The arrest of four British nationals accused of crossing into America illegally through remote woods has sparked alarm online.
All four British men have been charged with entry without inspection after allegedly crossing unlawfully into the United States from Canada in a remote area of Somerset County, Maine, according to court filings reviewed by Newsweek.
Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah, 18, Hameed Mohammed Nagi, 21, Ibrahim Ayyub Khan, 27, and Mohammed Sultan Saleh, 22, are each accused of unlawfully entering the United States at a location not designated as a lawful port of entry on April 3, 2026, according to federal court records in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine.
All four defendants pleaded not guilty on Tuesday and are being held without bail pending trial. The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Newsweek has contacted Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Department of Justice, the British Foreign Office, and the attorneys for all the accused for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The incident has sparked backlash online, with details of the case circulating widely on social media. The Trump administration has cracked down on illegal border crossings, launched an aggressive deportation campaign and imposed tighter restrictions on certain legal immigration pathways.
What To Know
An affidavit submitted by Border Patrol Agent Scott Hanton says the incident came to the attention of CBP after two maple sugar workers reported seeing four men walking south along the Golden Road, an unpaved logging road, toward the U.S. border near the St. Zacharie Port of Entry.
The workers later relayed additional information suggesting a vehicle was waiting to pick the men up after the crossing, according to the affidavit.
Border Patrol agents reported observing “fresh footprints on the soft dirt of the road” and later found four individuals attempting to conceal themselves behind roadside vegetation, the court documents read.
The men were taken into custody without incident and transported to the Jackman Border Patrol Station, per the affidavit.
When questioned, the four men said they were citizens of the United Kingdom. Agents wrote that the men claimed they were unaware they had entered the United States and that some of them said they were on a hike. One defendant, Abdullah, declined to answer questions, while Nagi and Saleh denied intentionally entering the U.S., according to the affidavit.
Investigators said physical evidence contradicted those claims.
A Border Patrol agent followed the group’s footprints back through wooded terrain to the Canadian side of the border, within a few hundred yards of the port of entry. Officials also said that immigration records showed no evidence that the four men had entered the United States lawfully on April 3.
Authorities further cited digital evidence recovered during searches of electronic devices. According to the affidavit, a cellular phone belonging to Saleh contained internet searches conducted on the day of the crossing, including “bangor from my location,” “boston from bangor,” and “is st zacherie border crossing still used the one near quebec golden road.”
Investigators also recovered GoPro video footage narrated by Saleh during the crossing.
In the recording, Saleh is heard telling the group: “I can confirm you are now on U.S. soil.” When another man asks, “I’m on U.S. soil?” Saleh responds, “You are on U.S. soil,” before adding, “Now, we are in the U.S.” and later stating, “We just made it, baby.”
Following the apprehension of the four men, agents also located a Nissan vehicle that had reportedly run out of fuel along the Golden Road. Two U.S. citizens were inside the vehicle, which had been linked to earlier reports of a planned pickup. A loaded 9mm handgun was found beneath the driver’s seat, and investigators said one of the occupants admitted the driver intended to pick someone up near the border, per the affidavit.
The affidavit notes that text messages on the driver’s phone referenced arrival coordination with a person believed to be one of the four defendants.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security said in a press release on April 9 that U.S. Border Patrol recorded its 11th consecutive month of zero releases at the southern border, describing it as part of a continued decline in migrant crossings.
The agency said apprehensions and illegal border crossings have fallen to levels not seen in more than three decades, adding that daily apprehensions are down 95 percent compared with the previous administration and that southwest border encounters have remained below 9,000 for 14 consecutive months. Illegal border crossings spiked under the Biden administration, leading to a flurry of backlash opposed to the Democrats’ softer immigration policies.
What People Are Saying
Defense attorney James S. Nixon, Chief Federal Defender for the District of Maine and listed in court records as representing Saleh, told Newsweek he had “no comment on this matter.”
Andrew Kolvet, spokesman for the far-right group Turning Point USA, wrote on X: “‘British nationals’ named Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah, Hameed Mohammed Nagi, Ibrahim Ayyub Khan, and Mohammed Sultan Saleh?
“The islamification of the UK is quickly becoming a national security issue in America.”
Lebanese-American conservative activist Brigitte Gabriel wrote on X: “We are almost at a point where we need to ban immigration from the U.K.”
Conservative Media Commentator Mehek Cooke wrote on X: “They were caught this time. We still do not know the real intent. Smuggling? Evasion? Something worse?”
Tomi Lahren, host of Tomi Lahren Is Fearless on OutKick and co-host of The Big Weekend Show on Fox News, wrote on X: “Wow, those names sound very British. Part of the royal family?”
Far-Right platform Libs of TikTok wrote on X: “Just some nice British men named Mohammed trying to enter our country illegally… I’m sure it’s all totally fine.”
What Happens Next
All four defendants have been ordered held in custody while they await trial, although they may ask the court to reconsider that decision under federal law, per court filings.
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