Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested 130 Iranian nationals in the U.S. over the past week, with 670 currently in detention, as the Trump administration intensifies efforts to secure the country amid fears of sleeper cells. National security experts and officials warn of potential domestic threats following U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, raising concerns about the activation of sleeper cells or retaliatory actions. Former Obama-era Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson described the presence of undocumented migrants linked to Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a domestic law enforcement concern of ‘highest magnitude.’
The border crisis under the Biden administration, which resulted in millions of people entering the country illegally, further underscores the concerns. Border czar Tom Homan stated last week that ‘we don’t know who they are, where they came from, why they’re here,’ calling it the ‘biggest national security vulnerability we’ve ever seen.’ Meanwhile, former acting ICE Director Jonathan Fahey warned that the situation ‘definitely’ made things worse, emphasizing the lack of meaningful vetting by the previous administration and the presence of 2 million known ‘gotaways’ who entered the country without detection.
ICE sources confirm that some of those arrested have criminal histories, including charges related to drugs, weapons, and domestic violence. At least one had served as a sniper in the Iranian military within the last four years. During the Biden administration alone, roughly half of the 1,500 Iranian nationals released into the U.S. were released into the interior, raising further concerns. A recent Supreme Court ruling that allows deportations to third-party countries — even where diplomatic relations are limited — could lead to detainees being sent to nations other than Iran. This ruling was triggered by a flight headed toward South Sudan with illegal immigrants who had serious criminal convictions, but it was thwarted by a federal judge in Boston, and the legal debate is still ongoing.