From the Brownsville Herald, with thanks to Kemaste:
December 10, 2004 — Last week’s arrest of a Bangladeshi immigrant trying to illegally enter the country has federal authorities concerned over the vulnerability of the U.S.-Mexico border to infiltration by terrorists.
Federal court records show Fakhrul Islam, age unknown, was arrested Dec. 4 with 13 other undocumented immigrants as they tried to pass through a wooded area east of Brownsville.
The records said a man later identified by Border Patrol agents as a member of the Mara Salvatruchas gang was traveling in the same group as Islam.
The Central American gang has alleged links to al-Qaida.
“This is alarming,” said U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Texas.
In a telephone interview Tuesday, Ortiz said the Central American gang members and terrorists are suspected of trying to blend in with Mexican or other immigrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We knew this was happening underground, but now it’s come to the surface,” he said.
Although Bangladesh is not listed as a nation that supports terrorism, Ortiz said the predominantly Muslim southern Asian nation is a “country of concern” for U.S. intelligence officials.