Just before New Year’s Eve, the FBI announced a national search for five men who had allegedly been smuggled into the US from Canada as part of a terrorist plot. Within a week, however, officials announced that the story was made up by a man in jail in Canada on charges of trafficking in fraudulent passports and stolen traveler’s checks. John Michael Hamdani told Canadian officials that a large group of Pakistanis had entered the US with fraudulent passports, and after administering a lie detector test, the Canadian government relayed the information to the US. Officials say that while the alert was withdrawn, some of the information Hamdani provided was accurate and led to the break up of an immigrant smuggling ring responsible for bringing at least 40 Pakistani nationals into the US from Canada. The ring had been in operation since 1997, charging people between $15,000 and $30,000. Officials say that the ring does not appear to have any connection to terrorist activities, but that investigations are continuing.

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On January 1, nine undocumented immigrants died in Iowa when the truck they were riding in crashed. Officials say the single car crash occurred because the truck was overloaded and traveling at an excessive speed.

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The number of people attempting to enter Puerto Rico without authorization has skyrocketed over the past few months. Puerto Rico, a US territory, is covered by all US immigration laws. Between October and December, 1,203 people have been apprehended, compared with 61 people during the same period the previous year.