Former Terrorists Crossed Border—Then Vanished

Three armed silhouettes near a smoky city skyline.

Three former members of a designated terrorist organization slipped across America’s southern border in 2024, lived among us, and then were quietly sent back to one of the world’s most hostile regimes.

Story Snapshot

DHS deported three former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps members who entered the US illegally in 2024
Ehsan Khaledi, Mohammad Mehrani, and Morteza Nasirikakolaki were part of a 14-person deportation flight to Tehran
This marks the first deportation flight to Iran since the country’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protests
The IRGC has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the US since 2019
Federal judges issued final removal orders before the January 26, 2026 deportation

When Border Security Meets National Security

The weekend of January 25-26, 2026, saw something unprecedented. A plane carrying 14 Iranian nationals touched down in Tehran, and among those passengers were three men with ties to Iran’s most dangerous military force. Ehsan Khaledi and Mohammad Mehrani had crossed into Southern California sometime in 2024. Morteza Nasirikakolaki chose a different route, entering near San Luis, Arizona in November 2024. None of them had permission to be here. All three shared one troubling credential: former membership in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an organization the United States government considers a terrorist entity.

The timing tells its own story. These deportations occurred as the Trump administration ramped up military readiness in response to Iran’s violent suppression of nationwide protests. The regime has executed protesters and jailed thousands more. Meanwhile, former members of the very organization enforcing that brutality walked across our borders and disappeared into American communities. Federal judges eventually issued removal orders, but the question lingers: how many others made it through?

The IRGC Is Not Your Average Military Force

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps operates as Iran’s elite military force, answering directly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Unlike conventional armies, the IRGC functions as an ideological enforcer, supporting militant groups throughout the Middle East and conducting operations targeting American interests. President Trump designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019, the first time the US applied that label to another nation’s official military apparatus. The designation was not symbolic. It reflected years of IRGC involvement in attacks against American forces, support for Hezbollah and Hamas, and destabilizing operations across Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and beyond.

What remains unclear from official statements is the specific roles these three men played within the IRGC structure. Were they low-level conscripts fulfilling mandatory service requirements, or did they hold operational positions? The sources don’t say. That ambiguity should concern anyone paying attention. The IRGC encompasses everything from conventional military units to the Quds Force, which specializes in external operations and terror support. Without knowing their backgrounds, we’re left wondering whether we harbored foot soldiers or handlers.

A Message Wrapped in Enforcement

Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the deportations on January 27, 2026, with language that left no room for interpretation. “Foreign terrorist organizers are NOT welcome in our country,” ICE declared on social media. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin added that “the American people deserve a safe and secure homeland free from foreign terrorism.” These weren’t just deportations. They were warnings. The Trump administration used this enforcement action to signal a harder line against Iran while domestic tensions over border security remained white-hot.

The broader implications extend beyond these three individuals. This deportation flight represents the first to Tehran since Iran’s government began its crackdown on protests. Sending back former IRGC members during this period sends two messages simultaneously: to Americans that border security and counter-terrorism are priorities, and to Iran that the US will not tolerate terrorist-affiliated individuals entering the country illegally. Whether Iran’s regime cares about that second message is another question entirely. The deportees returned to a country executing dissidents and silencing opposition with systematic brutality.

What This Reveals About Border Vulnerabilities

The fact that three former members of a designated terrorist organization crossed into the United States illegally and remained here until federal judges ordered their removal exposes a critical vulnerability. Our southern border saw over two million encounters in recent years, with thousands of individuals from countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism attempting entry. These three succeeded. How many others succeeded and haven’t been identified? The deportation occurred only after detection, processing through immigration courts, and final orders. That timeline suggests months, if not longer, living in American communities.

This case also establishes a precedent for rapid deportations of individuals affiliated with designated terrorist organizations. Immigration enforcement officials now have a template for handling similar cases, assuming they identify them in the first place. The deportation aligns with counter-terrorism enforcement strategies implemented after the 2019 IRGC designation, but it also highlights gaps in screening processes at the border. Common sense dictates that preventing entry beats deporting after the fact. Yet here we are, celebrating the removal of threats that should never have materialized on American soil. The question is not whether DHS did its job eventually. The question is why the job became necessary at all.