Trump Administration Homeland Policy

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says intelligence from the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) helped prevent more than 10,000 people with cartel- or gang-linked narcoterrorism ties from entering the United States in 2025 and led to more than 85,000 new identities being added to the terrorist database that feeds the FBI’s Terror Watchlist. According to a senior counterterrorism official, President Donald Trump’s move to designate cartels as terrorist organizations allowed the intelligence community to use counterterrorism authorities and share data with DHS, the FBI and state and local agencies, resulting in visa revocations, arrests, deportations and other actions that "denied access" to those individuals. The official claims similar suspects were able to move "with impunity" under the prior administration, and argues that, had such capabilities existed before 9/11, the hijackers might have been blocked from entering the country. The article does not provide independent documentation for the 10,000 and 85,000 figures, and civil-liberties groups have long warned that watchlists and broad "terror" designations can sweep in people on thin intelligence, but the disclosure offers a rare, if one-sided, numerical look at how the Trump administration is weaponizing terrorism tools against Latin American cartels and gangs.