Feds prevent 6,525 known, suspected terrorists from entering US

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(The Center Square) – In a few short months, the National Counterterrorism Center says it’s helped prevent 6,525 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) from entering the U.S.

This is after U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol officers apprehended a record more than 3,000 KSTs in the U.S. illegally in fiscal 2025, according to CBP data. 

Until this year, the greatest number of KSTs CBP and Border Patrol agents were apprehended during the Biden administration: 1,903.

The majority, 64%, totaling 1,216, were apprehended at the northern border coming from Canada between fiscal years 2021-2024, according to CBP data, The Center Square first reported. 

The unprecedented number of KST apprehensions reported this year is attributed to Tren de Aragua, MS-13, other transnational criminal organizations and cartels being included after they were designated as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) earlier this year.

In the first 100 days of the second Trump administration, the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) had identified nearly 1,200 alleged terrorists illegally in the U.S., Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said earlier this year. Gabbard, who leads the NCTC, said the number included 750 with ties to MS-13, Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel and others, The Center Square reported.

By October, the NCTC had identified more than 35,000 KSTs and added them to the federal Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS), NCTC director Joe Kent said. This allowed law enforcement to prevent more than 6,525 KSTs “from entering our country that under the previous administration would have been allowed in. This is just the tip of the iceberg. We're doing this and more every day,” he said. 

The TSDS includes biographical and biometric information about alleged or confirmed terrorists, which is shared among multiple law enforcement agencies, including CBP and Border Patrol agents.  

For years, CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO) and Border Patrol agents have apprehended KSTs nationwide. CBP reports the data, categorizing it by CBP OFO apprehensions at northern and southwest border ports of entry (POEs) and by Border Patrol apprehensions between ports of entry at the northern and southwest borders. 

Every year, CBP reports the greatest number of KSTs are apprehended at land ports of entry. Nearly every year, CBP reports the greatest number of KSTs are apprehended at the northern border, The Center Square first reported.

This year was an anomaly after Trump designated cartels as FTOs. 

In fiscal 2025, the majority of KSTs were reported by CBP OFO officers at southwest border land POEs: 2,782. CBO OFO officers at northern border land POEs reported 284.

Between ports of entry, Border Patrol agents apprehended 61 KSTs at the southwest border and none at the northern border, according to the data.

In fiscal 2023, the highest numbers were reported in a single year in U.S. history: a total of 487 KSTs at the northern border and 83 at the southwest border.  

By contrast, in the first full year of the first Trump administration, in fiscal 2017, a total of 217 KSTs were reported at the northern border and 118 at the southwest border.

Those identified as KSTs by CBP OFO officers at land POEs “are most commonly found inadmissible to our country and immediately repatriated or removed,” CBP says. “They may also be turned over to another government agency for subsequent detention and law enforcement action.” Those apprehended by Border Patrol between POEs “are most commonly detained and removed or turned over to another government agency for subsequent detention and law enforcement action,” CBP says.

Last week, at a White House event, Gabbard said NCTC efforts have also led to high profile KST arrests. They include Sinaloa cartel leaders, money launderers and cocaine traffickers, and a CJNG cartel affiliated baby trafficker, “La Diabla” (“the devil”). 

La Diabla’s arrest last month disrupted an infant trafficking network that lured pregnant women to remote locations where illegal cesareans were performed on them. The mothers’ organs were harvested and their babies were sold to U.S. couples for roughly $13,500, The Center Square reported.  

The State Department designated Sinaloa, CJNG and other Mexican cartels as FTOs in February. It continues to designate additional groups as FTOs.