U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials removed a press release from their website announcing the arrest of two Yemeni nationals on the terrorism watch list who had crossed the border illegally this year.
Officials removed the message because it “had not been properly reviewed and contained certain disclosure and policy information related to national security,” CBP spokesman Justin Long told The Post on Tuesday.
The press release, which is filed online at Wayback Machine, was originally published Monday, but is no longer accessible on CBP’s website. When the link is clicked, readers are sent to a page that says ‘Access Denied’ and ‘You cannot access this page’. It is not clear when the release was removed.
The removed release states that U.S. border security agents from CBP’s El Centro sector in Southern California detained two Yemeni men in January and March who were on the FBI’s terrorism checklist and federal No-Fly list.
The release featured two images of the men with black bars in front of their eyes.
The first man, a 33-year-old who has not been identified, was arrested around 1:10 a.m. on Jan. 29, about three miles west of Calexico Harbor, about two hours east of San Diego, the filed release said.
When officers searched the man and performed record checks on him, they found that he had a SIM card stowed under the insole of his shoe and was on the FBI’s Terrorism Watch List and No-Fly List.
CBP said in the filed release that the man was transferred to immigration and customs enforcement custody, which is responsible for deporting people to their home countries.
The second incident occurred around 11:30 p.m. on March 30 when officers arrested a 26-year-old unidentified man about two miles west of the same port of entry and realized he was on the same federal security lists, the removed release states said.
CBP said the man was being remanded in custody “pending removal.”
“Part of the Border Patrol’s mission states that we will protect the country from terrorists,” said Chief Patrol Officer Gregory K. Bovino in the since-deleted release.
“Today our agents did just like any other day. These fears at our border illustrate the importance of our mission and how we can always remain vigilant in our daily mission to protect this great country. “
When The Post urged to elaborate on the apparent security issue, a CBP spokesperson kicked in.
“It is CBP policy not to confirm status on any investigative, law enforcement or national security list,” said the spokesman.
