(NewsNation) — The weekend arrests of 11 Iranian nationals, who federal immigration enforcement officials say were living illegally in the United States, have increased national security concerns involving the number of migrants who crossed the border after leaving the Middle East.
The Department of Homeland Security announced the arrests Tuesday, which took place in multiple states. Officials said the apprehensions include a former Iranian army sniper as well as another Iranian national who DHS officials claim has admitted connections to Hezbollah.
The federal agency also indicated that several of those arrested had prior criminal convictions, including on drug and child abuse, as well as at least one other Iranian migrant who had been listed as a known or suspected terrorist.
“We have been saying we are getting the worst of the worst out—and we are,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement released by the agency. “We don’t wait until a military operation to execute; we proactively deliver on President Trump’s mandate to secure the homeland.”
Iranian illegal border crossings grew in recent years
The arrests are just the latest involving Iranian nationals after federal immigration officials say that more than 2,500 immigrants from Iran have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border since 2021, NewsNation has learned.
McLaughlin said that the agency has been “full throttle” on identifying and arresting violent extremists who entered the U.S. through former President Joe Biden’s “fraudulent parole programs or otherwise.”
The weekend arrests come as law enforcement officials across the United States remain on high alert for possible retaliatory attacks after President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes targeted at key Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday. The arrests took place in Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Mississippi, Colorado, Minnesota, California and New York.
However, the arrests are the latest involving Iranian nationals. Federal officials have not publicly released the percentage of migrants who have been arrested by ICE who come from specific countries, including Iran. However, The Center Square reported that more than 700 Iranian nationals who entered the United States illegally were released by the Biden administration.
The report indicated that the number of Iranian nationals who were arrested after crossing the country illegally grew from just 48 in 2021 to 797 in 2024. Of the nearly 800 who were taken into custody last year, nearly 450 were released into the United States.
The Center Square’s data does not include Iranian nationals who were apprehended at U.S. ports of entry and what DHS characterized as “gotaways” — migrants who entered the country and were never found.
Concerns grow over Iranian sleeper cells
In Texas, law enforcement agencies have been focusing on growing numbers of “special interest aliens” who come from the Middle East. State troopers and U.S. Border Patrol agents typically see more illegal crossings involving migrants from Mexico and Central America.
However, in recent years, officers have encountered more Middle Eastern immigrants, including those from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Israel.
On Monday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that officials remain on “high alert” regarding Iranian nationals living in the United States. That includes those who could be connected to suspected Iranian sleeper cells, which are spies or terrorists who enter a rival country and remain inactive under they are ordered to act.
NewsNation previously obtained a memo from within the U.S. Border Patrol warning that activation of Iranian sleeper cells has never been higher and that agents needed to remain on high alert.
“Though we have not received any specific credible threats … the threat of sleeper cells or sympathizers acting on their own, or at the behest of Iran has never been higher,” Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott wrote in the memo.
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