Nearly 150 Illegal Immigrants on Terror Watchlist Apprehended at US Border in Past Year

The number is larger than the last six years combined.

A migrant who has crossed into the U.S. from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, gets frisked by a Border Patrol Agent on Aug. 25, 2023. Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered unprecedented numbers of immigrants whose names appeared on the federal “Terrorist Watch List” and tried to cross the U.S.–Mexico border illegally in the past fiscal year (FY).

According to CBP figures, a total of 149 immigrants identified as known terrorists, suspected terrorists, or associates of both were arrested after trying to enter the United States illegally, with a record number of 146 at the southern border and three at the northern border.