NEWSMAX -- U.S. officials have expressed mounting concern over the potential for Iranian "sleeper cells" on American soil following the interception of about 1,500 Iranian nationals at the southern border during the prior administration.
The unknown number of illegal immigrants who may have entered undetected has heightened worries amid recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and fears of retaliation.
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told the New York Post that the figures are deeply concerning because authorities "have no idea how many people got around." He noted that about half of those intercepted were released into the country pending court proceedings.
However, the documentary record is narrower than some of the rhetoric.