The Department of Homeland Security says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported more than 2,000 known or suspected terrorists since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, an announcement the agency timed to the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
DHS told Fox News Digital that ICE arrested more than 2,150 known or suspected terrorists between Jan. 20, 2025, and Sept. 9, 2026, and deported 2,015 of them during that span.
“As we reflect on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the brave men and women of ICE continue to carry out their duty to protect the homeland and keep the American people safe,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in the announcement. Mullin said the figures reflected more than 2,100 arrests and more than 2,000 deportations, describing the milestone as evidence of the department’s “eternal vigilance.”
Cases DHS Cited
DHS highlighted several recent arrests to illustrate the scope of its enforcement work. In June, federal authorities arrested Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, a Mexican national accused of being the ringleader of an alleged mass-casualty plot targeting the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House. DHS said Alvarez had overstayed a visitor visa that expired in 2001 and later received DACA status in 2014. ICE lodged a detainer against him after his arrest.
Days before that, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit arrested Felipe Linares De Oliveira Dell Aquilla, a Brazilian national DHS identified as a former commander of two designated foreign terrorist organizations. Authorities said they recovered a handgun, cash and several electronic devices after a vehicle and foot chase in North Carolina. DHS said Aquilla was wanted in Brazil on criminal association and extortion charges, and was allegedly holding his wife against her will while preparing to flee to Mexico. ICE lodged a detainer as investigators pursued additional firearm and kidnapping charges.
DHS also pointed to four Venezuelan members of the Tren de Aragua gang who pleaded guilty in May to charges connected to a 2024 shooting in the Bronx that killed two people. All four had entered the country illegally between 2022 and 2023, according to DHS.
Marking 25 Years Since 9/11
The announcement comes as the country prepares to mark a quarter-century since the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. Those attacks led to the largest reorganization of U.S. homeland security in decades, including the creation of DHS in 2002 and ICE the following year.
Friday’s anniversary will honor the victims of the attacks and the first responders who answered the call that day, while also marking 25 years of federal efforts aimed at preventing another large-scale attack on American soil.
