Iran International congressional reporter
The Trump administration's border czar Tom Homan says the recent war in Iran convinced the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to accelerate the arrests of illegal Iranian immigrants.
“We’ve been working this since January 20th,” Homan told Iran International. “We didn’t wait for the Iran conflict. But after what happened in Iran a couple weeks ago, we put our foot on the gas.”
He confirmed that more than 200 Iranian nationals have been apprehended crossing the southern US border illegally — including one trained sniper and another carrying firearms.
He also noted a surge in “gotaways” — individuals who crossed the border without being apprehended — totaling over 2 million in recent years.
“Why would someone pay more to evade capture,” he asked, “when turning themselves in would get them free housing, food, healthcare, and even a plane ticket? They don’t want to be found — and we have to ask why.”
According to Homan, U.S. agencies including ICE, the FBI, and U.S. intelligence services are working to identify potential sleeper cells or agents acting on behalf of the Iranian regime already within U.S. borders.
Asked about fatwas issued by senior Iranian clerics calling for Trump's assassination, border czar Tom Homan said, "It’s a little out of my lane but we've got the strongest president in the history of this country in office right now."
"So I don't think it'd work out very well for them," Homan told Iran International's Arash Aalaei.
A hardline Iranian cleric close to Iran's Supreme Leader called on Muslims on Monday to kill Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response to their threats against Ali Khamenei.
On Sunday, Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi and Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani also issued separate fatwas against Trump and Netanyahu.
Shirazi said in his statement: “Any regime or individual threatening the leaders of the Islamic Ummah (nation) and acting on those threats qualifies as a mohareb.”
Under Shiite doctrine, this designation can make it religiously obligatory for devout Muslims to act, including through violence.
