DHS identifies 400 migrants smuggled into US by network that may be connected to ISIS

CNN —

The Department of Homeland Security has identified more than 400 migrants who came to the US via a human smuggling network that may have some connection with ISIS, prompting an additional review of those individuals, according to two US officials.

The purpose of the network was to smuggle people, not bring in terrorists, one of the officials said. But it is the same network that brought eight Tajik nationals, who were arrested earlier this month after officials discovered that they had some specific and troubling connections to the terror group.

There was specific “derogatory information” linking those individuals to ISIS, the official said. In the latest case, the 400 migrants under scrutiny – mostly from Central Asian nations – are being screened purely because of their connection to the human smuggling network.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters Wednesday that the department hasn’t identified “400 people with potential ISIS ties.”

Of those 400 people, a number of them have been detained by immigration authorities, according to the official. But there haven’t been cases identified of anyone threatening the US at this point, the official said. Vetting is ongoing.

NBC News was first to report the figure of 400 migrants.

The review comes as US officials have grown increasingly concerned about migrants from Central Asian nations such as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The leadership of ISIS-K is mainly made up of Tajik nationals and the group has recruited from both countries. Tajik nationals have carried out a series of recent attacks in Europe on behalf of the group, including the Crocus Hall attack in Moscow in March that killed more than 100 people.

US officials have been