American ‘jihad’ fueled by 'risky source' inside US borders, warns national security expert
After the Justice Department announced charges against an Iraqi militia leader for directing terror attacks inside the U.S., a national security expert warned of a "risky source" contributing to "jihad"-type...
By Fox News · Fox News
After the Justice Department announced charges against an Iraqi militia leader for directing terror attacks inside the U.S., a national security expert warned of a "risky source" contributing to "jihad"-type terrorist activity inside America’s borders. Iraqi national Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a senior member of the Iran-backed Kata’ib Hizballah terror group, is accused of orchestrating nearly 20 terrorist attacks across Europe and plotting attacks on Jewish institutions. Authorities also said al-Saadi publicly threatened President Donald Trump and his family. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, said that vetting failures of supposed Iraqi and Afghan allies and an all-too-generous social welfare system have left the United States vulnerable to terrorism . "It's not just open borders. We offer so many pathways to immigrate here, either temporarily or permanently, and, unfortunately, every time you offer an immigration benefit, people will flock to it and often commit fraud to obtain it," said Ries. FBI BRINGS IRAQI MAN ACCUSED OF COORDINATING NEARLY 20 TERROR ATTACKS IN EUROPE TO FACE TRIAL IN NEW YORK "When you combine these factors of a prior open border, millions of deportable aliens inside the U.S., common believers for jihad, then that leads to real terror threats inside the U.S.," she said. "Al-Saadi calls on others to carry out jihad, and, unfortunately, there are many who are willing to do it." Ries explained that the U.S. intelligence community’s threat assessments for this year and 2025 included "discussion of Iranian commitment to decades-long attacks against the U.S. using surrogate networks inside the U.S." In the last year, Ries said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 11 Iranian nationals illegally present in the country, including a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member with Hezbollah ties, other IRGC members and operati…