Terrorists discovered in San Diego

'We have detained more Pakistanis and Afghans in the first month of this fiscal year than we did all last year.'

Afghan and Pakistani men are entering the United States illegally through Mexican city Tijuana's border with San Diego.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to a letter send by U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter sent to the Department of Homeland Security, two illegal Pakistani and Afghan men who were discovered to have entered the United States from Tijuana have been discovered to be related to terrorist groups.

Immigration and Customs Enforcementreports both men, Huhammad Azeem and Muktar Ahmad, surrendered to U.S. Border Patrol members in September.

The San Diego Reader reported one man was discovered to be listed on the Terrorist Screening Database for "associations with a known or suspected terrorist. The other was a positive match for derogatory information in an alternative database," Hunt's letter explained.

Border Patrol agents described the Middle Eastern illegals as "military age and carrying U.S. cash." The men are among several who began to enter the United States through a Tijuana-based human smuggling pipeline.

Pakistanis and Afghan illegals crossing into the United States through Tijuana are uncommon compared to those entering the United States through airports and ports of entry. Border Patrol assistant chief Richard Smith claimed, "We have detained more Pakistanis and Afghans in the first month of this fiscal year than we did all last year."

Since Smith's statement, three more Afghans and six more Pakistanis were detained by Border Patrol.

Though it seems like a lot, the number of illegals has declined as Pakistanis have begun to change their initial game plan.

Union officials reported Pakistanis previously entered the United States in groups and sought out federal agents to surrender to. Though it has not been proven, many believe the illegal immigrants would act that way because illegal entrants - beside Mexican citizens - who are believed to not pose a "significant threat" are usually allowed to appear in immigration court, then be released on their recognizance.

Since November, the habit of traveling in groups and surrendering to agents has ceased. Border Patrol now finds illegals travelling alone and farther north of the border than previous surrenders.

National Border Patrol Council president Terence Shigg said, "It's very concerning. We have no idea what their actual intentions are because we have no effective way of backtracking. Just the males are coming and there's no way for us to know for certain who they are and why."

Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for Azeem and Ahmad, who currently remain in ICE custody, stated ICE's Homeland Security Investigations is part of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and works with the FBI on terrorism-related investigation.

Fred Burton, Stratfor vice president of intelligence, explained, "The challenge of getting these individuals is getting who they actually are confirmed - proving identity is difficult in that environment. Afghanistan and Pakistan do not have a robust identification system - these are places where there is tremendous potential for official document and visa fraud."

Meanwhile, Shigg believes federal officials should commit more resources to keeping people from similar countries in custody until they can be properly investigated.

"It's not as if they don't have the systems to sort, but they have to dedicate the resources and detention space to sorting this out," Shigg stated. "These are credible threats."

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