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.

The suspects were born in the United States. The DHS said Ann Mary Zheng was arrested by federal authorities upon her return from China, while her brother is believed to still be in China.

The department said their parents—named Qiu Qin Zou and Jia Zhang Zheng—were taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for illegal entry into the United States. They entered the country at an unknown location and applied for asylum in 1993, but an immigration judge denied their claims and ordered their removal in 1998.

The Bureau of Immigration Appeals repeatedly rejected attempts to reopen the case, but the couple unlawfully remained in the country for decades, according to the department.

It remains unclear whether the pair has been assigned legal representation at the time of writing.

DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said the case of Alen Zheng and Ann Mary Zheng underscored the security concerns about granting “birthright citizenship” to children of illegal immigrants.

“Automatically granting citizenship to children of illegal aliens born in the U.S. is based on a historically inaccurate interpretation of the Citizenship Clause and poses a major national security risk,” she said in a statement.

“That reality became apparent last week when two U.S.-born children of Chinese illegal aliens were indicted for planting a potentially deadly explosive device outside MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.”

U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe told reporters on March 26 the explosive device found at MacDill Air Force Base could have been “very deadly.” The device was placed in front of the base’s visitor center gate on March 10.

“We’re exploring every avenue we can to get him back to the United States,” Kehoe said.

The siblings have not been linked through evidence to working on behalf of any foreign government.

Alen Zheng was charged on March 26 with attempting to damage government property by fire or explosion, unlawfully making a destructive device, and possessing an unregistered destructive device.

Ann Mary Zheng was charged with assisting her brother in evading apprehension and with concealing a 2010 black Mercedes-Benz GLK 350 to impair its integrity for use in his federal prosecution.

In January 2025, President Donald Trump signed an order denying citizenship to individuals born to a mother who was unlawfully present in the United States and a father who was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of birth. It also applies to those whose mothers’ presence in the country is lawful but temporary.

Kimberly Hayek contributed to this report.