On March 22, 2024, Russia experienced its deadliest terror attack in years as gunmen wearing combat gear unleashed gunfire and explosives in a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, leaving at least 115 people dead and 145 wounded. 

Images depicted Crocus City Hall engulfed in flames, while videos captured the chaos as panicked attendees fled from at least four gunmen wielding automatic weapons. At least two explosions were also reported during the harrowing incident. 

According to Russian media, authorities apprehended 11 individuals connected to the attack, including three children. A branch of the Islamic State (ISIS-K) claimed responsibility for the attack through a post on Telegram, asserting that their gunmen had escaped afterward. This claim was backed by U.S. intelligence.  

ISIS-K, or the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, is a branch of ISIS operating mainly in the Khorasan region, spanning parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Formed in 2015, it shares the radical Sunni ideology of ISIS and aims to establish an Islamic caliphate. Focusing on Central Asia, ISIS-K has carried out various terrorist acts, including bombings and shootings, often targeting Shi’a Muslims, minorities, and Western interests. ISIS-K was the group behind the deadly Kabul Airport bombing in 2021, which left 13 U.S. service members and numerous Afghan civilians dead during the United States’ botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.  

FBI Director Christopher Wray has long warned Americans of a potential terrorist attack like the one seen last month in Russia, so his renewed warnings earlier this week are hardly surprising. Wray testified before a Congressional subcommittee that he would be “hard-pressed” to think of another time when “so many threats to public safety and national security were all elevated at once.”   

Border Patrol Agents have been cautioning officials that they have been witnessing an unprecedented spike in encounters with military-age men from all around the world, including China, Russia, Syria, and other “terror-linked” regions. Earlier this year, Border Patrol announced it had apprehended at least 342 illegal immigrants who were on the terrorist watch list, including one al-Shabaab terrorist who had been mistakenly allowed into the country in 2023 before being apprehended a year later.  

A similar situation arose when an Afghan migrant with ties to the terrorist group Hezb-e-Islami was released into the country and allowed to roam freely for a year before being apprehended. After ICE picked him up, he was released a second time by a judge who was unaware that the immigrant had ties with a terrorist organization. This individual was granted asylum, obtained a work visa, and has been permitted to fly domestically since his initial release in 2023. 

His story marks the third time an illegal immigrant with known terrorism ties was released into the country since 2021, but these are the ones that Border Patrol knows about. It’s doubtful that terrorists will knock on the front door with a plate of cookies and request permission to come inside and unleash an attack on American soil. There is no way to account for those who have snuck across the border and may already be forming terrorist cells in America, plotting their next attack.  

Emboldened by a United States government with little stomach to stop them, violent protestors have been setting the stage for a significant pro-Palestinian incident. With an influx of Palestinian refugees at the border, it’s not an unrealistic worry that these domestic terrorists will join forces with this displaced group of America-hating refugees and unleash a 9/11-style attack on a complacent nation. 

“This is by no means a time to let up or dial back,” Wray cautioned lawmakers. “This is a time when we need your support the most — we need all the tools, all the people, and all the resources required to tackle these threats and to keep Americans safe.” 

Wray urges Congress to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This controversial surveillance tool, enacted by Congress in 2008 and set to expire on April 15, empowers the Intelligence Community (IC) to collect and analyze foreign intelligence and perform targeted surveillance, mainly focusing on issues like terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. The statute allegedly excludes U.S. citizens or individuals within the United States from its scope, but the FBI has abused its authority for warrantless searches on Americans, including January 6 protestors.  

Wray supports Section 702, emphasizing its importance in national security efforts, but concerns from some Republicans linger regarding the infringement of civil liberties and perceived inadequacies in reforms to the statute. 

Still, Section 702 will do little to thwart untold numbers of potential terrorist immigrants that have illegally entered the country, and with the Biden administration holding the doors wide open, it’s only a matter of time until the unthinkable happens.