Warning Issued Over Iranians Trying to Enter US: What to Know
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Federal authorities issued a warning to Border Patrol agents after a leaked memo showed that Iranian nationals may be planning to enter the United States illegally with assistance from Mexican drug cartels.
Newsweek has contacted Customs and Border Protection for comment via email outside office hours.
Why It Matters
A Border Patrol alert issued a week earlier warned that the likelihood of Iranian sleeper cells inside the U.S. was higher than ever. Agents were instructed not to travel alone as a precaution. Iranians have been thrust into the national spotlight in the U.S. following President Donald Trump's recent strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
The U.S. Border Patrol has encountered more than 2,500 Iranian nationals at the southwest border since the beginning of 2021. It remains unknown how many were released into the country under the Biden administration.
Migrants walking near the U.S.-Mexico border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on December 19, 2022.
Migrants walking near the U.S.-Mexico border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on December 19, 2022.
Christian Chavez/AP
What To Know
According to a memo obtained by NewsNation, Border Patrol received intelligence indicating that 35 Iranian nationals planned to cross the border between the Calexico and San Luis ports of entry from July 1 to July 5.
Agents patrolling the Calexico-to-San Luis corridor have been ordered to stay alert and be prepared for possible encounters.
The warning also suggested that the smuggling operation could be facilitated by powerful cartels, including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and Los Salazar.
Los Salazar is a relatively small armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel, founded by Adán "Don Adán" Salazar Zamorano in the early 2000s. Primarily active in Sonora and parts of Chihuahua, the group specializes in trafficking cocaine across the U.S. border and has been linked to migrant smuggling operations. After Don Adán's 2023 extradition to the U.S., leadership passed to his brother Crispín Salazar Zamorano, who continues to maintain the group's close ties to the sons of "El Chapo" and control key smuggling corridors.
The CJNG emerged in 2009 from the Milenio Cartel's splintering and is led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho." It controls major drug routes—especially for fentanyl and methamphetamine—throughout Mexico and has established a presence in all 32 federal entities and at least a dozen countries. It is one of Mexico's most powerful and globally networked criminal organizations.
On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order designating Mexican drug cartels and other Latin American criminal groups as terrorist organizations. According to the order, the groups "threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere."
What People Are Saying
The memo obtained by NewsNation said: "On Sunday, June 29, 2025, HSI Tip Line received information concerning 35 illegal Aliens of Iranian descent who may attempt entry into the U.S. between the Calexico and San Luis Port of Entry between July. 1, 2025 (today) until July. 5, 2025. Tipster advised that Los Salazars and CJNG may be involved."
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