The federal government has prevented a total of 6,525 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) from coming into the United States since the fiscal year began in July, according to the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).
This number is three times higher than the previous high number of 1,903 KSTs apprehended during the entire Joe Biden administration, and twice the more than 3,000 KSTs apprehended during fiscal year 2025.
The probable reason for the unusually high number of KSTs is the designation of Tren de Aragua, MS-13, other transnational criminal organizations and cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) when Trump took office in January.
The NCTC identified nearly 1,200 KSTs inside the U.S. in the first 100 days of Trump's second administration, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said at the time.
Of that number, 750 were identified with MS-13, Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel and others, according to reporting by The Center Square.
As of October, NCTC identified more than 35,000 KSTs and added them to the federal Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS), NCTC director Joe Kent said.
That action was key in preventing the 6,525 KSTs from entering.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. We're doing this and more every day,” he said, noting that the Biden administration would have let those KSTs in.
CBP, Border Patrol agents, and multiple other law enforcement agencies receive biographical and biometric data for all KSTs listed in the TSDS.
Most KSTs had previously been apprehended at the Northern border with Canada, but the latest figures show that the largest number, 2,782, were apprehended at the Southern border.
The difference is Trump's designation of the drug cartels as FTOs.
KSTs identified at land ports of entry “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.”
If they are identified between ports of entry, they are typically detained and removed by Border Patrol or turned over to other agencies for detention and/or law enforcement action.
At a White House event last week, Gabbard said some high profile arrests have been made, including Sinaloa cartel leaders, money launderers and cocaine traffickers, and a CJNG cartel affiliated baby trafficker, “La Diabla” (“the devil”).
