Report: US Terror Watchlist Reaches 2M People

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Facts

  • A new CBS Reports investigation has found that the FBI's Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSD) now includes roughly 2M individuals, up from 120K in 2003 and 1.16M in 2017. FBI policy states there must be "reasonable suspicion" to place someone on the list, though it doesn't specify what those suspicions are and will neither confirm nor deny names on the list. 1
  • According to a four-decade veteran intelligence worker, Russ Travers, a name on the list "doesn't mean they're a terrorist" but rather that "This person needs a closer look." Monte Hawkins, who has been a member of the National Security Council since 9/11, stated that "a vast majority" of those on the list are not US citizens or legal residents. 1
  • Other national security officials, meanwhile, told CBS that some people on the TSD should be removed due to reasons such as death or mistaken identity. However, they added that auditing every file on the list is unrealistic due to a staff shortfall.2
  • The report, which followed an extensive review of court records, government documents, and over a dozen interviews with current and former intelligence leaders, does show that thousands of Americans are on the list.3
  • The list has also reportedly included tens of thousands of inaccurate suspects, including 30K airline passengers mistakenly flagged in 2006. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 98% of those who have reported complaints over being on the list were found to have been included because they shared a similar name to others on the list.1
  • The report also claimed It can be difficult to remove a name from the TSD, citing a Stanford Ph.D. student who had to fight in court for nine years before the FBI admitted she was on the list due to an agent's mistake. Meanwhile, the government says it's making the system more accurate through the use of facial recognition and fingerprints.1

Sources: 1CBS, 2Newsmax, and 3Wcbm.

Narratives

  • Left narrative, as provided by Intercept. Numerous Americans have been wrongfully added to the terror watchlist due to the TSD's inherent racial biases, causing them reputational damage and hindering their ability to travel freely or find a job. One Air Force veteran, Saadiq Long, who has no criminal record, was pulled over three times in just over a month due to his Muslim name being in a gang member database connected to TSD. People like him not only struggle to fly or find jobs but also have to deal with cops pulling them over on a routine basis simply due to how their name is spelled.
  • Right narrative, as provided by The Heritage Foundation. The terror watchlist is certainly flawed, but not for the reasons the liberal media would tell you. The real issue at hand is that the FBI continually flags actual criminals, investigates them, and then lets them loose to commit their crimes. This happened in 2016 after Omar Mateen, the Orlando, Fl., mass shooter who was investigated two times before being let loose into the public to freely purchase weapons. Mateen had been on the list but was taken off for murky reasons.