According to a memo from the San Diego Field Office Intelligence Division of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), terrorist organizations may enter the United States from the southern border.
CBP warned that members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and Hezbollah may be encountered by border agents.
According to the memo obtained by The Daily Caller, “San Diego Field Office Intelligence Unit assesses that individuals inspired by, or reacting to the current Israel-Hamas conflict may attempt travel to or from the area of hostilities in the Middle East via circuitous transit across the Southwest border.”
“Foreign fighters motivated by ideology or mercenary soldiers of fortune may attempt to obfuscate travel to or from the US to or from countries in the Middle East through Mexico,” it reads.
The memo also includes “questions of interest” such as, “Any association with military or security services of government civilian agencies?” and “Any personal or familial association with Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP) or any other similar groups?”
The memo notes that border agents should be on the lookout for “possible indicators” that a migrant is affiliated with a terrorist organization. These include traveling alone, possession of military gear, and Israel-Palestine connections.
American Faith reported that between October 2022 and August 2023, 151 illegal immigrants on the terror watchlist were apprehended at the southern border.
In fiscal year 2022, 98 individuals on the terrorism watchlist were captured.
By comparison, zero terrorism watchlist identities were arrested on the Southwest Border in fiscal year 2019, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
