President-elect Donald Trump and one of his advisers implied that immigration was a factor in the tragic New Year’s Eve attack in New Orleans, tying ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ to one of his key political issues.

Authorities reported that the attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who killed 14 individuals and injured many others, was a U.S. citizen and an Army veteran born in Texas.

Police fatally shot Jabbar after he drove a truck emblazoned with an ISIS flag into a crowd celebrating New Year’s Eve on Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning.

Deputy Assistant FBI Director Christopher Raia stated on Thursday that investigators believe Jabbar acted independently in carrying out a premeditated “act of terrorism” fully motivated by ISIS ideology.

Trump focuses on immigration issues

As of Thursday afternoon, federal investigators had not established any connections between the New Orleans attacker and immigration or the U.S.-Mexico border.

Nevertheless, Trump took to his social network, Truth Social, following the attack, asserting that the incident was linked to “criminals entering the country” and making connections between “radical Islamic terrorism” and immigration.

He has criticized President Joe Biden’s “open borders” stance, warning that “radical Islamic terrorism and other violent crimes will escalate to the point where it will be unimaginable in America.”

“That time has come, and it is worse than anyone could have imagined,” he continued.

The Trump transition team has not provided immediate comments regarding the situation.

Trump has often attributed crime rates to immigration, pointing to extreme incidents involving immigrants and sometimes disseminating inaccurate information linking them to societal unrest, all in the name of his key campaign vow: tightening control on illegal immigration.

Incorrect media report

“He is exploiting a tragedy and a significant issue to advance his political goals,” stated Naureen Shah, a lawyer with the ACLU. “He believes that demonizing immigrants gives him a free pass, and to a degree, he has been confirmed in his manipulation of the facts.”

The narrative against immigration gained traction after FOX News, citing unnamed sources, mistakenly reported that the New Orleans assailant might have entered through the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump quickly accused “the criminals entering” the country before FOX issued a correction. However, his statement remained on both Trump’s Truth Social and the X account of Karoline Leavitt, his transition press secretary, as of Thursday.

“When I stated that criminals entering are significantly worse than those already in our country, that claim was repeatedly dismissed by Democrats and the ‘Fake News’ media, yet it turned out to be accurate,” Trump declared in his post.

New Orleans attacker expressed allegiance to ISIS

According to Raia, the acting FBI director, 42-year-old Jabbar made the trip from his home in Houston to New Orleans on Tuesday, December 31. Prior to the attack, Jabbar uploaded five videos on a social media platform expressing his allegiance to ISIS.

The extremist group ISIS, which emerged around a decade ago, evolved from Al Qaeda elements that battled against U.S. forces in Iraq and sought to establish an Islamist caliphate across parts of the Middle East.

Trump’s comments followed a statement from aide Stephen Miller, the incoming deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security adviser, who connected “Islamist terrorism” to immigration.

“Islamist terrorism is imported,” Miller wrote on X. “It was not a ‘homegrown’ issue; it was brought here through migration.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which claims to be the largest civil rights group for Muslims in the U.S., also reacted to these statements, emphasizing the need for accurate narratives surrounding immigration and terrorism.

An advocacy organization has condemned the violent incident that occurred in New Orleans.

“We unequivocally condemn this act of violence. We stand united with the citizens of New Orleans and urge anyone with information to come forward as soon as possible. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this incident wishing them a complete recovery,” the group stated in their announcement.

One of the victims identified was Kareem Badawi, a Muslim American from Baton Rouge, who is currently a student at the University of Alabama, according to CAIR.

“It is inappropriate to exploit a dreadful crime like the one in New Orleans for political purposes,” remarked Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the national deputy director of CAIR.

According to Pew Research estimates, there are approximately 3 million Muslims in the U.S., making up about 1% of the total population.

The majority of Muslim adults, about 58%, are immigrants. This influx followed the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which eased restrictions on immigration from regions outside of Europe, including Asia and Africa.

During his campaign for presidency, Trump vowed to “reinstate the travel ban” targeting predominantly Muslim nations. The Supreme Court later upheld a revised version of this ban, which Biden eventually rescinded.