Babbar Khalsa terrorist was released by Biden Admin, says DHS

Washington, Jan 21 (IANS) A suspected Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist from India was released into the interior of the United States under the Biden administration before being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.

Harpreet Singh is wanted in India in connection with terrorist activities that included planning more than a dozen grenade attacks on police officials. He is linked to BKI, which has been designated as a foreign terrorist organisation.

According to the Department of Homeland Security statement on Tuesday, he entered the country illegally in Arizona on January 27, 2022. He was then released into the interior of the country under the Biden administration, the DHS said.

ICE arrested Singh in April 2025, according to the DHS recap of enforcement actions taken under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem since January 20, 2025.

DHS released the statement highlighting what it described as the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens ICE took enforcement action on during President Trump’s first year in office.

“On President Trump’s first day in office, he unleashed ICE to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens, including pedophiles, murderers, gang members, terrorists, and rapists,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

“Today, we thank our law enforcement for a record-breaking first year of achievements, including more than 670,000 removals and two million self-deportations. DHS is committed to continuing to remove dangerous illegal aliens from American communities. 70 per cent of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens who have been convicted or charged with a crime in the U.S. We will not rest until American communities are free of the scourge of illegal alien crime.”

Since January 20, 2025, ICE has taken enforcement action against dangerous criminals, DHS said, detailing dozens of cases involving alleged terrorists, gang leaders, violent offenders and repeat criminal illegal aliens from multiple countries.

DHS cited the case of Khor Bozorov, a criminal illegal alien from Uzbekistan wanted in his origin country for belonging to a terrorist organisation. ICE arrested Bozorov in Kansas on November 9 while he was working as a commercial truck driver.

Another case involved Jaan Shah Safi, an Afghan national who entered the United States under 'Operation Allies Welcome.' Safi allegedly provided support to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan (ISIS-K), and his father is a commander of a militia group in Afghanistan, DHS said. ICE arrested Safi in Waynesboro, Virginia in December 2025.

Another MS-13 leader, Rene Escobar-Ochoa from El Salvador, faces an INTERPOL Red Notice for drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder and was arrested by ICE in July 2025.

The DHS recap included cases involving extreme violence. Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, an illegal alien from Cuba with a criminal history including child sex abuse, grand theft and false imprisonment, was arrested by Dallas Police Department at a motel in Dallas for murder.

DHS said Cobos-Martinez allegedly used a machete to behead a merchant and then kicked the head “around like a soccer ball.” ICE lodged a detainer for his arrest.

Michel Jordan Castellano Fonseca, a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela with ties to the violent transnational gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), was charged in Aurora, Colorado with homicide after allegedly shooting two women, one fatally, in front of children and ICE lodged an arrest detainer.

Another confirmed Tren de Aragua member, Yorvis Michel Carrascal Campo, was arrested in Colorado Springs on January 8, 2026, on charges of murder, racketeering and drug trafficking in New Mexico, where a kidnapped victim’s body was found inside a suitcase buried in a remote location.

The DHS list also included cases of attempted murder, sexual predation, domestic violence and repeated illegal re-entry. ICE lodged detainers or arrested illegal aliens involved in shootings in Memphis; rape and grand larceny in Manhattan; strangulation of an infant in Virginia; and multiple counts of child pornography and sexual abuse of an animal, among other crimes.

DHS said these enforcement actions “underscore” its focus on prioritising criminal illegal aliens who pose a threat to public safety and that “70 per cent of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens who have been convicted or charged with a crime in the U.S.”