Two New Jersey men were arrested at a New York City airport over the weekend charged with conspiring to commit acts of international terrorism.

Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos Eduardo Almonte were on their way to join a jihadist group in Somalia on Saturday when they were arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport.

Investigators said the suspects were inspired by statements by al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn and radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki calling on U.S. Muslims to attack Americans.

Click play for more on these recent arrests with CBN News Terrorism Analyst Erick Stakelbeck.

"I leave this time. God willing, I never come back," authorities say Alessa told the officer last year. "Only way I would come back here is if I was in the land of jihad and the leader ordered me to come back here and do something here. Ah, I love that."

Investigators "remain concerned that once they reach their foreign destinations, they may be redirected against targets back home, as we've seen in the past," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a statement.

"We are also concerned that should they remain undetected and fail in their foreign aspirations that they might strike domestically, as was discussed as a possibility in this case," Kelly added.

The suspects have been charged with hatching a plot to murder, kidnap, and maim U.S. citizens abroad. They are scheduled to appear in federal court in Newark, N.J. Monday.