A Lebanese migrant who was caught sneaking over the border admitted he’s a member of Hezbollah, he hoped to make a bomb, and his destination was New York, The Post can reveal.
Basel Bassel Ebbadi, 22, was caught by border patrol on March 9 near El Paso, Texas. While in custody he asked what he was doing in the US, to which he replied: “I’m going to try to make a bomb,” according to a Border Patrol document exclusively obtained by The Post.
In a subsequent sworn interview, Ebbadi said he had trained with Hezbollah for seven years and served as an active member guarding weapons locations for another four years, according to internal ICE documents.
Ebbadi’s training focused on “jihad” and killing people “that was not Muslim,” he said.
Border agents continue to see a surge in migrants whose names appear on the terror watchlist entering the US illegally as crossings continue at record levels.
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group, has launched missiles into northern Israel following Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 that have killed about a dozen IDF soldiers and seven civilians.
Ebbadi said he was fleeing Lebanon because he “didn’t want to kill people,” adding “once you’re in, you can never get out.”
Ebbadi didn’t have documents when he entered the US, claiming they were robbed “with a knife” while he was in Costa Rica, according to the ICE documents. He also admitted to using a fake birthday and name in Sweden, in Ecuador — where he claimed his father resides — and Panama this year.
He said he had originally hoped to go to New York and then move around the country.
Ebbadi was immediately placed into isolation and was referred for an interview with the Tactical Terrorism Response Team (TTRT) for making “terroristic threats to personnel.”
Internal documents show he was marked for deportation from the US, although it was not clear which country he would be returned to.
Border agents recorded 98 encounters of terror watch listed individuals at both the northern and southern borders in fiscal year 2022, an almost twice as many, 172, in the 2023 fiscal year which ends September 20. So far in the first four months of 2024, 59 people have been apprehended, according to federal data.
The total number of terror watch listed encounters between fiscal years 2017 and 2021 amounted to just 30 people, but after that time the criteria for being on the list, which has never been disclosed, was expanded.
Just days before former President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, a terror-watch listed migrant crossed into the area illegally, according to an internal agency memo The Post obtained.
Colombian national Carlos Obed Yepez-Bedoya, 40, was first apprehended by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), which handed him into the custody of Border Patrol. Border agents made the determination about Yepez-Bedoya’s alleged terror ties.
“This underscores the need for border security measures as potential threats to both public safety and national security are evident and exploit security vulnerabilities,” Texas DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez told The Post at the time.
“The federal government has failed to enact border security measures, and the state of Texas, through Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, will continue to take unprecedented action to help secure the border,” Olivarez said.