US terror suspect claims to be South African

An illegal immigrant crackdown in Texas in the US in 2024 sparked an investigation into a man who said he was from SA and who was subsequently arrested on terror suspicions, reports the Daily Maverick. The 18-year-old is now in an American detention facility and may be awaiting deportation. In September 2024, Umar Farooq Ashraf was detained in Texas with a group of allegedly undocumented immigrants. He told authorities he was from SA and his details, according to US authorities, triggered an alert that he was possibly the child or spouse of a known or suspected terrorist. At some point after that, for reasons that have not been publicised, Ashraf was released from custody. But not for long. Ashraf was again arrested about three months later, in New York in December 2024, on suspicion of being a terrorist. Yesterday, Chrispin Phiri, the spokesperson of the Minister of International Relations & Co-operation, said that ‘our embassy does not have official notification of this arrest’. He added: ‘It should be noted that the department does not have authority to release information without the consent of the person in question or a relevant third party.’ Ashraf’s name – and apparent situation – has been publicised in US media. DM used the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement online detainee locator system and ascertained that Ashraf is probably still being held in the US. If Umar Farooq is indeed Umar Farooq Ashraf, it suggests that he has been detained for four months in Texas since his latest arrest. In the run-up to this, Ashraf was detained, effectively twice, in the US during Joe Biden’s Presidency. Now he is being held under Donald Trump’s administration, which means he may be facing a tougher time as Trump has taken a much more bullish approach to immigrants and related issues – and to SA.

Full Daily Maverick report