Border Patrol encountered 30 on terror watchlist since October
- Data: 30 on terror watchlist encountered at southern border in two months
- Concerns over threats have grown since war between Israel and Hamas
- U.S. officials going to Mexico this week to discuss immigration
EAGLE PASS, TEXAS – DECEMBER 20: Seen from an aerial view, immigrants walk towards a U.S. Border Patrol transit center after wading through the Rio Grande from Mexico early on December 20, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas. A late-year surge of migrants crossing the U.S. southern border has overwhelmed U.S. immigration officials. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
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(NewsNation) — Border Patrol agents at the southern border have encountered 30 people on the terror watchlist at ports of entry since the beginning of the fiscal year that began in October, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
The numbers updated Friday show that 17 of those encounters happened in November, Fox News reported. Agents at the northern border have encountered one such person for 31 nationwide.
Apprehensions of people at the southern border who happen to be on the FBI’s terror watchlist continue to tick up. During fiscal year 2023, 169 people were flagged, with 98 in 2022 and 15 in 2021.
Concerns over terror threats have grown over the past two months amid the war between Israel and Hamas. FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress at an Oct. 31 hearing that Hamas’ attack in Israel could serve as an inspiration for other terrorist networks, and the terror threat in the U.S. has increased because of it.
Last year, CBP encountered a record-high 2.475 million migrants at the southern border, and encounters in October and November this year outpaced last year. There have been 483,404 encounters so far this fiscal year.
To stem the flow, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will travel to Mexico this week to meet with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
The visit will unfold as a migrant caravan from Mexico heads to the southern U.S. border. NewsNation partner The Hill reports about 6,000 people make up the caravan. Most of the migrants in the group are from Central America, Venezuela and Cuba, with some from Bangladesh and other countries.
CBP sources confirmed to NewsNation that 250,000 migrants have been encountered in December. That’s on pace to break the previous record of 269,735 set in September and is already more than the 242,000 seen in November.
NewsNation reporters Ali Bradley and Zaid Jilani contributed to this report.
