In the days leading up to the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the U.S., a U.S. Border Patrol agent apprehended a Lebanese national and U.S. citizen after the two illegally crossed into the U.S. from Canada.
Sunday, September 7, a Houlton Sector Border Patrol agent out on patrol discovered the two men as they walked with mountain bikes along a dirt road. One man is from Lebanon and is also reportedly a Canadian citizen; the second man is a U.S. citizen. The agent determined the two had illegally crossed into the U.S. from Canada south of the Notre Dame border-crossing region. Both men were arrested and taken for further processing and database verification at the Rangeley Station.
The men were then turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers for fine and penalty assessment. It was determined that “both men deliberately entered the U.S. without lawful inspection and as such, each subject was assessed a $5,000 civil penalty under 19 USC 1459 for Failure to Report. Since this is an administrative fine, the individuals do not have to go through a judicial process and will have approximately 30 days to pay the fine,” a CBP release stated.
Afterwards all property was returned to the men, the U.S. citizen was released on his own recognizance and the Lebanese national, a Canadian citizen, was returned to Canada through the Woburn, Quebec, port of entry on expedited removal, according to the CBP release.
Breitbart recently reported on journalist James O’Keefe’s video demonstration of the ease with which an ISIS or any terrorist could cross into the United States from Canada, unchecked. O’Keefe, along with a man dressed as a terrorist, boarded a boat on Lake Erie and motored from Canada to the U.S., docked and the mock terrorist with a suspicious bag walked right into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio without any hindrance.
In August, the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for Lebanon that stated, “The Department of State urges U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to Lebanon because of ongoing safety and security concerns.” Suicide bombings are prevalent in the region, the warning documents, “Attacks now regularly involve suicide bombers.”
“Extremist groups operate in Lebanon, including some such as Hizballah, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Abdullah Azzam Brigades (AAB), and al-Nusrah Front (ANF), that the U.S. Government has designated as terrorist organizations. ISIL and ANF have claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in Lebanon, and these groups are active in north Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and in border areas with Syria. U.S. citizens have been the target of terrorist attacks in Lebanon in the past, and the threat of anti-Western terrorist activity remains in Lebanon” according to the state department travel warning.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
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