “An FBI counterterrorism investigation found he had served as an al-Shabaab combat operative, crossed the border intending to conduct an unspecified operation, possessed the cell phone number of a terrorist implicated in the 2010 Uganda bombing that killed 70 soccer fans, and laid out details of a plan to assassinate the U.S. ambassador to Kenya and his Marine guard.  He also worked as a weapons procurement operative, once buying an armed vehicle for $100,000 that was blown up in battle, killing all aboard.  To a government informant, Fidse discussed the Quranic imperative to ‘terrorize the infidels’ and stated, ‘We are terrorists.’  ...  He admired Osama bin Ladin, demanded vengeance on infidels for the U.S. Hellfire missile killing of a senior al-Shabaab leader, and believed all good Muslims must commit two acts of jihad a year.  Fidse’s terrorism involvement was uncovered after an FBI informant inside a Texas detention facility began recording him discussing it.”  United States v. Fidse, Case 13-50734, (U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, August 2014); United States v. Fidse, Case 5:11-cr-00425-FB (W.D. Tex. August 2011).


Mohammad Ahmad Dhakane, Somalia, detained at Mexico-Texas border port of entry, October 2008, al-Ittihad al-Islamiya  —  “In 2010, Dhakane was convicted at trial in San Antonio, Texas, on asylum fraud charges derived from an FBI terrorism investigation, which began when he was recorded speaking about his work as a terrorist to an undercover informant inside a Texas detention facility. Dhakane had worked as a Brazil-based smuggler of fellow Somalis to the U.S. border before he decided to cross himself and declare asylum.  It quickly emerged that Dhakane had belonged to the U.S.-designated terrorist group al-Ittihad al-Islamiya (AIAI) as a guerilla fighter and finance official.”  See this link.  Dhakane served for six years as a transferrer of funds outside the normal banking system for a banned terrorist entity al-Barakat. While in South America, he facilitated the transportation of as many as seven Somalians across the Texas and California borders whom he knew were extremists affiliates of AIAI that were “ready to die for the cause.”


Farida Goolam Ahmed, Pakistani national, illegally crossed the Mexico-Texas border, July 2004, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)  —  “Ahmed’s apprehension at the McAllen, Texas, airport while carrying clothing still wet from crossing the Rio Grande and a passport mutilated to hide her airport arrival in Mexico City drew brief national media attention as a potential terrorist infiltration, which faded after official government declarations that she was not connected to terrorism.”  See this link, and this link.   However, despite the proclamation of her innocence, a U.S. Border and Transportation intelligence summary of the case stated she was “linked to specific terrorist activities.”  Court transcripts and government investigative materials identified her as a South African-based human smuggler for a Pakistani political movement called MQM, who sources said operated safe houses in Johannesburg that provided shelter for terrorists “on the run,” including a participant in a 1995 ambush murder of two U.S. consulate employees in Karachi, Pakistan. An FBI official with direct knowledge of the investigation said Ahmed’s husband was a confirmed member of a terrorist organization.  See this link, this link, and this link.  (Some information is also from investigative materials the author was granted access to in 2006.)

Ahmed apparently regularly transported Pakistanis and others associated with MQM over the U.S.-Mexico border and also into Canada and Australia.  A federal prosecutor Abe Martinez, chief of the Southern District of Texas national security section in the U.S. Attorney’s Office said she likely smuggled people linked to terrorist organizations.  Also an uncorroborated Homeland Security Today magazine report cited U.S. intelligence sources alleging that she was linked to Pakistanis arrested in the U.K. who were plotting a terrorist attack in New York.  See this link, and this link.


Muhammad Kourani, Lebanese national, illegally crossed Mexico-U.S. border, date unknown (sometime before 2003), Hezbollah  —  “Court records from a current prosecution of a New York City-based member of Hezbollah’s foreign terrorist wing known as ‘Unit 910’ revealed that the defendant’s father, Muhammad Kourani, had ‘entered the United States illegally on foot’.”  United States v. Kourani, Case 1:17-cr-00417-AKH, (S.D. New York 2018), 2018, Government Memorandum of Opposition to Defendant’s Bail Application, p. 13 footnote 7.  “U.S. prosecutors accuse the son, Ali Kourani, in a multi-count indictment of collecting intelligence for potential assassinations and bombings in the United States for Unit 910 from 2008 through at least 2015.”  United States v. Kourani, Case 1:17-cr-00417-AKH (S.D.N.Y. June 28, 2017) Indictment.  Court records show that Kourani had intimate knowledge and participation in his son’s communication with a Hezbollah overseer inside Lebanon.


Al-Manar Television employee, Lebanese national, smuggled over Mexico-California border, 2001 or 2002, Hezbollah  —  “Out of the 2003-2004 U.S. smuggling prosecution of Lebanese national Salim Boughader Mucharrafille came information that his Tijuana-based organization smuggled one client over the Mexico-California who worked for a Hezbollah-owned satellite television network.” See this link.


Mahmoud Kourani, Lebanese national, illegally crossed Mexico-California border, February 2001, Hezbollah  —  “In 2001, Kourani (no known family relation to other listed individuals in this report) was smuggled across the Mexican border and into the United States in the trunk of a car and settled in Dearborn, Mich.”  He was sentenced to 54 months in prison for his activities being a fighter, recruiter, and fund-raiser for Hezbollah in Lebanon and the U.S. Prosecutors said his brother, Haidar, was chief of military security for the group in southern Lebanon. Kourani paid a Mexican consular official in Beirut $3,000 for a visa to enter Mexico.  He was then smuggled into the U.S. from Tijuana with 200 other Lebanese by the Salim Boughader Mucharrafille network of Lebanon.  See this link, this link, this link, and this link.



CONCLUSION

“While the list provided in this Backgrounder is necessarily partial, indications are strong that far greater numbers of migrants with terrorism connections crossed the land border but cannot be publicly reported.  One example involves the case of Islamic convert and Virginia native Anthony Joseph Tracy — who left his wife and children and moved to Kenya.  There, he began working with Somali war refugees and opened the business ‘Noor Services’.  Ultimately, Tracy was prosecuted for providing 270 Somalis with fraudulently obtained Kenyan passports, Cuban visas, and travel documentation to help them be smuggled over the U.S. land border.  According to 2010 prosecution records, Tracy admitted the terrorist organization al-Shabaab asked him to provide fraudulent travel documents to its operatives and that he failed a polygraph test while insisting he had refused the entreaty.  In court, investigators produced an e-mail from Tracy to an associate in which he admitted, ‘I helped a lot of Somalis, and most are good, but there are some who are bad, and I leave them to Allah.’”

“This and other evidence prompted FBI investigators to mount a nationwide, around-the-clock hunt for Tracy’s Somali clients on grounds that ‘we have no idea who these individuals are that he assisted.  These individuals pose — possibly pose — a risk of national security to the country.’  What they found remains publicly unknown, as when FBI agents mounted a nationwide search for several of Mohammad Dhakane’s clients that he believed were members of AIAI willing to conduct terrorist acts if asked.”

— Other reporting suggests that Latin American countries are attempting to deal with migrants terrorists en route on the border, which are efforts that are not reportable since officials don’t provide details about it. One example is when Panama deported six Pakistani nationals it apprehended who were moving through its territory, which is highly unusual for the country to do considering the amount of migrants that it normally allows to pass through.  Panama only claimed that they had “incomplete documents”, however that is often the case for many of the migrants.

— Facts do support Donald Trump’s assertion of terrorist border infiltration, since Middle Easterners from places like Syria, Iraq, Egypt, South Asia, and the Horn of Africa do routinely travel the same routes as Hondurans to the U.S. southern border.