Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday about reports of an ISIS sympathizer smuggling illegal migrants into the United States.
The FBI is investigating more than a dozen Uzbek nationals who allegedly traveled across the U.S.-Mexico border with the help of the ISIS-sympathizing smuggler, CNN reported Tuesday. Officials said there is no specific ISIS plot but are currently trying to assess all of the migrants the smuggler helped to the U.S. illegally.
“How is it possible that an ISIS sympathizer is sneaking people into this country?” Doocy asked.
“The intelligence alerted us to a human smuggling network. We moved fast and successfully to disrupt it. So I just want to be very clear of that we are moving—” she began.
“You say you disrupted it. Are you saying you know where all of the people this ISIS sympathizer snuck into the country are?” Doocy asked.
“If I can answer the question, I’m sure I’ll touch on everything you want to ask me,” Jean-Pierre said. (RELATED: ‘That’s Exactly What’s Happening!’: Doocy, Jean-Pierre Spar Over CDC Guidance For Illegal Immigrants Versus All Other Travelers)
The press secretary told Doocy that the law enforcement “disrupted” the smuggling operation and has detained the smuggler in question and that immigration authorities have placed migrants who entered the country with help from the alleged ISIS sympathizer into an expedited removal process. She also claimed there is no sign that the smuggling operation had any ties to ISIS.
Doocy paraphrased a famous quote, noting that the U.S. has to be right about potential terrorist attacks in every instance, while the terrorists only have to be right once. Jean-Pierre assured the White House is “committed” to protecting the nation against terrorism.
Doocy further pressed Jean-Pierre about the administration’s “sudden urgency” to combat the smuggling operation.
“We’ve seen human smuggling networks operated by the cartels for years, why the sudden urgency with this one?” Doocy asked.
“We always have, we always have and will be vigilant here when it comes to making sure that we are protecting our homeland. That is something that this president is committed to, something that this administration is committed to,” Jean-Pierre responded. “We will always be and will continue to be. Let’s not forget that this was successfully disrupted and it was because of the quick act of our law enforcement that we are incredibly grateful to.”
When FBI agents learned of the smuggling operations, officials immediately rushed to locate the migrants and arrested the smuggler and other members of the operation, CNN reported. The smuggler is not believed to be a member of the terrorist organization, nor do officials suspect that he was smuggling migrants on behalf of ISIS.
The U.S. has not yet located all of the migrants who entered the country with the help of the alleged smuggler, and the more than 15 who are in custody are still being investigated by the FBI as possible criminal threats, CNN reported.