Out of 1,504 Iranians the Border Patrol caught illegally crossing the southern border under the Biden administration, they released 729 into the United States, a senior border patrol official told Fox News on Sunday.
Fox News National Correspondent Bill Melugin reported that just under half of all illegal Iranian immigrants caught at the southern border between 2021-2024 were released into the nation, according to the Customs and Border Patrol official. Additionally, Border Control recorded more than 2 million illegal immigrants that were never arrested, including an unknown number of Iranians.
The 1,504 that were caught by authorities excludes any northern crossings or unquantified getaways. This means that the 729 released illegal Iranian immigrants likely represent a significant underestimation of the total illegal Iranians who remain unauthorized in the United States.
Melugin explains that because Iranian immigrants have a higher likelihood of presenting a potential terrorism threat, they qualify as “Special Interest Aliens,” and therefore, require more intensive examination prior to admission. The United States officially classified Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984, and since then, they have become the largest state sponsor of terror. For decades, they have funded and assisted terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas. As a precautionary measure, SIAs require heightened screening.
Melugin reported that the Biden administration had denied him information on how many of the illegal immigrants Border Control caught were on the Terror Watchlist over “privacy concerns.”
The lack of border security under the Biden administration undermined national security on multiple fronts and now could pose a risk in the wake of the United States’ attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. The United States is now officially a “heightened threat environment,” according to a statement The Department of Homeland Security released on Sunday. DHS advises that cyber attacks are likely and retaliatory violence is possible.
As of Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that ICE has arrested 11 Iranian nationals, one of whom was allegedly a former sniper for the Iranian army and another has ties to Hezbollah. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin announced “We have been saying we are getting the worst of the worst out — and we are. We don’t wait until a military operation to execute; we proactively deliver on President Trump’s mandate to secure the homeland.”
Ariel McDowell is a correspondent for The Federalist. She is studying Rhetoric and Media at Hillsdale College and is Assistant News Director at Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.
