Sanctuary for Sleeper Cells • The Havok Journal

“There are no disasters, only opportunities. And, indeed, opportunities for fresh disasters.” – Boris Johnson

“The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain.” – Colin Wilson

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I have written about the southern border’s crime-terror nexus several times, and it was the foundation of my Master’s Thesis and Doctoral Dissertation. My interest in the subject developed when I learned of an Iranian plot to hire Los Zetas cartel sicarios (hitmen) to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. using a Hezbollah intermediary. Over the last several years, numerous incidents have only served to highlight the national security threat created by the previous administration’s encouragement of illegal immigration.

For example, in May 2024, two Jordanian illegal aliens attempted to breach the gate of a military installation in a box truck—what appeared to be a test run for an actual attack. The following month, in June, the FBI disrupted a terrorist plot to conduct three coordinated suicide bombings in New York City, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. The Islamist extremists behind the plot had crossed the southern border over the last two years. Around the same time, a cellphone—believed to belong to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cybersecurity (read: warfare) expert—was found containing detailed instructions for at least 25,000 followers on how to illegally cross the border.

Over the last four years, at least eight million illegal aliens from more than 100 countries have entered the U.S. through the southern border. Almost all have been released and even transported to 48 states by DHS or NGOs (nongovernmental organizations), with nearly no proper vetting. These include thousands—sometimes tens of thousands—from hostile or terror-harboring nations like Afghanistan, Venezuela, Syria, and China. Most of those who have crossed the border since former President Biden dismantled President Trump’s border policies are military-age males. While many likely came for economic reasons, seeking to benefit from blind American liberal altruism and demographic manipulation, others were given a free pass to form vast criminal organizations and sleeper cells in nearly every American urban area.

Tens of thousands of Chinese nationals, including hundreds on the terror watch list, along with millions of unvetted individuals, are now scattered across the country. The question is not if something bad will happen—but when. The Biden administration welcomed this disaster, but a greater one looms on the horizon.

The Growing Threat

First, there is the China threat. While Chinese cyber operations are arguably the top national security concern, they may now be a close second. Though speculative, in recent years there has been an unusual number of “accidents” or suspicious incidents affecting U.S. infrastructure and agriculture—food processing plants, stockyards, and livestock deaths—just as American supply chains remain strained from the tyrannical COVID lockdowns. Now, with the illegal immigration crisis, the threat of sabotage—both physical and digital—by Chinese interests has grown exponentially.

Similarly, adversaries like Iran, Venezuela, the Taliban, Al Qa’ida, and Da’esh (ISIS/Islamic State) have likely infiltrated the U.S. and could cause untold havoc domestically. The previous administration welcomed them under the guise of altruism, though more likely driven by political malfeasance. Sarah “Superbad” Adams, a former CIA targeter still active in tracking foreign terrorists, has made deeply concerning claims in this regard. Based on intelligence she has received, she strongly believes as many as 1,000 foreign Islamic terrorists are currently operating within the U.S.—trained in Afghanistan and funded by the $40 million in taxpayer dollars being sent to the Taliban weekly.

Adams believes these terrorist cells are organized by operational specialty. Some are trained as suicide bombers; others are prepared for coordinated attacks similar to those of October 7th; and still others specialize in vehicular assaults, like those seen in New Orleans or Waukesha, Wisconsin. The national security threat will only worsen if judicial activists and dubiously benevolent NGOs allow unrestricted entry to “Palestinian refugees,” many of whom openly celebrated the wanton murder of innocents on 9/11/01 and 10/7/23.

Already, activist judges have issued injunctions to prevent the deportation of hundreds of violent criminals, including members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), now designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Likewise, internal leaks from DHS—and possibly the FBI—have disrupted ICE raids targeting dangerous criminals, giving these bad actors a chance to vanish into the shadows or escalate violent confrontations that put law enforcement and civilians in harm’s way.

Combating the Threat

President Trump has taken aggressive steps to mitigate, reduce, and combat this growing threat. Designating several drug trafficking organizations and transnational criminal groups as FTOs has provided federal law enforcement, the Intelligence Community, and the military with expanded tools to disrupt and dismantle these networks. Additionally, invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act and declaring a national emergency at the southern border has granted greater authority to deport criminal illegal aliens and curb the flow of new arrivals.

Unfortunately, whether the threat involves 50 or 500 Chinese saboteurs or Al Qa’ida suicide bombers, these terrorist cells are already in place—and only they know their operational timeline. That being said, live your life as you would any other day—but stay vigilant, maintain situational awareness, and always have a plan.

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Ben is a former U.S. Army Mountain Infantry Platoon Sergeant and served in domestic and overseas roles from 2001-2018, including, from 2003-2005, as a sniper section leader. Besides his military service, Ben worked on the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq’s protective security detail in various roles, and since 2018, he has also provided security consulting services for public and private sectors, including tactical training, physical and information security, executive protection, protective intelligence, risk management, insider threat mitigation, and anti-terrorism. He earned a B.A. and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies from American Military University, a graduate certificate in Cyber Security from Colorado State University and is currently in his second year of AMU’s Doctorate of Global Security program.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.