The American government's terrorist watchlist has grown to include two million people – nearly double its size in 2017.
This is according to an investigation by CBS, which conducted an extensive review of court records and government documents and conducted interviews with over a dozen current and former members and leaders of the United States' intelligence community. This investigation revealed that the consolidated database of individuals to be watched at the country's borders has not only been quietly expanding in number but also in who it targets. (Related: Over 70,000 "special interest aliens" from countries that promote or protect TERRORISM have entered the U.S. since 2021.)
After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Terrorist Screening Center was created to consolidate the many different terrorist watchlists held by several government agencies – now known as the Terrorist Screening Dataset. It is now used by the State Department, Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration as well as other agencies to screen for potential suspects of terrorism entering the U.S. or attempting to gain access to military installations or other sites of national security.
Being on a watchlist can be a severe detriment to people's lives. Over 20 years, dozens of civil lawsuits have been filed against the watchlist, with people describing how they believe their inclusion has caused them to be prevented from flying home after a vacation, failing background checks to get jobs, or having their phones and computers searched. Others warned that it triggered law enforcement to handcuff them or place them at gunpoint and to detain and interrogate them.
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Terrorist watch list includes thousands of innocent Americans
When the terrorist watchlist was first launched on Dec. 1, 2003, it included approximately 120,000 people. By 2017, the last publicly confirmed numbers, it included 1.16 million individuals – nearly 10 times as many.
Now, at the end of 2023, the Terrorist Screening Dataset contains approximately two million names of people the government considers to be known or suspected terrorists – including thousands of Americans.
"It doesn't mean they're a terrorist," argued Russell Travers, a four-decade national security official who helped create the watchlist and who also previously served as the deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center under former President Donald Trump. "It means there's something that has led a department or agency to say, 'This person needs a closer look.'"
Government policy dictates that agents who want to add a name to the list must have "reasonable suspicion" to put that person under government surveillance. However, it does not require agents to disclose what those suspicions are based on. Furthermore, the government does not need to confirm nor deny whether an individual is on the list.
"Those two million people who are on the list are there for a reason," claimed Monte Hawkins, who has served on the National Security Council under all four presidents since 9/11 and currently helps oversee watchlisting policy for President Joe Biden. Hawkins noted that "a vast majority" of those listed are not U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, admitting that many of the names there are American citizens.
When asked about whether or not there are names on the list that should not be there, national security officials acknowledged that the consolidated terrorist database needs to be updated regularly to remove certain names, but there aren't enough staff to conduct constant audits.
"I'm sure that there are a lot of people that are in the database that are dead, that we don't even know it," said Travers, skirting the concern regarding innocent Americans being on the watch list.
Watch this clip from "The Absolute Truth with Emerald Robinson" as she discusses how Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi might have coerced the TSA to add Americans to the terror watchlist.
This video is from the channel The Absolute Truth with Emerald on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
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160 Individuals on terror list have attempted to cross into U.S. this year – ILLEGALLY, of course.
ISIS-affiliated smuggler helped migrants illegally enter the U.S. via Mexico.
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