Wesley Allen Beeler, from Front Royal, Virginia, was arrested Friday evening as he tried to make his way through security checkpoints in downtown DC, CNN reported.
Nilsen murdered at least 15 men at his flat in North London, between 1978 and 1983, before human remains were discovered in a blocked drain at his flat and he was arrested.
Officials have been told to prepare to use quarantine hotels and facial-recognition and GPS technology in order to ensure people stay in isolation when they arrive in the country.