ICE plays a critical role in protecting the homeland by arresting and removing noncitizens who threaten the safety of U.S. communities and undermine the integrity of U.S. immigration laws. Since 2006, ICE has arrested nearly 13,000 known or suspected terrorists.
While the agency continues to prioritize removing criminal aliens, its work in removing high-profile terrorists deserves special recognition. In the following sections, you’ll see some of the most dangerous terrorists ICE has removed over the years.
Mohammed Abdul Kader Khalil Saleh
On Sept. 1, 2023, ERO Philadelphia arrested Mohammed Abdul Kader Khalil Saleh, a Citizen of Jordan, after he served a 20-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy, bombing conspiracy and attempted bombing. ERO Buffalo removed Saleh Jan. 10, 2024, following his prison sentence. Court documents show SALEH conspired to bomb government and military buildings and infrastructure and assassinate the Egyptian president as well as Israeli citizens who considered to be militant Zionists. Additionally, Saleh was tied to the 1993 World Trade Center terrorist attack. He was also implicated in a conspiracy to bomb the United Nations, Jacob K. Javits federal building in NYC, the Lincoln and Holand Tunnels, the George Washington Bridge and American military installations.
Wali Khan Amin Shah
On Feb. 15, 2023, ERO Buffalo removed Wali Khan Amin Shah, a Saudi Arabia national, to Qatar. Shah called for the jihad movement to focus on attacking the United States. He played a role in the Bonjinka plot, which was a large-scale, three-phased terrorist attack planned by Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for January 1995. Shah and his co-conspirators planned to assassinate Pope John Paul II, blow up 11 airliners in flights from Asia to the United States to kill thousands of people and crash a plane into the CIA Headquarters. This plot was disrupted after a chemical fire drew the attention of the Philippine National Police. For his role in the plot, Shah was convicted of terrorism charges and sentenced to federal prison from 1995 to 2021, including 14 years at the Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado.
Sami Samir Hassoun
On March 9, 2021, ERO Buffalo removed Sami Samir Hassoun, a Citizen of Lebanon, after his convictions for attempting to use weapons of mass destruction against people and property within the United States. He placed a backpack with a powerful explosive device into a curbside trash container on a crowded North Side street near Wrigley Field in Chicago in September 2010.
Kassim Mohammed Tajideen
ERO Baltimore removed Kassim Mohammed Tajideen, a designated global terrorist with ties to Hezbollah. On Aug. 9, 2019, Tajideen was convicted in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for 11 counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering in support of financing Hezbollah. ERO Baltimore removed him to Lebanon on July 7, 2020.
Dias Muratovich Kadyrbayev
On Oct. 23, 2018, ERO Dallas removed Dias Muratovich Kadyrbayev, a 31-year-old citizen of Kazakhstan, and a known associate of the Boston Marathon bombers, who hid evidence, including explosives for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. On June 2, 2015, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts sentenced Kadyrbayev to 60 and 72-month confinement for conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice.
Homaidan Ali Ibrahim Al Turki
On Aug. 7, 2025, ERO Denver removed Homaidan Ali Ibrahim Al Turki, a known associate of the House of Saud and potential al-Qaida associate. ERO Denver arrested him Aug. 31, 2006. The District Court in Arapahoe County, Colorado, convicted him of false imprisonment, kidnapping and 12 counts of assault.
Nima Ali Yusuf
On Nov. 9, 2017, ERO New Orleans arrested Nima Ali Yusuf after her release from the Bureau of Prisons. On Nov. 7, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California convicted Yusuf for conspiracy to provide material support to al-Shabaab, a Somali designated foreign terrorist organization. She was sentenced to 8 years in federal prison. ERO New Orleans removed Yusuf to Somalia on June 28, 2018.
Ashiqul Alam
On Nov. 27, 2023, ERO Philadelphia removed Ashiqul Alam to Bangladesh. The FBI had arrested Alam after he told an undercover agent his plan to carry out a mass shooting in New York City’s Times Square. He openly sympathized with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
On Sept. 16, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York convicted Alam of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. ERO Philadelphia removed him on Nov. 27, 2023.
Houcine Ghoul
On June 19, 2019, ERO Philadelphia removed Houcine Ghoul to Tunisia. Ghoul, who was in communication with ISIL leadership in Syria, made multiple attempts to recruit others to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. On Aug. 8, 2018, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina convicted Ghoul of attempted unlawful procurement of citizenship and filing false tax returns. ERO Philadelphia removed him on June 19, 2019.
Fedil Abdelghani
On June 30, 2015, ERO Philadelphia removed Fedil Abdelghani to Sudan after completing a 25-year prison sentence. Abdelghani was an associate of Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian-born Islamist cleric and convicted terrorist often referred to as “the Blind Sheikh.” Abdelghani conspired with other members of the jihadist organization al-Jamaʿah al-Islamiyya to carry out bombings at several locations in the New York City, including a U.S. government office building in Manhattan, the United Nations Headquarters, the Lincoln Tunnel, the Holland Tunnel, and the George Washington Bridge. Abdelghani’s involvement in the terrorist plot included scouting potential targets, purchasing stolen vehicles, purchasing barrels of diesel fuel and transporting them to a safe house, mixing the diesel fuel with fertilizer to create a bomb, and devising detailed plans on how he and other co-conspirators would use car bombs to destroy the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels.
Abdulvokhid Kandakhorov
On May 23, 2025, ERO Philadelphia, with support from the FBI, arrested Abdulvokhid Kandakhorov, a Tajikistan-born Russian national and a suspected member of Al-Qaeda. Officials in Tajikistan, where he is wanted for organization of a criminal community, declared him a fugitive. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings pursuant to his due process rights.
Yassin Muhiddin Aref
On June 20, 2019, ERO Philadelphia removed Yassin Muhiddin Aref, a citizen of Iraq with a final order of removal, to Iraq via commercial aircraft. ICE Office of Principal Legal Advisor’s National Security Law Section monitored Aref’s case following his conviction for multiple counts of providing material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. On Aug. 4, 2004, FBI arrested Aref for conspiring to conceal the proceeds of the sale of a surface-to-air missile he believed would be used in a terrorist attack. On March 8, 2007, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York convicted Aref of multiple criminal offenses, including but not limited to conspiracy to use, attempt to use, or conspire to use, a weapon of mass destruction against any person within the United States; conspiracy to conceal illegal firearms dealing; providing material support/resources to a foreign terrorist organization; and false statements to FBI agents. The court sentenced Aref to 180 months of imprisonment.
Compton Eversley
On Dec. 8, 2020, ERO Philadelphia removed Compton Eversley, a citizen of Guyana with a final order of removal. ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor tracked Eversley following his conviction for providing material support to terrorists. In January of 2006, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force began investigating a plot to attack New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The investigation revealed that between 2006 and 2007, while operating in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, Eversley and his coconspirators conspired to bomb fuel tanks, airport hangers, airplanes, fuel lines and a flight control tower at JFK. Eversley played a substantial role in the plot to attack JFK. He engaged in numerous meetings with other members of the conspiracy and agreed to serve as a liaison with obtaining the support of several known terrorist organizations with executing the scheme. On Jan. 13, 2011, the Eastern District of New York convicted Eversley of providing material support to terrorists and sentenced him to 168 months incarceration.
Jorge Enrique Rodriguez-Mendieta
On Sept. 11, 2023, ERO Philadelphia arrested Jorge Enrique Rodriguez-Mendieta, a Colombian national, upon his release from Bureau of Prisons custody. On Oct. 9, 2023, ERO Philadelphia successfully removed Rodriguez to Colombia.
On March 19, 2010, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia convicted Rodriguez for narcotics conspiracy and imposed a sentence of 244 months in federal prison. U.S. Officials identified Rodriguez as the commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s 24th Front and member of the group’s top leadership. At sentencing, Rodriguez admitted to conspiring to smuggle hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cocaine paste into the United States and funneling narcotics proceeds to high-ranking FARC members. Rodriguez is suspected of the killings of at least eight farmers, several of whom were allegedly dismembered while they were alive.
Mohammad Musa Khawrin
On Oct. 16, 2024, ERO San Antonio removed Mohammad Musa Khawrin, a known associate of Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin, to Afghanistan. The Islamist militant group based in Afghanistan founded in the 1970s by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, incites the Afghan population against Americans.
Ijod Abdusattorov
On Aug. 21, 2024, ERO administratively removed Ijod Abdusattorov, a potential threat to U.S. national security, to Uzbekistan via a special high-risk charter flight. Based on an OPLA filing seeking redetermination of previously granted immigration benefits, ERO San Francisco arrested Ijod Abdusattorov on Jan. 11, 2023 for suspected fraud and misuse of visas. OPLA’s filing was based upon information received from the FBI alleging that Abdusattorov attempted to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
Zacarias Moussaoui
On Aug. 16, 2001, then St. Paul INS, assisting the FBI, arrested Zacarias Moussaoui, an individual with known al-Qaeda connections and who admitted to playing a role in the conspiracy to commit the attacks on the United States. At the time of arrest, U.S. authorities found a flight training manual from Moussaoui. He is currently serving a life sentence without parole for his part in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
A new front against foreign terrorists
The fight against terrorism is far from over.
The Trump administration recently designated eight Latin American criminal organizations and two Haitian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.
- Tren de Aragua
This Venezuelan transnational criminal group, often called TdA, was founded in Tocorón prison in 2014. It’s been active in the U.S. since the early 2020s and engages in drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion, kidnapping and illegal mining, exploiting migrant routes across South America. - Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)
MS-13 is a violent transnational gang originating in Los Angeles in the 1980s, composed primarily of Central American immigrants. Known for its brutal tactics, MS-13 is involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion and murder, and it operates across the U.S., Central America, and beyond. - Cartel de Sinaloa
The Sinaloa Cartel is one of Mexico's largest and most powerful drug cartels, and it’s been active since 1987. It specializes in cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana trafficking with a global reach. Formerly led by Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, it is the most pervasive drug trafficking organization in the U.S., and it’s known for its sophisticated operations and violent enforcement tactics. - Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación
A major Mexican drug cartel founded in 2009, specializing in cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana trafficking. It has a global reach and is one of Mexico's most powerful criminal organizations. - Cárteles Unidos
Also known as La Resistencia, this Mexican cartel was founded in 2010. It specializes in drug trafficking and operates internationally. - Cartel del Noreste
Cartel del Noreste is splinter group of Los Zetas that was founded in 2014. It engages in kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking, drug trafficking and money laundering. This cartel controls smuggling routes near U.S. border cities like Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville, Texas, which serve as major entry points for drugs and illicit goods. - Cartel del Golfo
One of Mexico's oldest criminal syndicates, Cartel del Golfo was founded in the 1930s and is based in Matamoros, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas near Brownsville, Texas. The Cartel del Golfo controls smuggling routes through Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros, with significant activity in Texas and southern states. It has been involved in the kidnapping of American citizens. - La Nueva Familia Michoacana
Founded in 2011, this Mexican criminal group specializes in drug trafficking, illegal mining, and extortion. It is linked to opium poppy cultivation, heroin distribution, and the emerging trend of “rainbow” fentanyl trafficking in the United States. - Viv Ansanm
Formed in Sept. 2023, Viv Ansanm is a Haitian coalition of gangs created through an alliance between the two dominant gang factions in Port-au-Prince. It provides a unified platform for criminal groups to destabilize Haiti and suppress efforts to restore state authority by targeting critical infrastructure, such as prisons, government buildings and Port-au-Prince's airport. - Gran Grif
Gran Grif, the largest gang in Haiti’s Artibonite department, responsible for 80% of civilian deaths in the region. It has attacked Haitian National Police and the UN-authorized Multinational Security Support mission, including the February 2025 killing of a Kenyan MSS officer. - Cartel de los Soles
The Cartel de los Soles, or "Cartel of the Suns," is a Venezuelan criminal network of military and political officials involved in drug trafficking. Operating with the complicity of senior government figures, including Nicolás Maduro, it supports Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel in using illegal narcotics against the United States.
Since its inception, he notes, ICE has risen to every challenge, dismantling criminal enterprises and removing dangerous terrorists and criminals from U.S. soil.
“Today we stand stronger and more determined than ever, thanks to the steadfast support of the American public and President Trump,” said acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons. “We are proud of our mission to keep our communities safe. Let there be no doubt: ICE is here to defend the United States from those who seek to undermine public safety and national security. I am deeply grateful to each member of ICE’s workforce for their vigilance and resolve in safeguarding our homeland.”