The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed this week that nearly 600 known or suspected terrorists have been arrested inside the United States during President Donald Trump’s second term.
The news underscores the national security threat posed by open border policies and progressive sanctuary laws shielding criminal illegal aliens from deportation.
During an appearance on Fox News, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a sobering warning:
“Keep in mind… we have arrested almost 600 known or suspected terrorists within the United States — 2,700 members of Tren de Aragua, a vicious gang that kills, rapes, and maims Americans for sport,” she said.
McLaughlin pointed to local politicians, particularly those in Democrat-controlled jurisdictions, as obstructing federal immigration enforcement and putting American lives at risk.
“That is who these politicians are protecting,” she added.
“And unfortunately, because they won’t let us in these jails to lodge detainers and eventually deport these depraved individuals, we’re going to have to go out in the streets and really flood the zone to get these criminals off of our streets, and it makes it a lot less safe for these communities.”
WATCH:
BREAKING: @TriciaOhio revealed that DHS has arrested almost 600 known or suspected terrorists let in by the Biden regime and 2,700 members of Tren de Aragua pic.twitter.com/GY5VjPSYu2
— dustin mills (@dustinemills24) July 9, 2025
The update comes as the Trump administration continues nationwide enforcement operations targeting criminal illegal aliens.
Most of those dangerous illegals were shielded from deportation during Joe Biden’s tenure.
Since returning to the White House in 2025, Trump’s DHS and ICE have ramped up arrests of aliens with criminal convictions or pending charges, including for violent and sex-based offenses.
DHS data has revealed that:
- 70% of all ICE arrests involve criminal aliens with convictions or pending charges.
- These include forcible rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, cruelty to children, domestic violence, murder, drug trafficking, child molestation, and more.
And it’s not just those with documented rap sheets.
“Many illegal aliens categorized as ‘non-criminals’ are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gang members and more — they just don’t have a rap sheet in the U.S.,” DHS stated.
“This deceptive ‘non-criminal’ categorization is devoid of reality and misleads the American public.”
The scale of infiltration by international gangs has also shocked authorities.
Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization known for torture, murder, and trafficking, has embedded itself across multiple U.S. cities after capitalizing on Biden-era border failures.
Now, under President Trump’s renewed immigration crackdown, ICE agents have been deployed to “flood the zone,” as McLaughlin described, to track down and detain illegal aliens who slipped through the cracks under sanctuary policies.
In some cases, the administration has even begun using Guantanamo Bay to house migrants with particularly egregious criminal records.
Those crimes range from sexual exploitation to child pornography.
While Democrats push back against Trump’s enforcement efforts, claiming humanitarian concerns, DHS officials are sounding the alarm about the very real threat posed by hundreds of terrorists and thousands of gang members operating inside U.S. communities.
The administration’s actions are a sharp departure from the lax policies that allowed dangerous criminals to walk free.
Trump’s policies mark a renewed commitment to the principle that American safety must come first.
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