A Pakistani national, now charged with a murder-for-hire plot against former President Donald Trump, entered the United States on “significant public benefit parole” despite being on the government’s “watch list.”
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges against 46-year-old Asif Raza Merchant of Pakistan for allegedly attempting to execute a murder-for-hire plot targeting Trump and other politicians.
Federal prosecutors, in an unsealed complaint, allege Merchant flew into George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, on April 13, aiming to recruit U.S.-based assassins for the plot. According to documents obtained by Just the News, Merchant was interviewed, fingerprinted, and inspected upon arrival. Federal agents noted Merchant had recently traveled to Iran, a known hotbed for Islamic terrorism.
Merchant’s immigration records, available to federal agents at the time, clearly flagged him as a “Lookout Qualified Person of Interest” on the Department of Homeland Security database. Despite this, Merchant was released at the airport and allowed to travel within the U.S. under the terms of his “significant public benefit parole,” which expired on May 11. He was permitted to stay in the U.S. past this date.
Officials suggested Merchant’s entry on parole might have been an attempt by federal agents to secure his cooperation in investigations and potentially turn others involved in similar schemes. While in the U.S., Merchant boarded domestic flights from Houston to New York City, then to Boston, and back to New York City from April through June.
Federal agents arrested Merchant on July 12 as he allegedly attempted to return to Pakistan before the murder-for-hire plot was carried out. Prosecutors claim he planned to lead the plot from outside the U.S., coordinating with the assassins he believed he had recruited.
