Media

CBP Press Release For Apprehended Yemeni Men Found On FBI Terrorist Watchlist Now Leads To ‘Access Denied’ Page

GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images

Shelby Talcott Senior White House Correspondent
Font Size:

Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) press release on two Yemeni men apprehended and found to be on the FBI’s terrorism watchlist now leads to an “access denied” page, according to multiple reports.

CBP’s press release, published Monday, noted that the two men were arrested near the Calexico Port of Entry in California after attempting to illegally cross the border into the U.S. One man, aged 26, was apprehended March 30 and the other individual, aged 33, was arrested Jan. 29.

While the press release was available on CBP’s website Monday, it appears to no longer be available. Clicking on the link leads to an “access denied” notice. An archived version of the post is available, though not directly through the CBP’s website.

A CBP spokesperson cited “national security” concerns as the reason for the press release being deleted.

“The news release in question was not properly reviewed and contained certain disclosure and policy information related to national security that required CBP to remove it from our website,” the spokesperson told the Daily Caller.

Both individuals noted in the press release were found to be on the FBI’s no-fly list and Terrorism Screening Database. CBP has encountered and arrested others “matching” the “terror watchlist” since Oct. 1, according to a past report from Axios. (RELATED: Jordanian National Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy To Smuggle Yemenis Through Mexico Border)

The FBI’s terror watchlist has come under scrutiny in the past. The Intercept reported in 2014 that “nearly half of the people on the U.S. government’s widely shared database of terrorist suspects are not connected to any known terrorist group.”