According to data from Customs and Border Protection, border patrol officers detained sixteen individuals on the FBI’s terror watch list in February as they attempted to enter the country illegally from Mexico.
At both the northern and southern borders of the United States, there has been a noticeable increase in recent years in the number of encounters between agents and those on the terror watch list.
Sixty-nine people on the terror watch list have been captured in Fiscal Year 2023 as a result of the sixteen interactions reported in February, according to the New York Post.
Along the southern border, there were 98 of these interactions in FY22, putting FY23 on track to surpass those numbers, which were already much higher than the eight and fifteen occurrences per year between 2017 and 2020, and 2021, respectively.
The potential of terrorists exploiting the US border situation to enter the nation illegally has been raised with the Biden administration
When it comes to encounters with individuals in the Terrorism Screening Database, FY23 is predicted to surpass FY22. CBP officers have detained 214 persons at ports of entry on both the northern and southern borders so far in FY23. Last year, the total was 380. There were only 157 such occurrences in FY21.
The potential of terrorists exploiting the US border situation to enter the nation illegally has been raised with the Biden administration on numerous occasions.
“How concerned is President Biden about terrorists possibly trying to take advantage of gaps in the border to get in and kill Americans?” FOX News’ Peter Doocy asked former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki in 2021 following news that two Yemeni terrorists had been apprehended.
Psaki replied by suggesting that such events were “very uncommon,” adding that, “DHS works, not just at the border, but also with international partners to share intelligence and other information including to prevent individuals on certain watch lists from entering the United States.”