Under Trump, feds identify nearly 1,200 alleged terrorists in U.S.

One hundred days into the Trump administration, the National Counterterrorism Center has identified nearly 1,200 alleged terrorists illegally in the U.S.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who leads the NCTC, wrote on X Monday that after the Trump administration designated Mexican cartels and transnational gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, she directed her staff to pursue terrorists illegally in the U.S.

As of Monday, the NCTC had “identified and provided leads to law enforcement on approximately 750 individuals with ties to MS-13, Tren de Aragua, and the Sinaloa Cartel as a part of its screening and vetting process,” she said.

This is after violent TdA crime expanded in at least 22 states under the Biden administration, The Center Square exclusively reported.

They constitute the first group of alleged terrorists identified by the NCTC. The second relates to Islamic terrorism.

The NCTC is also “actively working to track down the location of illegal migrants who previously used an ISIS network to enter our country so they can be deported immediately,” Gabbard said. She’s referring to the Department of Homeland Security last year identifying 400 illegal foreign nationals the Biden administration released into the U.S. from countries of foreign concern in Central Asia connected to an ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network, The Center Square reported.

“To date, we have identified more than 400 of these individuals with terror ties,” Gabbard said. It’s unclear if these 400 are the same 400 originally identified by DHS last year.

Combined, those identified by the NCTC as terrorists illegally in the U.S. total nearly 1,200.

On his second day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order designating Mexican cartels, the Venezuelan transnational gang Tren de Aragua and Salvadoran La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), as FTOs and specially designated global terrorists (SDGTs).

“The Cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs,” his order states. “They functionally control, through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States. In certain portions of Mexico, they function as quasi-governmental entities, controlling nearly all aspects of society.”

TdA and MS13 gang members also pose similar threats, engaging in “campaigns of violence and terror in the United States and internationally are extraordinarily violent, vicious, and similarly threaten the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere,” presenting “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”

The order directed the Secretary of State, Treasury Secretary, Homeland Security Secretary and Gabbard to take appropriate actions to implement it.

On Feb. 6, Secretary of State Marco Rubio officially made the FTO designation, which went into effect on Feb. 20, The Center Square reported.

In an effort to comply with the order and improve national security vetting processes across federal agencies, Gabbard said, “We are also working to ensure those who enter our country are vetted through a single source, as well as those who already entered our country illegally.” Doing so “will streamline processes to prevent terrorists from entering our country, determine who is already in our country, identify those posing a threat, and remove them.”

Trump’s directive was issued after the greatest number of known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) were apprehended in U.S. history of 1,903, under the Biden administration, The Center Square exclusively reported. The majority, 64%, totaling 1,216, were apprehended at the northern border coming from Canada between fiscal years 2021-2024, according to CBP data.

A record 687 KSTs were reported at the southwest border over the same time period, The Center Square reported.

Trump's directive was also issued after Islamic terrorist incidents also increased under the Biden administration and a majority of Americans polled said terrorism dangers increased under his watch, The Center Square reported.