(NewsNation) — As Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to target what federal officials have deemed the “worst of the worst” migrants who entered the United States illegally, the agency is reporting an uptick in the arrests of Iranian nationals.
ICE has arrested 130 Iranian nationals living illegally in the United States in the past week alone as concerns grow about possible sleeper cells, NewsNation has confirmed.
In addition to the recent arrests, Department of Homeland Security sources confirmed to NewsNation that 670 Iranian nationals are currently being held in ICE detention centers. The announcement comes after ICE said that it had arrested 11 Iranian nationals who were living illegally in the United States over the weekend.
Among those arrested over the weekend at multiple locations around the United States were a former Iranian army sniper and another Iranian national who DHS officials claim has admitted ties to Hezbollah.
ICE Director Todd Lyons told NewsNation in an exclusive interview that while ICE is taking a holistic approach to apprehending migrants with prior criminal convictions, the recent U.S. attack launched on Iranian nuclear sites has increased the spotlight on migrants from Iran who have made their way into the United States.
“We’ve always done targeted enforcement, we’ve always focused on high-risk countries – including Iran,” Lyons told NewsNation.
Lyons acknowledged that ICE officials know of a large population of known and suspected terrorists that he says were allowed into the United States under the Biden administration. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has instructed ICE to encounter known migrant “gotaways” and known suspected terrorists “before something bad happens.”
Iranian nationals part of a larger counterterrorism ICE portfolio
According to data obtained by NewsNation from DHS sources, there are currently 5,840 Iranian nationals on ICE’s nondetained docket, with nearly 1,300 of those migrants having criminal convictions. Also, 2,790 of the Iranian nationals have previously been ordered to leave the country, and 3,050 have pending final orders to be removed.
The vast majority of those still in the United States listed Los Angeles as their final destination, the DHS data shows.
But for ICE to focus on eliminating known security threats, Lyons said the agency is treating every immigration violator the same, regardless of their country of origin.
However, as ICE continues to crack down on migrants who entered the United States illegally and remain here, other high-risk countries that pose a threat to U.S. national security also remain on the agency’s enforcement radar. Yet, much like Tren de Aragua gang members living in the United States held the nation’s attention and became a focal point for ICE and other federal agencies, Iranian nationals have jumped into that spotlight, Lyons said.
Lyons told NewsNation that the 130 arrests made in the past week represent a higher percentage than perhaps has been normal. But with Iran and other high-profile countries being part of a larger ICE counterterrorism portfolio of migrants who entered the U.S. illegally, Lyons expects that the focus on targeted enforcement efforts will continue.
“We want to show the American public exactly what we’re doing,” Lyons told NewsNation. “While you may see an uptick in Iranian arrests, you’re going to see an uptick in Syrian arrests, Somalis, anyone that pose that national security threat, you will see ICE out there and we will publicize it because we want the American public to know that they voted for this under this administration and that this is what the men and women of ICE are doing to ensure that they’re safe.”
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