Hospitals could be ‘soft targets’ for Iran terror attacks, warns expert

Following reports that 729 Iranian nationals illegally entered the U.S. and were released into the country by the Biden administration, experts are warning that sanctuary jurisdictions with policies obstructing ICE and federal immigration enforcement may be the most vulnerable targets for Iranian-sponsored terror attacks looking to retaliate for the U.S. strikes over the weekend.

The number of Iranians released into the country by Border Patrol agents under former President Joe Biden’s administration increased successively each year of the administration. In total, Border Patrol arrested 1,504 Iranian nationals from fiscal year 2021 through fiscal year 2024. Of the 1,504 individuals who were arrested, 729 were released into the United States.

Just hours after Trump addressed the nation on U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, the DHS released a new memo sounding the alarm on a “heightened threat environment in the United States.” The bulletin states, “The likelihood of violent extremists in the Homeland independently mobilizing to violence in response to the conflict would likely increase if the Iranian leadership issued a religious ruling calling for retaliatory violence against targets in the Homeland.”

Concerns are most acute in so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, such as California or Massachusetts, that have policies or, in the case of Los Angeles, populations that are actively obstructing federal immigration authorities from carrying out deportations.

“We have to assume threats may arise,” Lora Ries, a director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. Ries said that while the government is aware of 729 Iranian illegal immigrants being released into the country under Biden, the real concern is that “we have no idea” how many unknown “gotaways” there could be in the U.S. presently.

She said the concerns are most acute in so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that have policies or, in the case of Los Angeles, populations that are actively obstructing federal immigration authorities from carrying out deportations.

“Democrats need to start supporting deportations,” she remarked, pointing out that despite a narrative that ICE agents are arresting innocent immigrants, many of the illegals are serious criminals, or in some cases, even terrorists.

Andrew Arthur, an immigration policy expert at the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News Digital that the “ultimate soft target” for a terror attack would be a hospital, especially hospitals in sanctuary jurisdictions. He pointed out Iran’s recent bombing of a hospital in Be’er Sheva, Israel, demonstrating the regime is willing to carry out such an attack.

“It’s a possibility in the United States,” said Arthur. “If we’re trying to think of a soft target that would potentially have catastrophic impacts, it would be a hospital.”

To prevent such an attack, Arthur stressed the importance of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies all working together to monitor and proactively respond to threats.

“Fortunately, DNI [the Director of National Intelligence] should have an idea of what potential targets in the future are. DNI is not going to share that publicly, but all that should flow down through DHS to state and local law enforcement agencies,” he explained.

“The problem is that right now, we have all these state and local law-enforcement agencies and sanctuary jurisdictions that really aren’t cooperating with DHS,” he said. “That could create its own vulnerability.”

“It compounds the risk,” he went on. “Particularly in California, because I think a lot of law enforcement agencies in California are confused about what they can do and can’t do under SB-54 — the California Values Act — so it could potentially create its own vulnerability.”

That being said, Arthur said an Iranian-sponsored terror attack inside the U.S. would likely be a “suicidal move” for the regime and would likely be a “last desperate move.” Even so, Arthur said there remains a “real concern” about Iranian-sponsored terror attacks inside America’s borders.

Other potential mass casualty targets could be places such as the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Times Square, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, or other highly populated, open areas.

“The threat is real. Whether they’re going to use it is a different question,” he concluded, adding, “The Biden administration exposed the American people to an unacceptable level of threat.”

On Monday evening, Trump posted on social media that “it has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE … for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED!”

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and Fox News Channel’s Bill Melugin contributed to this report. Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.