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Suspected NY Bomber in US on Chain Migration Visa, Not on FBI Radar

CBN

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New York City police remain on high alert more than 24-hours after Monday's explosion below ground near Time Square.

And new details are coming out about 27-year-old Akayed Ullah who remains hospitalized in New York.

CBN News has learned the former taxi driver has been living in the US for the past seven years.

Ullah is a Bangladeshi national who came to the US legally on what's called a chain migration visa that allows foreign relatives of citizens to enter the US.

According to immigration statistics, since 2005, more than 141,000 people from Bangladesh have entered the United States through this controversial migration visa system.

New York City transit surveillance video caught the explosion, which detonated in a passageway below ground at the world's busiest and the nation's largest bus terminal.
 
Police say Ullah was wearing the pipe bomb when it went off, injuring but not killing him.
 
Three others suffered minor injuries like ringing of the ears and headaches due to the explosion.  
 
"A thorough background investigation into Ullah is being conducted by the joint terrorism task force," said NYPD Commissioner James O'Neil.

The FBI and New York City authorities conducted a search of Ullah's home where he lived with other family members.

He reportedly claimed the attack was inspired by ISIS.

Investigators are trying to find evidence to see if that's true, but more importantly they want to find out if this was a one-time 'lone wolf' attack or part of a larger coordinated attack that is still unfolding.

It was just weeks ago, terrorists called for such attacks to be carried out online, displaying an image of Santa and crowds in Times Square with the message, "We meet at Christmas in New York... soon."
 
"The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize. It's a psychological event," said Harlan Ullman, a senior advisor at the Atlantic Council of Business Executives for National Security. "So we are are far more afraid of the possibilities than we are of reality."
 
Ullman is also the author of the book, Anatomy of Failure, Why America Loses Every War It Starts.
 
He says the last thing we should do is panic.
 
"The New York police force is one of the best in the world. They've got one of the best counter-terrorist units," Ullman said.
 
City officials say New Yorkers will see an increased police presence at all transportation hubs around the city beginning immediately.

 

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