Terror Watchlist Busts on Pace to Set Record in 2024

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data reveals that 31 individuals on the terror watchlist have been apprehended by CBP agents, indicating a trajectory that could make fiscal year 2024 record-breaking. Fiscal Year 2023 marked a record with 172 individuals on the terror watchlist caught, and since the commencement of the new fiscal year on October 1, CBP has already detained 98, putting FY24 on track for a total of 186.

Simultaneously, there has been an increase in the names added to the Terrorist Screening Dataset, commonly known as the watchlist, which currently comprises around 2 million individuals, as reported by CBS News. In contrast, there were 1.16 million people listed in 2017.

CBP received a warning on October 20 to be extra vigilant for members of terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestine Islamic Jihad attempting to cross the southern border following the Israel-Hamas conflict that initiated on October 7. CBP emphasized the rarity of encounters with watchlisted individuals at the border, highlighting the crucial work of CBP agents and officers.

The surge in watchlisted individuals at the border coincides with the significant influx of undocumented migrants. CBP has recorded encounters with 617,865 individuals during the initial two months of FY24, surpassing the corresponding period in FY23 by nearly 55,000. FY23 itself set a record with 3.2 million encounters.

House Committee on Homeland Security Chair Mark Green criticized Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, asserting “national security malpractice.” Green highlighted a 2,500 percent increase in apprehensions of individuals on the terrorist watchlist from Fiscal Years 2017-2020 to Fiscal Year 2023.

In response to the escalating border situation, President Joe Biden dispatched Mayorkas, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall to Mexico for discussions with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador about border security. This move was seen as a response to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s call for executive action on the border crisis. Johnson also urged discussions with Lopez Obrador on reinstating the Trump-era program “Remain in Mexico,” although it remains uncertain if this will be a focal point in the upcoming meetings.

The scheduled visit is anticipated to take place next week.

{Matzav.com}