"Terror watch list swells to more than 755,000"

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Terror watch list swells to more than 755,000 
By Mimi Hall
USA TODAY


WASHINGTON - The government's terrorist watch list has swelled to more than
755,000 names, according to a new government report that has raised worries
about the list's effectiveness.

The size of the list, typically used to check people entering the country
through land border crossings, airports and sea ports, has been growing by
200,000 names a year since 2004. Some lawmakers, security experts and civil
rights advocates warn that it will become useless if it includes too many
people.

"It undermines the authority of the list," says Lisa Graves of the Center
for National Security Studies. "There's just no rational, reasonable
estimate that there's anywhere close to that many suspected terrorists."

The exact number of people on the list, compiled after 9/11 to help
government agents keep terrorists out of the country, is unclear, according
to the report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Some people may
be on the list more than once because they are listed under multiple
spellings.

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., who
plans a hearing on the report today, says "serious hurdles remain if (the
list) is to be as effective as we need it to be. Some of the concerns stem
from its rapid growth, which could call into question the quality of the
list itself."

About 53,000 people on the list were questioned since 2004, according to the
GAO, which says the Homeland Security Department doesn't keep records on how
many were denied entry or allowed into the country after questioning. Most
were apparently released and allowed to enter, the GAO says.

Leonard Boyle, director of the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center, which
maintains the list, says in testimony to be given today that 269 foreigners
were denied entry in fiscal 2006.

The GAO report also says:

.The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) could not specify how many
people on its no-fly list, which is a small subset of the watch list, might
have slipped through screening and been allowed on domestic flights.

.TSA data show "a number of individuals" on the no-fly list passed
undetected through screening and boarded international flights bound for the
United States. Several planes have been diverted once officials realized
that people named on the watch lists were on board.

.Homeland Security has not done enough to use the list more broadly in the
private sector, where workers applying for jobs in sensitive places such as
chemical factories could do harm.

Boyle also urges that the list be used by for screening at businesses where
workers could "carry out attacks on our critical infrastructure that could
harm large numbers of persons or cause immense economic damage."

But the sheer size of the watch list raised the most alarms.

"They are quickly galloping towards the million mark - a mark of real
distinction because the list is already cumbersome and is approaching
absolutely useless," said Tim Sparapani of the American Civil Liberties
Union.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, says "creating and maintaining a comprehensive
terrorist watch list is an enormous endeavor fraught with technical and
tactical challenges."

The report, she says, "underscores the need to make the watch lists more
accurate, to improve screening procedures at airports and the ports of
entry, and to provide individuals with the ability to seek redress if they
believe they have been wrongfully targeted."

SCREENING FOR TERRORISM 
 
The number of terror watch-list records [1] more than quadrupled over
roughly a three-year period: 

June 2004 158,374 
May 2005 287,982 
June 2006 515,906 
May 2007 754,960 

[1]: One record reflects one name but not necessarily one person. 
Source: Julie Snider, USA TODAY; Government Accountability Office

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