Jordanian who tried to enter Quantico Marine base was on terror watchlist, incident report says

Marine Corps security officers were told that one of the Jordanians who tried to enter Quantico earlier this year was on the terror watchlist, according to the Serious Incident Report filed after the incursion.

The report, which was obtained via open-records request by Judicial Watch, bears out the Jordanians’ assertion that they were making deliveries for Amazon. But their illegal immigrant status raises other questions about how they came to be in the delivery truck.

The report identified the driver as Mohammed Khair Hassan Dabous and said Hasan Yousef Hamdan was a passenger in the delivery truck that tried to make its way onto Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.

Sentries arrested them after their vehicle tried to leave an inspection area. When they ran checks on the men, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer confirmed to the sentries that Mr. Hamdan “was on a terror watchlist.”

ICE said Wednesday that Mr. Hamdan was investigated and has been deemed not to be a terror risk.

The May 3 incident made headlines and Republicans on Capitol Hill have demanded answers about the men.

Now, the new Quantico incident and ICE information are filling in some of those questions.

The Border Patrol caught Mr. Hamdan in southern California after jumping the border on April 8. The Border Patrol released him a day later after issuing him an immigration court summons. The Marine incident report says his court date isn’t until 2026.

Mr. Dabous entered the U.S. in 2022 on a student visa. He was terminated from the student visa system in early 2023, indicating his legal status was over and he should have left.

During the Quantico incident, Mr. Dabous said he was an Amazon delivery driver and sentries did find Amazon packages in the truck. Mr. Hamdan identified himself as a friend along for the ride.

A sentry was checking Mr. Dabous’ license and had the truck waiting in an inspection area, but Mr. Dabous kept moving the vehicle forward, according to the incident report.

Guards triggered a barrier to block the truck and “tactically approached” the vehicle.

Quantico authorities said they confirmed that Mr. Dabous did work for an Amazon delivery subcontractor. That name is redacted from the document obtained by Judicial Watch.

The report does not give a reason why Mr. Dabous kept moving the vehicle forward in the inspection area.

In a response to The Washington Times, ICE did not deny the report that Mr. Hamdan was on a watchlist but said the Joint Terrorism Task Force has conducted an investigation and concluded neither man poses a safety or security threat.

Both men were arrested by ICE as immigration violators, and both stand charged with a federal trespassing violation.

An immigration judge subsequently granted the men bond. Mr. Hamdan posted his $15,000 bond on June 5 and Mr. Dabous posted his $10,000 bond a day later.

They are expected in federal court on the trespassing charges next month, and both still face deportation proceedings.

The new report comes just two days after the House Judiciary Committee revealed that 99 people caught sneaking in at the southern border and released by the Department of Homeland Security from 2021 to 2023 had their names appear on the terror watchlist.

Mr. Hamdan’s case would appear to be similar to those, although it is not captured in the committee’s data because, if the Marine Corps document is correct, he snuck over the border in 2024.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said his department weighs risk factors when deciding whether to detain or release migrants.

“If an individual is on the terrorist screening data set, and they pose a threat to national security or public safety, they are a priority for detention,” he said in an April appearance before the House Homeland Security Committee.

FBI Director Christopher Wray late last month said he’s increasingly worried about foreign terrorist organizations managing to insert an operative into the U.S.

“I am increasingly concerned that foreign terrorists could seek to exploit vulnerabilities at our southwest border or at other ports of entry or other aspects of our immigration system to facilitate an attack here in the United States,” Mr. Wray told the House Judiciary Committee.