EXCLUSIVE: New House committee report highlights increasing terrorism threat in U.S.

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security has released an updated report highlighting terrorism threats to Americans.

It did so after holding a hearing on Tuesday during which Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent testified that the NCTC had identified at least 18,000 known or suspected terrorists who were released into the U.S. during the Biden administration, The Center Square reported. The NCTC has also added roughly 35,000 narco-terrorists to the federal Terrorist Screening Dataset since he’s been in office.

The unprecedented 18,000 KSTs exclude the 6,525 KSTs the NCTC helped prevent from entering the country as of October, The Center Square reported.

The committee’s “Terror Threat Snapshot” highlights recent examples of terrorist acts that have occurred in the U.S. over the past six months. It also notes that more than 60 cases were reported between April 2021 and December 2025 related to individuals linked to or inspired by foreign terrorist organizations. This includes those who’ve provided material support to ISIS, Hezbollah and al Queda, who received military level training from Hezbollah and al Queda, and who claimed to commit attacks because they were inspired by foreign terrorist organizations.

It cites terrorist cases that have been prosecuted in at least 25 states.

Examples of recent terrorist attacks include two National Guard soldiers from Iowa and an interpreter killed by an ISIS gunman in Syria and Afghan nationals released into the U.S. through a failed Biden administration parole program.

Afghans continue to be arrested for committing crimes in the U.S. Recent examples include three Afghan men charged in one week with terrorism-related crimes. One shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., killing one; another was apprehended by Texas Department of Public Safety officers in Fort Worth accused of plotting a 9/11 style terrorist attack; another was arrested in Virginia accused of supporting ISIS.

Last month, three Muslim men were arrested in Dearborn, Michigan, charged with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS and possessing firearms to commit a terrorist act on behalf of ISIS. The FBI also arrested two teenagers in New Jersey last month for their role in the alleged plot, the report notes.

In October, a Palestinian man was arrested in Lafayette, Louisiana, for his alleged role in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack against Israel. He’s a member of a Palestinian National Resistance Brigade, known as the Martyr Umar al-Qasim Forces, the Department of Justice said. He entered the U.S. on Sept. 12, 2024, providing “false information in his U.S. visa application relating to his involvement with a paramilitary organization, connection to Hamas, participation in a terrorist attack, and military training,” the Department of Homeland Security said. Under the Trump administration, a DOJ Joint Task Force found him and arrested him.

In September, a Pakistani man was sentenced to nine years in prison for attempting to provide material support to ISIS, including planning to attack New Yorkers on pedestrian bridges in Queens.

Also in September, two Muslim men were arrested in Salt Lake City, charged with aggravated arson, threat of terrorism and possessing weapons of mass destruction, in connection to an attempt to blow up a Fox 13 vehicle, which failed.

In June, an Afghan national living in Oklahoma City pleaded guilty to two terrorism offenses, including providing material support to ISIS and receiving firearms and ammunition to commit an Election Day terrorist attack on behalf of ISIS.

“Twenty-four years after 9/11, what we heard from Director [of the National Counterterrorism Center Joseph] Kent in our annual Worldwide Threats hearing last week should disturb every American,” Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-New York, said. He pointed to Biden administration vetting failures, open-border policies and the deadly withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, as well as the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks for exacerbating terrorism threats.

Under the Biden administration, Islamic terrorist incidents increased in the U.S. and worldwide with a majority of Americans polled expressing concerns about terrorism, The Center Square reported.

The response is a “whole-of-government approach,” including continued congressional oversight and legislative action, Garbarino said. “Congress has an immense responsibility to ensure our local, state, and federal agencies have the resources and tools to succeed in this no-fail mission.”

The report also includes examples of domestic terrorism, including Americans who attacked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, increasing antisemitic and terrorist attacks worldwide.