UK tourists in USA warned 'it's extremely serious' after 'border issue'

Eight people with suspected ISIS ties arrested in New York, Philadelphia and LA after crossing the US border. Eight people from Tajikistan with suspected ties to the Islamic State group have been arrested in the US in recent days - with UK tourists warned.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Security Chief Greg Ehrie warned on CNN: "It's extremely serious. I liken it to a weather front. You're seeing all the fronts coming into play." Ehrie added: "We have a border issue.

"We have an ideological issue. We have ISIS-K—which is increasing their external operations—and then we find these individuals who we don't really know a lot about in our borders. In the business of terrorism, you want the notoriety, you want the media attention.

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"You start to think: What's the next target that would get them the most notoriety, that would make the biggest splash for them? It's hard not to come back to the United States."

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a statement confirming the immigration-related arrests of “several non-citizens” but did not detail specifics. The agencies noted that the US has been in a “heightened threat environment.”

In recent weeks authorities uncovered “derogatory information” which indicated the individuals had links to the terrorist group. "Over the last few days, ICE agents arrested several non-citizens pursuant to immigration authorities," the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

"The actions were carried out in close coordination with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces. The individuals arrested are detained 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 FBI and DHS will continue working around the clock with our partners to identify, investigate, and disrupt potential threats to national security.”