There were 17 encounters of people between ports of entry at the southern border on the FBI’s terror watch list in November, according to data released Friday by Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

It brings the total of people encountered by the Border Patrol between ports of entry on the watch list to 30 for FY 24, which began in October.

The watch list, now officially called the Terrorist Screening Dataset, is the U.S. database that contains information on terrorist identities and includes not only known or suspected terrorists but also affiliates of watch-listed individuals.

FY 23 saw a record 169 terror watchlist encounters by Border Patrol between the ports of entry at the southern border, a number that exceeded not only fiscal year 2022’s record-setting total (98) but the last six fiscal years combined. The numbers at the ports themselves are significantly higher. There have been 49 encounters at ports at the north and southern borders so far this fiscal year, compared to 564 last year.

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The Department of Homeland Security’s threat assessment, published in October, noted that agents have encountered a growing number on the watch list and warned that “terrorists and criminal actors may exploit the elevated flow and increasingly complex security environment to enter the United States.”

“Individuals with terrorism connections are interested in using established travel routes and permissive environments to facilitate access to the United States,” the assessment also said.

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