The Republican lawmakers told BuzzFeed News terrorists are infiltrating the U.S. from the southern border, even as Homeland Security officials deny those claims.
A Texas National Guard soldier scans the Mexican side of the U.S.–Mexico border in Havana, Texas.
John Moore / Getty Images
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, said four alleged terror suspects were captured on Sept. 10 in Texas. In an interview Wednesday, Chaffetz said the men flew from a Middle Eastern country to Mexico City, where they paid a smuggler to take them to and across the border. From there, the men ended up in a safe house for immigrants. They were en route to New York City, Chaffetz said, when they were captured.
Chaffetz would not reveal his source of the information, but said he confirmed it with government officials. "I had an informant tell me about it and then I questioned the Secretary of Homeland Security," he said. "I have no doubt about its authenticity."
The four alleged terror suspects had affiliations with groups other than the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Chaffetz said. He added that they were still being held in Texas as of Wednesday.
California Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican who represents San Diego County, made headlines Tuesday when he said to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren that he had "asked Border Patrol" about terrorists and learned that several had been captured.
Hunter claimed 10 terror suspects had been caught near the border, including four people allegedly captured in September.
"I know at least 10 ISIS fighters have been caught coming across the Mexican border in Texas," he said on the program.
Hunter's spokesman Joe Kasper told BuzzFeed News the congressman's assertion that 10 terror suspects had been captured along the border included the same four people described by Chaffetz. Kasper claimed four other suspects had been captured within the last 36 hours, and pointed to a Judicial Watch story that allegedly "confirmed" the most recent captures to back up his assertion.
Two additional suspects were picked up sometime after the first group in September, but before this week, Kasper said.
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