Afghan Migrant on Terror Watch List Released by Border Patrol Remains in U.S.

Mohammad Kharwin, 48, is out on bond as he awaits an immigration hearing in Texas. His hearing is scheduled for 2025. Kharwin is on the terror watchlist. 

Kharwin was apprehended on March 10, 2023. He is an illegal alien from Afghanistan who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border near San Ysidro, California. He spent nearly a year in the United States after he was apprehended and released by Border Patrol in 2023. He was arrested again last month and released again by an immigration judge who was not told he was a national security threat. 

So, Kharwin is out on bond and free to roam about the country. He has no restrictions placed on him. 

When Kharwin was apprehended, Border Patrol agents became suspicious when a piece of information matched an individual on the terror watch list. The agents did not have corroborating information to confirm that Kharwin was the person they suspected. DHS refused to elaborate on what the piece of information was that made them suspicious. 

Kharwin was processed and his biometric data was taken. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) treated him as any other illegal alien and released him. Neither the FBI nor Customs Enforcement were notified. 

He applied for asylum and work authorization. He can fly domestically in the United States. 

The FBI maintains the terror watchlist. The list contains the names of 1.8 million people who are considered potential security risks. The database indicates Kharwin is a member of Hezb-e-Islami, also known as HIG, which is a political and paramilitary organization designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. 

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said that HIG is a “virulently anti-Western insurgent group.” Its goal was to overturn the Western-backed Afghan government before it fell to the Taliban after Biden’s disastrous bug-out from Afghanistan in 2021. HIG was responsible for attacks in Afghanistan that killed at least nine American soldiers and civilians between 2013 and 2015. 

DHS insists that it prioritizes illegal aliens considered a national security threat for detention and deportation. Yet this man was apprehended and released twice. The judge was not given all of the appropriate information. DHS responded when asked about Kharwin’s case, “While we can’t comment on ongoing matters, we are tracking closely and, as always, taking all necessary steps to ensure public safety.”

“Vetting is a point-in-time check that evaluates information available to the U.S. Government at that time,” the DHS spokesperson added. “If individuals who have entered the country are later found to be associated with information indicating a potential national security or public safety concern, DHS and our federal partners have procedures in place to investigate and take appropriate action.”

This case should raise questions about how many more like Kharwin are freely roaming around the United States. 70 people who match the information on the terror watchlist have been apprehended so far in FY 2024. That number is half of what the number was in FY 2023. 

In February 2024, the FBI passed information to ICE indicating that Kharwin had potential terror ties and may pose a risk to national security. Soon after, and nearly a year after he was released near the border, ICE agents conducted an operation and arrested Kharwin on Feb. 28 in San Antonio, Texas, according to sources familiar with the case.

Kharwin was held in ICE detention until his court hearing on March 28, when he appeared before an immigration judge in Pearsall, Texas. Immigration judges decide whether migrants can stay legally in the U.S., continue to be detained, or be deported. 

When ICE prosecutors appeared in court, they did not share with the judge some classified information that purportedly showed Kharwin’s ties to HIG, two U.S. officials said. Prosecutors argued that the man should be detained without bond because he was a flight risk, but they did not say that he was a national security risk, according to sources familiar with the case. 

The judge didn’t have all of the information about Kharwin so he was released on bond. It is unclear why his potential threat to national security was not told to the immigration judge. 

Kharwin was released on March 30 by ICE. He paid the $12,000 bond that was mandated by the immigration judge. That amount is higher than most bonds for illegal aliens who are waiting on court dates. 

He has no restrictions on his movement in the United States but he must appear for his next court date in a year. Kharwin’s case is the third one in two years in which CBP has released illegal aliens with suspected terrorist ties. 

Who paid this man’s $12,000 bond? Who paid for his illegal entry into the United States two times? 

Why isn’t there better coordination between CBP, ICE, and immigration judges? This failure in communication gives out 9/11/01 vibes. 

FBI Director Christopher Wray has repeatedly warned in Congressional hearings of the alarming rise in threats to the homeland. He said that red lights are flashing at a level he has never seen before now. This week Wray warned about concerns that a small group of terrorists may pull off an attack like one recently seen in Russia at a concert hall. 

“Our most immediate concern has been that individuals or small groups will draw twisted inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home,” Wray told a House Appropriations subcommittee.

“But now, increasingly concerning is the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, akin to the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia concert hall a couple weeks ago.”

I fear it is not a question of if but when something devastating happens in the United States. It feels like we are on borrowed time with the open southern border and the rising number of people who match names on the terror watchlist. Now we see the failure of communication between agencies that is allowing the release of potential terrorists to remain in our country and move around freely. We can’t say we haven’t been warned.