"30,000 fliers seek watch-list removal"

Thursday, December 8, 2005

30,000 fliers seek watch-list removal
By Audrey Hudson
The Washington (DC) Times


Nearly 30,000 airline passengers in the past year asked the Homeland
Security Department to remove their names from terrorist watch lists, and
all but about 60 were successful, Transportation Security Administration
officials said. 

None of the passengers listed was ever prevented from flying, but some were
selected for additional screening ranging from questioning to strip
searches, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials said. 

"That number reflects the number of passengers that TSA has been able to
provide relief to, whose names were the same or similar to those who
actually appear on the no-flight or selectee list," said Yolanda Clark,
chief spokeswoman for the TSA, an agency within the Homeland Security
Department. 

Marcia Hofmann, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's
open-government project, said the number of passengers asking to be delisted
is "greater than anybody anticipated," and shows "the watch-list process
doesn't work the way it is supposed to." 

Miss Hofmann said Jim Kennedy, TSA's chief of staff, Tuesday disclosed the
30,000 figure for the first time when addressing a public advisory board and
said 60 applicants had been denied redress. 

The number of names on the no-fly list and watch lists are classified. 

Miss Hofmann, who attended the Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee
meeting, said the board was "pretty surprised" by the number. 

"People who don't present a threat should not have difficulty boarding
planes, but clearly this isn't the case," she said. 

High-profile passengers reportedly on the lists at one time were Sen. Edward
M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, and Rep. Don Young, Alaska Republican
and chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. 

A spokeswoman for Mr. Kennedy said the senator has not been targeted for
secondary screening in the past year. A Young spokesman could not be reached
for comment. 

Yusuf Islam, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, is on the no-fly list
and was deported last year after his London flight landed at Washington
Dulles International Airport. Mr. Islam is said to have donated money to
terrorist groups. 

"It's more important to focus on the purpose ... to keep anyone with links
or suspected links to terrorists off the aircraft," said Miss Clark, adding
that screeners process 1.8 million passengers a day.


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