A Pakistani man arrested in Quebec in an alleged terror plot to massacre New York City Jews entered Canada last year on a student visa, according to Immigration Minister Marc Miller.
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan was charged on Friday for his alleged involvement in an ISIS terrorism plot after being apprehended in Ormtown, Que. while attempting to cross the border into the U.S. via Roxham Road.
Miller told reporters that it has since been discovered that he initially gained entry into Canada through a student visa in May 2023 and arrived at Toronto Pearson Airport the following month.
“This is all that I’ll be commenting on this individual,” said Miller. “It’s very important that we don’t comment and actually it’s dangerous to comment any further.
“Any defence lawyer is looking at elected officials in their comments about this case, salivating at any comment that is made that could be seen as compromising the judicial process.”
Miller went on to accuse the Conservatives of being “highly careless” for “firing their mouths off again” about the issue.
He was responding to the Official Opposition calling on the Trudeau government to explain how Khan was allowed into Canada to begin with.
Miller said that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s advisors “should be counselling him to shut his mouth.”
Federal officials initially declined to respond to questions regarding Khan’s immigration status, citing privacy laws, while the U.S. had been investigating him since last fall and is now requesting his extradition to New York to face terrorism charges.
Khan is currently scheduled to appear in court in Montreal on Friday.
His arrest comes on the heels of the RCMP arresting a father and son, Ahmed and Mostafa Eldidi, for allegedly plotting a terrorist attack in Toronto on behalf of the Islamic State.
The planned terrorist attack in Toronto was thwarted due to a tip by French authorities, who warned the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service about the plot.
Their case has raised questions as to how the two were able to gain entry into Canada in the first place as Ahmed was allegedly captured on video in 2015 dismembering a prisoner with a sword in an ISIS execution video, hacking the hands and feet off of a man being hung on a pole.
The Conservatives have requested the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security be recalled to review how Khan’s past was not detected through security screening.
However, Miller said that despite his government taking security breaches seriously, it was “naive” to think a “determined individual” could not get into Canada.
“Let’s not be naive. A determined individual can gain access to this country, and that is for the security services inside our country to apprehend this person,” said Miller.
“If they commit a crime or if they’re about to commit a crime. And that’s exactly what happened. Our police forces did their jobs and arrested the individual. And we’ll let the court case take its course.”
