Warren, Carson, Porter, Lawmakers Raise Concern over Accuracy, Due Process, Civil Rights Violations with Terrorism Watchlist
“As the system now enters its third decade, we seek increased public information to help the American people better understand the status of the watchlist and the redress process, and to help Congress meaningfully exercise its oversight role.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), along with Representatives André Carson (D-Ind.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, DHS Under Secretary for Intelligence & Analysis Ken Wainstein, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator David Pekoske, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Troy A. Miller, Director of the Office of National Intelligence (ODNI) Avril Haines, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Christopher A. Wray, and National Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid about issues surrounding the terrorist watchlist’s accuracy, due process protections, and civil rights violations, as well as the weaknesses of the redress process.
“We write to request information about the status of and standards for the Terrorist Screening Dataset . . ., the redress process for seeking removal from the dataset, and any steps your agencies are taking to address anti-Muslim discrimination stemming from the watchlist system,” wrote the lawmakers. “We have ongoing concerns about the reliability of the list and the extent to which due process and civil rights principles are adhered to in the course of placing and retaining individuals on the list.”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the creation of the terrorist watchlist, managed by the FBI’s Threat Screening Center (TSC) as a means to “consolidate one dozen disparate agency watchlists into a centralized list for tracking known and suspected terrorists.” Different agencies have assumed key roles in operating the list: TSA helps manage the narrower No Fly list, and the FBI and ODNI’s National Counterterrorism Center review requests to place a name on the watchlist.
“According to TSC’s guidance, nominating agencies review their nominations of U.S. persons annually, while TSC biannually reviews U.S. persons’ records on the watchlist for quality assurance,” wrote the lawmakers. “But experts have raised concerns that TSC’s review is largely a rubber-stamp exercise to confirm that nominating agencies completed the necessary procedural steps, and not a substantive review of the underlying information’s accuracy.”
In the letter, lawmakers detail the list’s rampant accuracy issues and its weak due process protections, and they expressed concern that the list discriminates against Muslims, who make up an estimated 98% of the list. The lawmakers note that “watchlisting one person can have a viral effect in Muslim communities, subjecting that person’s acquaintances to increased suspicion and those with similar names to the risk of being the victim of a mistaken identity.”
Watchlisting can also expose individuals to other civil rights violations by DHS officials and law enforcement, such as CBP officers reportedly “pressuring individuals to reveal their passwords in order to search their electronic devices,” wrote the lawmakers. “Furthermore, watchlisted individuals have reported facing increased police harassment, and have even been coerced by FBI agents into becoming informants in exchange for their removal from the list.”
The lawmakers are requesting information from the agencies no later than January 9, 2024, regarding the status of the watchlist, the meaningfulness of the redress process, and what agencies are doing to address anti-Muslim discrimination during screening processes.
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