Customs and Border Protection says they have received “no indication” that Hamas-directed foreign fighters are plotting to infiltrate the United States via its southern borders.
The agency was responding to a VICE News’ inquiry about a memo, purported to be leaked from CBP’s San Diego Field Office’s Intelligence Unit, that claimed foreign fighters linked to Hamas or Hezbollah could attempt to enter the U.S. via its border with Mexico.
The memo was first published Friday by the right-wing blog The Daily Caller with the headline “EXCLUSIVE: Feds warn that Hamas, Hezbollah Could Be Crossing Southern Border.” The claims were quickly picked up by Fox News and other prominent news outlets, and have been shared extensively online.
Fox’s local affiliate in San Diego, citing sources in San Diego Border Patrol, reported that the flier was “not a Border Patrol product.”
In an email to VICE News, CBP’s office in DC said that it was their policy to “neither confirm nor speak to potentially improperly disclosed information or internal documents marked as law enforcement sensitive or for official use only.”
They also noted that the purported memo was labeled “situational awareness,” and not “threat assessment.” The agency defines “situational awareness” as “knowledge and understanding of current unlawful cross-border activity.”
For weeks, right-wing influencers, lawmakers, and political candidates have been using the Israel-Hamas conflict to fearmonger about immigration in the U.S., invoking well-worn conspiracy theories about asylum seekers acting as Trojan horses for terrorists.
The “memo” has acted as jetfuel on those conspiracies in recent days.
Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security Rep. Mark Green and former acting director of ICE Thomas Homan, among many others, shared Fox News’ report on the memo. “CBP memo sounds alarm on Hamas, Hezbollah fighters potentially using southern border to enter United States,” Homan wrote on the platform X.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also published a video on X, asking, “Is America Being Invaded By Terrorists?”
“CBP is warning individuals with ties to terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah might be on their way,” Taylor Greene wrote. “This should be a wake up call to every American. Protect America. Close the border!”
While the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and National Counterterrorism Center have expressed security concerns related to the conflict in Israel and Gaza, they have nothing to do with the border. In a bulletin published last week, they warned, about the possibility of “lone offenders inspired by, or reacting to” the conflict, adding that Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities should remain especially vigilant.