In a letter to Fox News, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) emphasized its commitment to protecting the identities of individuals, warning that even releasing data by nationality could lead to identification, particularly by organizations familiar with these individuals.
Fox’s Bill Melugin had submitted a Freedom of Information Act request in October 2023, seeking to know the nationalities of those on the FBI terror watchlist who were arrested by Border Patrol at the southern border between ports of entry. The request did not ask for any personal identifiers, such as names or dates of birth, but simply for the nationalities. In May, CBP denied the request, despite acknowledging that the information exists in the Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS).
CBP justified its denial by invoking exemptions designed to protect individuals’ privacy and arguing that public interest in the information was outweighed by these privacy concerns. This month, the agency reiterated its stance, stating that disclosing nationalities could expose third parties to harassment and would provide minimal public benefit.
The agency also raised concerns that releasing this information could reveal investigative methods used to track and apprehend terrorists. They warned that providing these details could enable targets to adjust their behavior to evade detection, exploit gaps in CBP intelligence, and potentially compromise national security. Additionally, disclosing nationalities could reveal patterns in terrorist travel, giving terrorists the opportunity to develop countermeasures against investigations.
CBP argued that terror groups might compare disclosed nationality figures with their own operational data. For instance, if a group moved a certain number of operatives from a specific nationality but saw fewer arrests reported, they might conclude that many of their operatives had passed undetected, undermining the deterrent effect of the watchlist.
The agency insisted that revealing such data could enable bad actors to develop tactics to bypass CBP’s enforcement efforts, thereby reducing the effectiveness of border security operations.
Last fiscal year, 172 individuals on the terror watchlist were intercepted between ports of entry at the border, with more than 560 encounters occurring at ports of entry. So far this fiscal year, there have been 98 such encounters between the ports of entry and 324 at the ports. The watchlist, now known as the Terrorist Screening Dataset, includes known and suspected terrorists, as well as individuals considered potential threats to U.S. security, including associates of those already on the list.
