Border Patrol intercepted 23 people on US terror watchlist throughout 2021

US Customs and Border Patrol intercepted 23 people on a federal terror watchlist crossing the southern border during 2021, including men from Saudi Arabia and Yemen.   

Data obtained by Fox News via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request showed that four of the apprehensions took place in the Rio Grande Valley Sector and four others were reported by Del Rio Sector.

Border patrol officers assigned to the El Centro Sector and San Diego Sector each reported four arrests.

There were three apprehensions made by El Paso Sector agents while Yuma Sector and Tucson Sector each recorded two arrests.

Two men aged 26 (left) and 33 (right)  from Yemen were taken into custody earlier this year after they illegally crossed from Mexico to the United States and wee found to be on the FBI’s terror suspect list

According to the network, the 23 people were taken into custody between January 20, 2021 and December 30, 2021.

Their names matched those that appeared on the Terror Screening Database, which has information on the people who are either proven or alleged of having been involved in terror activities.

In March, Republican Representatives James Comer and John Katko urged Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandra Mayorkas to publicly release the names of migrants whose were stopped at the southern border and whose names are listed on the Terror Screening Database.

‘It is no secret that terrorists and other bad actors attempt to exploit weakness in border security and vetting to enter the United States,’ the lawmakers wrote. ‘Reporting indicates that multiple individuals with terrorist ties have been recently apprehended after illegally crossing the border, and that such encounters may be increasing. The American people deserve to know whether President Biden’s weak border policies are allowing terrorists to enter our homeland.’

U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Yuma Sector busted a 21-year-old Saudi Arabia terror suspect on December 18.

While the man’s name was not released, the sector confirmed him ‘as a positive match linked to several Yemeni subjects of interests.’

In a shocking twist, the suspect was donning a volunteer paramedics jacket from an ambulance company in Central Oneida County, New York.

Border officers assigned to the El Centro Sector also took into custody a two Yemeni men who were on the FBI’s terror watch list in California earlier in the year.

A 33-year-old suspect was apprehended January 29 approximately at 1:10am local time after he tried to cross the border illegally about three miles west from the Calexico Port of Entry.

Agents discovered a cellular phone sim card hidden inside the insole of his shoe.

A second individual, 26, was picked up by agents on March 30 at approximately 11:30pm.