DHS Says Parents of Suspects in Alleged MacDill Air Force Base Bomb Plot Are Illegal Immigrants

The Department of Homeland Security said the case underscored the security concerns about granting ‘birthright citizenship’ to children of illegal immigrants.

Police officers with the Tampa Police Department block traffic along South Dale Mabry Highway near the main entrance of MacDill Air Force Base after a suspicious package was reported at the gate, in Tampa, Fla., on March 16, 2026. Octavio Jones / AFP via Getty Images

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on April 3 that the parents of two siblings accused of placing an explosive device at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida last month illegally entered the country decades ago.

Identified as 20-year-old Alen Zheng and 27-year-old Ann Mary Zheng, the siblings were charged last month after an improvised explosive device was found at MacDill Air Force Base visitor’s center in Tampa.