SAN DIEGO — Border officials say they've seen a growing number of people on the FBI's terrorist watchlist trying to enter the country through the U.S.-MX border.
Officials say that between October 2022 to September 30, 2023, 151 migrants with positive terrorism watchlist matches were arrested after crossing into the U.S. illegally along the southern border.
The number of known or suspected terrorists, or anyone connected to one, entering the country illegally through the southern border is at an all-time high, that’s according to government data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“We ought to be concerned about the high number of migrants that carry with them the intention of doing harm to us," said legal expert, Dan Eaton, who has been following the migrant crisis closely.
The figures show that in fiscal year 2023, CBP arrested a total of 154 non-citizens on the government’s terrorist screening watchlist. 151 of those individuals were arrested along the southern border. The numbers are up from 98 in the last fiscal year.
The numbers represent a small fraction of all migrants processed at ports of entry.
“It’s actually a sign that the system is working, that the Department of Homeland Security is doing the work it was meant to do when it was established in the aftermath of the 911 terrorists' attacks," said Eaton.
A hit on a database doesn’t necessarily mean a person is a known or suspected terrorist. They could be related or associated with someone linked to a terrorist organization.
Pedro Rios, an immigrant rights advocate, says sometimes innocent people get flagged by border officials.
"It could be an affiliation with someone else, it could be a name that matches someone else," said Rios.
CBP officials say that every individual that arrives at the San Diego sector of the border, are run through a series of databases.
Eaton says the filtering method used by officials is especially important for San Diego because of our proximity to the border.
“We are right now a dangerous moment in the world a very unstable situation and it is for times like these that the department of homeland security was established," he added.
In its Homeland Threat Assessment for 2024, the Department of Homeland Security said that “record encounter of migrants arriving from a growing number of countries have complicated border and immigration security.”
“When you have a large number of migrants coming over, you’re going to have a large number of migrants that are threats," added Eaton.
The available data on migrants who are on the terror watchlists doesn’t show who they are, who they’re associated with or where they come from.
U.S. government agencies have not publicly indicated whether any individuals affiliated with Hamas have been arrested along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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