Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Iranian nationals trying to enter the U.S. through the Northern border have risen in recent days, including people he described as having direct ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He also said Iran
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sounded alarm bells on Sunday about Iranian nationals he says are trying to work around U.S. border security—particularly along the Northern border where, he said, arrests have been climbing “daily.”
In comments during an interview on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. Mullin said the pressure is coming from what he described as an “unusual amount” of Iranians linked to Iran’s “theocratic regime.” He framed the pattern as something more than routine travel. pointing to cases involving people he said have “direct ties” to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Mullin stressed that the surge he is tracking is along the Northern border, not the Southern one. He said President Trump’s policies have “closed the southern border,” shifting attention—and enforcement—north. Mullin then described an active partnership with Canadian counterparts, saying they have helped apprehend people attempting to cross.
The concern, he said, is the combination of volume and connection. “It’s worrisome,” Mullin said, “because the amount of influx we see and the amount of connections we have when we capture the people that they have direct ties to the IRGC.”
When Bartiromo asked whether those entering through Canada were fleeing Iran or were tied to the IRGC, Mullin said most had direct ties to the regime.
He then turned to a specific claim that drew sharper focus on the methods he says Iran is using. Mullin said Iran tried to smuggle a group of IRGC officials into the U.S. by having them “pose as members of the country’s World Cup organization.” Mullin said most countries entering the U.S. have about 120 people in their soccer organizations, but that the U.S. allowed Iran to bring in 53 people because, as he put it, “so many of them were sketchy.”.
Mullin said the rest of the individuals Iran attempted to bring in were not behaving like normal travelers. “The rest of the individuals that Iran had tried to bring in. all also a had direct ties to the IRGC and aren’t their normal traveling group. ” he said. He added that Iran’s approach makes the people involved “an adversary that you can’t trust. ” describing it as “these games that Iran plays.”.
His remarks landed as Vice President JD Vance was in Switzerland on Sunday, where he is working to make progress on a deal with Iran to end the war.
Together, the comments paint a picture of two parallel tracks in Washington’s Iran posture: diplomacy aimed at winding down a war, and enforcement pressure at the border where Mullin says IRGC-linked networks are attempting to slip past security—through routes he says have been tightened elsewhere.
Markwayne Mullin DHS Iran IRGC Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Northern border Canada border security JD Vance Switzerland World Cup organization U.S. diplomacy
Northern border again? Seems like they never stop.
So they’re saying it’s IRGC tied people but also Canada helped catch them. Like how is that even possible if they were just “posing” or whatever?? Idk sounds like politics tbh.
World Cup organization?? I thought the World Cup is in like, stadiums and stuff, not… crossing borders. This just sounds like more fear mongering. Also “closed the southern border” like that’s a guarantee nothing happens south, cmon.
Every time they say “ties to the IRGC” I’m like, ok but are these just refugees or are they all actually dangerous? The article says arrests are climbing daily but doesn’t say if anybody’s convicted or what they did. Also if Trump closed the south, wouldn’t people just go through the north anyway… Canada included. Feels like a headline got blown up.