Terrorist Watch List Screening: Efforts to Help Reduce Adverse
Effects on the Public (29-SEP-06, GAO-06-1031).
A consolidated watch list managed by the FBI's Terrorist
Screening Center (TSC) contains the names of known or suspected
terrorists, both international and domestic. Various agencies
whose missions require screening for links to terrorism use watch
list records. For example, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) screens travelers at ports of entry. Because screening is
based on names, it can result in misidentifications when persons
not on the list have a name that resembles one on the list. Also,
some names may be mistakenly included on the watch list. In
either case, individuals can be negatively affected and may
express concerns or seek agency action, or redress, to prevent
future occurrences. This report addresses: (1) the extent to
which the numbers of misidentified persons are known and how they
could be affected, (2) the major reasons misidentifications occur
and the actions agencies are taking to reduce them or minimize
their effects, and (3) the opportunities for redress available to
individuals with watch list-related concerns. In conducting work
at TSC and the principal federal agencies that use watch list
data, GAO reviewed standard operating procedures and other
relevant documentation and interviewed responsible officials. GAO
makes no recommendations at this time because the agencies have
ongoing initiatives to improve data quality, reduce the number of
misidentifications or mitigate their effects, and enhance redress
efforts.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-06-1031
ACCNO: A61608
TITLE: Terrorist Watch List Screening: Efforts to Help Reduce
Adverse Effects on the Public
DATE: 09/29/2006
SUBJECT: Antiterrorism
Border security
Homeland security
Identity verification
Inspection
Passenger screening
Security policies
Terrorism
Terrorists
Transportation security
Customs Service/INS Interagency Border
Inspection System
Department of State Consular Lookout and
Support System
FBI Integrated Automated Fingerprint
Identification System
******************************************************************
** This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a **
** GAO Product. **
** **
** No attempt has been made to display graphic images, although **
** figure captions are reproduced. Tables are included, but **
** may not resemble those in the printed version. **
** **
** Please see the PDF (Portable Document Format) file, when **
** available, for a complete electronic file of the printed **
** document's contents. **
** **
******************************************************************
GAO-06-1031
* Results in Brief
* Background
* Although Likely a Small Percentage of All People Screened, t
* Although a Substantial Number, Misidentified Persons Likely
* Misidentified Individuals Can Experience Delays and Other Ef
* Most Misidentifications Occur Because of Similarities to Nam
* Misidentifications Result Because a Traveler's Name Is Simil
* Some Misidentifications Can Result from Inaccurate or Incomp
* Agencies Are Taking a Number of Actions to Expedite Frequent
* Transportation Security Administration Maintains a Cleared L
* U.S. Customs and Border Protection Is Annotating Its Databas
* The Department of State Is Annotating Its Database to Avoid
* As a Future Enhancement, the Terrorist Screening Center Plan
* The Terrorist Screening Center and Frontline-Screening Agenc
* The Terrorist Screening Center and the Federal Frontline-Scr
* The Terrorist Screening Center's Handling of Redress Referra
* Most Redress Queries Involve Misidentified Persons and Are H
* Transportation Security Administration: For Individuals Who
* U.S. Customs and Border Protection Is Considering Realigning
* Department of State: Applicants Who Are Denied a Visa Have N
* The Department of Justice Is Leading an Effort to Finalize a
* Concluding Observations
* Agency Comments
* Objectives
* Scope and Methodology
* Extent That the Numbers of Terrorist Watch List Misidentific
* Major Reasons That Misidentifications Occur, and Actions the
* Major Reasons That Misidentifications Occur
* Actions to Reduce the Number of Misidentified Persons or Exp
* Redress Opportunities Established by the Terrorist Screening
* Data Reliability
* Exhibit A: "Our Traveler Identity Verification Program"
* Exhibit B: Traveler Identity Verification (TSA Form 2301, Ma
* Background and Preliminary Observation
* Interagency Border Inspection System Fact Sheet
* "What Is IBIS?"
* "Who Uses IBIS?"
* "What Does IBIS Provide?"
* "Where Is IBIS?"
* "What Information Is in IBIS?"
* "Additional Questions?"
* GAO's Mission
* Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony
* Order by Mail or Phone
* To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs
* Congressional Relations
* Public Affairs
Report to Congressional Requesters
United States Government Accountability Office
GAO
September 2006
TERRORISTWATCH LIST SCREENING
Efforts to Help Reduce Adverse Effects on the Public
GAO-06-1031
Contents
Letter 1
Results in Brief 4
Background 6
Although Likely a Small Percentage of All People Screened, the Thousands
of Persons Misidentified to the Terrorist Watch List Can Experience
Additional Questioning, Delays, and Other Effects 12
Most Misidentifications Occur Because of Similarities to Names on the
Terrorist Watch List; Agencies Are Attempting to Reduce the Incidence of
Misidentifications or Otherwise Facilitate Individuals through the
Screening Process 19
The Terrorist Screening Center and Frontline-Screening Agencies Are
Addressing Concerns Related to Watch List Screening, and an Interagency
Agreement Is Being Developed to Further Ensure an Effective Means for
Seeking Redress 27
Concluding Observations 42
Agency Comments 44
Appendix I Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 47
Objectives 47
Scope and Methodology 47
Data Reliability 54
Appendix II Terrorist Screening Center Terrorist-Watch-List Redress
Process 55
Appendix III Transportation Security Administration Traveler Identity
Verification Program 61
Exhibit A: "Our Traveler Identity Verification Program" 61
Exhibit B: Traveler Identity Verification (TSA Form 2301, May 2006) 64
Appendix IV U.S. Customs and Border Protection Online Information 66
Background and Preliminary Observation 66
Interagency Border Inspection System Fact Sheet 66
Appendix V Comments from the Department of Homeland Security 68
Appendix VI Comments from the State Department 71
Tables
Table 1: Number and Disposition of Redress Queries Referred to the
Terrorist Screening Center, Calendar Year 2005 32
Table 2: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Ports of Entry Visited by GAO
48
Figures
Figure 1: General Overview of the Name-Matching Process Used to Screen
Individuals against the Terrorist Watch List 11
Figure 2: General Overview of the Terrorist Screening Center's Process for
Handling Concerns Involving Watch-List-Related Screening 30
Abbreviations
CBP U.S. Customs and Border Protection FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation
IAFIS Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System IDENT
Automated Biometrics Identification System IBIS Interagency Border
Inspection System RFID radio frequency identification SENTRI Secure
Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection TSA Transportation
Security Administration TSC Terrorist Screening Center US-VISIT U.S.
Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without further permission from GAO. However, because this
work may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material
separately.
United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548
September 29, 2006
The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. Chairman Committee on the
Judiciary House of Representatives
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson Ranking Member Committee on Homeland
Security House of Representatives
To identify individuals with known or potential links to terrorism, since
the tragedies of September 11, 2001, agencies such as the departments of
State, Justice, and Homeland Security have implemented enhanced procedures
to screen international travelers, airline passengers, and visa
applicants. One important homeland security tool used by these federal
frontline-screening agencies is the terrorist-screening database,
otherwise known as the consolidated watch list, containing the names of
individuals with known and suspected links to terrorism. The database,
which contains names of foreign and U.S. citizens, is maintained by the
Terrorist Screening Center, an entity that has been operational since
December 2003 under the administration of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI). Based upon agency-specific policies and criteria,
relevant portions of the Terrorist Screening Center's consolidated watch
list can be used in a wide range of security-related screening procedures.
For instance, the Transportation Security Administration's No Fly and
Selectee lists-used by airlines to screen passengers prior to boarding-are
portions of the Terrorist Screening Center's consolidated watch list.1
Also, to help ensure that known or suspected terrorists do not enter the
United States, applicable portions of the watch list are to be checked by
Department of State consular officers before issuing U.S. visas and by
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers before admitting persons at
air, land, and sea ports of entry.
1According to the Transportation Security Administration, persons on the
No Fly list should be precluded from boarding an aircraft bound for, or
departing from, the United States. In contrast, being on the Selectee list
does not mean that the individual will be precluded from boarding a plane
or entering the United States. Instead, any person on the Selectee list is
to receive additional screening, which may involve a physical inspection
of the person and a hand-search of luggage.
Because terrorist watch list screening involves comparisons based on
personal-identifying information such as names and dates of birth, there
is potential to generate misidentifications-given that two or more
persons, for example, may have the same or similar names.2 As such, the
screening inevitably can raise concerns from individuals who assert that
they are being misidentified because of a name similarity to some other
person whose name is on the watch list. Misidentifications can result in
travel delays and other inconveniences for the respective individuals.
Specific instances have been widely reported in newspapers and other
media, including cases involving members of Congress and other
high-profile individuals. Misidentifications highlight the importance of
having a process-often referred to as redress-for affected persons to
express their concerns, seek correction of any inaccurate data, and
request other actions to reduce or eliminate future inconveniences.3
Similarly, such a process would apply to other persons affected by the
maintenance of watch list data, including persons whose names are actually
on the watch list but should not be ("mistakenly listed persons") as well
as persons who are properly listed.4 Accordingly, in reference to
terrorist watch list screening, this report addresses the following
questions:
o To what extent are the numbers of terrorist watch list
misidentifications known, and generally, how could misidentified
persons be affected?
o What are the major reasons that misidentifications occur, and
what actions are the Terrorist Screening Center and
frontline-screening agencies taking to reduce the number of
misidentified persons or expedite them through the screening
process?
o To address concerns from misidentified and mistakenly listed
persons, what opportunities for redress have the Terrorist
Screening Center and frontline-screening agencies established?
In answering these questions, we reviewed the Terrorist Screening
Center's standard operating procedures, statistics on
watch-list-related screening encounters that resulted in referrals
to the center, and other relevant documentation; and we
interviewed Terrorist Screening Center officials, including the
director, principal deputy director, chief information officer,
and privacy officer. Similarly, we interviewed officials at and
reviewed documentation obtained from the principal
frontline-screening agencies-Transportation Security
Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the
Department of State-whose missions most frequently and directly
involve interactions with travelers.5 Regarding the screening of
air passengers, in addition to contacting the Transportation
Security Administration to broadly discuss the procedures of air
carriers, we interviewed security officials at five major,
domestic air carriers. Also, we visited various land and air ports
of entry in four states-California, Michigan, New York, and Texas.
Collectively, these states have ports of entry on both the
northern and southern borders of the United States. Regarding
statistical data we obtained from the Terrorist Screening
Center-such as the number of misidentifications and the results of
the redress process, particularly the number of mistakenly listed
persons whose names have been removed from the watch list-we
discussed the sources of the data with center officials, including
the chief information officer, and we reviewed documentation
regarding the compilation of the statistics. We determined that
the statistics were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of
presenting overall patterns and trends. We performed our work from
April 2005 through August 2006 in accordance with generally
accepted government auditing standards. Appendix I presents more
details about our objectives, scope, and methodology.
Results in Brief
Although the total number of misidentifications that have occurred
as a result of watch-list-related screening conducted by all
frontline-screening agencies and airlines is unknown, Terrorist
Screening Center data indicate that about half of the tens of
thousands of potential matches sent to the center between December
2003 and January 2006 for further research turned out to be
misidentifications.6 The frontline-screening agencies and, in the
case of air travel, airlines are able use other identifying
information to resolve some possible matches without Terrorist
Screening Center involvement, but when the agencies are unable to
do so, they are to refer the information to the center for
clarification and resolution. Frontline- screening agencies and
airlines generally do not have readily available statistics
quantifying the number of potential matches they have been able to
resolve without consulting the Terrorist Screening Center.
Although the total number of misidentified persons may be
substantial in absolute terms, it likely represents a small
fraction of the hundreds of millions of individuals screened each
year. For example, in fiscal year 2005, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection alone reported that its officers managed about 431
million border crossings into the United States at land, air, and
sea ports of entry. Nonetheless, misidentifications resulting from
terrorist watch list screening can affect the respective
individuals by, for example, delaying their travel, subjecting
them to more intensive questioning and searches, and denying them
conveniences such as self-serve check-in at airports. Also, in
some cases, travelers have missed flights.
Misidentifications most commonly occur because the names of some
persons being screened are similar to those on the terrorist watch
list. The federal screening agencies we studied and most airlines
use computer-driven algorithms to rapidly compare the names of
individuals against the terrorist watch list.7 Generally, these
name-recognition technologies may be designed to balance
minimizing the possibility of false negatives-that is, failing to
identify an individual whose name is on the terrorist watch
list-while not generating an unacceptable number of false
positives (misidentifications). Thus, the computerized algorithms
may be configured to return a broad set of possible matches based
on the name input in order to account, for example, for
differences in names due to misspellings or transcription errors.
The Terrorist Screening Center has formed an interagency working
group to improve the effectiveness of identity matching across
agencies, and the group's efforts were ongoing the time of our
review. The center also has ongoing quality-assurance initiatives
to identify and correct incomplete or inaccurate records that
contribute to misidentifications. Further, agencies are taking
actions to expedite frequently misidentified persons through the
screening process. For example, in February 2006, U.S. Customs and
Border Protection began annotating its database to help ensure
that travelers who have been inadvertently stopped in the
past-because they have the same or similar name as a watch list
record-are no longer subjected to intensive screening, unless
warranted by new data. As a future enhancement, the Terrorist
Screening Center is planning to have links to other agencies'
biometric data, such as fingerprints. According to center
officials, the capability to link biometric data to supplement
name-based screening may be more relevant for confirming the
identities of known terrorists than minimizing misidentifications
or false positives.
The Terrorist Screening Center, the Transportation Security
Administration, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have
processes in place to help resolve concerns or complaints
submitted by persons adversely affected by terrorist watch list
screening.8 The processes are interdependent in that the
frontline-screening agencies are to receive all redress queries,
resolve those that, based on other identifying information,
clearly involve misidentified persons, and refer the other queries
to the Terrorist Screening Center-particularly queries submitted
by persons whose names are actually contained on the watch list.
For calendar year 2005, the center reported that it processed to
completion 112 redress referrals and removed the names of
31mistakenly listed individuals from the watch list. In contrast,
the frontline-screening agencies processed thousands of redress
queries. Most redress queries are submitted by misidentified
persons, and their names cannot be removed from the watch list
because they are not the persons on the list. Instead, some
frontline-screening agencies have undertaken initiatives to
expedite the future processing of persons who are frequently
misidentified. For example, under the Transportation Security
Administration's process, affected individuals can voluntarily
provide additional personal-identifying information as a basis for
the agency to determine whether their names can be put on a
cleared list. Airlines are to use the cleared list to more quickly
distinguish these individuals from persons who are on the No Fly
and the Selectee lists. This procedure is intended to reduce
delays in obtaining airline-boarding passes. The Terrorist
Screening Center, from its unique position as administrator of the
consolidated terrorist watch list, has noted significant
differences among agencies in providing watch-list-related
redress. For instance, whereas the Transportation Security
Administration has designated an official accountable specifically
for redress, U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not and also
has not followed consistent procedures in referring appropriate
redress queries to the Terrorist Screening Center. Thus, at the
Terrorist Screening Center's request, the Department of Justice is
leading an effort to develop an interagency memorandum of
understanding to ensure that opportunities for redress are
formally documented and that agency responsibilities are clear,
with designated officials specifically accountable for supporting
the continued success of watch-list-related redress. This effort,
according to the Terrorist Screening Center, has been ongoing
since fall 2005, and a final draft of the memorandum of
understanding is expected to be ready for interagency clearances
by fall 2006. The Department of Justice and the Terrorist
Screening Center have acknowledged that, upon finalization of an
interagency agreement that documents the redress opportunities and
designates agencies' responsibilities, it is important that
appropriately updated information on redress and points of contact
be made available to the public, including updates of Web-based
guidance.
We are not making recommendations at this time because the
agencies have ongoing efforts to improve data quality and
otherwise either reduce the number of misidentifications or
mitigate their effects and to provide more effective redress.
Background
In April 2003, we reported that watch lists were maintained by
numerous federal agencies and that the agencies did not have a
consistent and uniform approach to sharing information on
individuals with possible links to terrorism.9 Our report
recommended that the Department of Homeland Security's Secretary,
in collaboration with the heads of the departments and agencies
that have and use watch lists, lead an effort to consolidate and
standardize the federal government's watch list structures and
policies. Subsequently, pursuant to Homeland Security Presidential
Directive 6, dated September 16, 2003, the Terrorist Screening
Center was established to consolidate the government's approach to
terrorism screening and provide for the appropriate and lawful use
of terrorist information in screening processes. The center began
"24/7" operations on December 1, 2003, and, about 3 months later,
on March 12, 2004, announced that watch list consolidation was
completed with establishment of the terrorist-screening database.
This consolidated database is the U.S. government's master
repository for all known and suspected international and domestic
terrorist records used for watch-list-related screening. Records
for inclusion in the consolidated database are submitted to the
Terrorist Screening Center from the following two sources:
o Identifying information on individuals with possible
international terrorism ties is provided through the National
Counterterrorism Center, which is managed by the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence.
o Identifying information on individuals with ties to purely
domestic terrorism, such as Ted Kaczynski (the "Unabomber"), is
provided by the FBI.
In their terrorist-screening processes, the three federal
frontline-screening agencies that we reviewed use records exported
by the Terrorist Screening Center. That is, the applicable
exported records are incorporated, respectively, into the
Transportation Security Administration's No Fly and Selectee
lists, U.S. Customs and Border Inspection's Interagency Border
Inspection System, and the State Department's Consular Lookout and
Support System. The following listing discusses the
frontline-screening agencies' use of watch list records more
specifically:
o Transportation Security Administration's No Fly and Selectee
Lists: As needed, the Transportation Security Administration
provides updated No Fly and Selectee lists to airlines for use in
prescreening passengers. Through the issuance of security
directives, the agency requires that airlines use these lists to
screen passengers prior to boarding. The agency's Office of
Intelligence (formerly called the Transportation Security
Intelligence Service) provides assistance to airlines in
determining whether passengers are a match with persons on the
lists.10
o U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Interagency Border
Inspection System: U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers use
the Interagency Border Inspection System to screen travelers
entering the United States at ports of entry, which include land
border crossings along the Canadian and Mexican borders, sea
ports, and U.S. airports for international flight arrivals. This
system includes not only the applicable records exported by the
Terrorist Screening Center, but also additional information on
people with prior criminal histories, immigration violations, or
other activities of concern that U.S. Customs and Border
Protection wants to identify and screen at ports of entry.
o State Department's Consular Lookout and Support System: This
system is the primary sensitive but unclassified database used by
consular officers abroad to screen the names of visa applicants to
identify terrorists and other aliens who are potentially
ineligible for visas based on criminal histories or other reasons
specified by federal statute. According to the State Department,
all visa-issuing posts have direct access to the system and must
use it to check each applicant's name before issuing a visa.
Also, the Terrorist Screening Center makes applicable records in
the consolidated database available to support the
terrorist-screening activities of other federal agencies-such as
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is the largest
investigative component of the Department of Homeland Security-as
well as state and local law enforcement agencies. For example, the
FBI's National Crime Information Center has a file-the Violent
Gang and Terrorist Organization File-which is accessible by
federal, state, and local law enforcement officers for screening
in conjunction with arrests, detentions, or other criminal justice
purposes.11 A subset of this file consists of the Terrorist
Screening Center's records to be used to screen for possible
terrorist links.
Figure 1 presents a general overview of the name-matching process
typically used by frontline-screening agencies and airlines to
screen individuals against applicable records exported by the
Terrorist Screening Center, which has an important role in
verifying identities. When the computerized name-matching system
of a frontline-screening agency or, in the case of air travel, an
airline generates a "hit" (a potential name match) against a
terrorist database record, the agency or airline is to review each
potential name-match. Any obvious mismatches (misidentifications)
are to be resolved by the frontline agency or airline.
Conversely, clearly positive or exact matches generally are to be
referred to the applicable screening agency's intelligence center
and to the Terrorist Screening Center to provide law enforcement
an opportunity for a counterterrorism response.12 Similarly, hits
involving inconclusive matches-that is, uncertain and other
hard-to-verify potential matches-typically are to be referred to
the applicable screening agency's intelligence center. In turn, if
the intelligence center cannot conclusively determine whether a
hit is an exact match, the Terrorist Screening Center is to be
contacted.13 Referring inconclusive matches to the Terrorist
Screening Center for resolution or confirmation is important
because the possible consequences of not identifying a known or
suspected terrorist could be worse than the inconveniences
associated with misidentifications. In conducting its research,
the Terrorist Screening Center has access to classified data
systems that may contain additional information not available to
the referring agency. Once the Terrorist Screening Center has
confirmed the individual as either a positive match or a
misidentification, the frontline-screening agency is to be
informed.
2The term "misidentification" refers to a person initially matched by a
screening agency to a name on the watch list, but upon closer examination,
the person is found to not match any watch list record.
3As used in this report, the term "redress" generally refers to an
agency's complaint-resolution process, whereby individuals may seek
resolution of their concerns about an agency action. In the report, we
describe elements of the opportunities for redress offered by several
agencies, and we generally analyze their respective policies and
procedures. However, we do not address the relation between agency redress
and other possible remedies, such as judicial review.
4For purposes of this report, the term "mistakenly listed persons"
includes two categories of individuals-(1) persons who never should have
been included on the watch list but were due to some type of error and (2)
persons who were appropriately included on the watch list at one time but
no longer warrant inclusion on the terrorist watch list due to subsequent
events.
5Although the terrorist watch list is used for a variety of screening
purposes, such as conducting background checks of workers who have access
to secure areas of the national transportation system, our work generally
focused on the screening of travelers. At the Transportation Security
Administration, we examined the screening of air passengers prior to their
boarding a flight; at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, we examined the
screening of travelers entering the United States through ports of entry;
and at the Department of State, we examined the screening of nonimmigrant
visa applicants.
6According to the FBI, the specific number of potential matches sent to
the Terrorist Screening Center that turned out to be misidentifications is
sensitive information; however, the total is substantially less than
100,000.
7An algorithm is a prescribed set of well-defined, unambiguous rules or
processes for the solution of a problem in a finite number of steps.
Pursuant to Transportation Security Administration security directives and
implementing guidance, airlines are to prescreen passengers by matching
their names against the No Fly and Selectee lists.
8Any such concern or complaint raised formally by an affected individual
is what the Terrorist Screening Center calls a redress query.
Specifically, the Terrorist Screening Center defines a "redress query" as
communication from individuals or their representatives inquiring or
complaining about an adverse experience during a terrorist
watch-list-related-screening process conducted or sponsored by a federal
agency, including congressional inquiries to federal agencies on behalf of
their constituents.
9GAO, Information Technology: Terrorist Watch Lists Should Be Consolidated
to Promote Better Integration and Sharing, GAO-03-322 (Washington, D.C.:
Apr. 15, 2003).
10The Transportation Security Administration is developing a new passenger
prescreening program, known as Secure Flight. Under the Secure Flight
program, the agency plans to take over, from commercial airlines, the
responsibility to compare identifying information on airline passengers
against information on known or suspected terrorists. The agency expects
that Secure Flight will improve passenger prescreening as compared with
the current airline-operated process. In June 2006, we reported that the
Transportation Security Administration still faces significant challenges
in developing and implementing the Secure Flight program. See, GAO,
Aviation Security: Management Challenges Remain for the Transportation
Security Administration's Secure Flight Program, GAO-06-864T (Washington,
D.C.: June 14, 2006).
11Also, the FBI and designated state and local criminal justice agencies
access the Violent Gang and Terrorist Organization File in conducting
background checks on individuals seeking to purchase firearms or obtain
permits to possess, acquire, or carry firearms. See GAO, Gun Control and
Terrorism: FBI Could Better Manage Firearm-Related Background Checks
Involving Terrorist Watch List Records, GAO-05-127 (Washington, D.C.: Jan.
19, 2005).
12Airlines are to contact the Transportation Security Administration,
which may then contact the Terrorist Screening Center, as necessary.
13In commenting on a draft of this report, the State Department noted that
the general overview presented in figure 1 is not fully reflective of the
process for screening nonimmigrant visa applicants against the terrorist
watch list. Specifically, the department emphasized that for any hit that
clearly is not a mismatch, consular officers are required to obtain a
security advisory opinion. That is, the consular post must ask Department
of State headquarters to initiate a process of requesting that the
Terrorist Screening Center and other relevant agencies check their
respective databases or systems for the existence of any investigative or
intelligence information regarding the individual and pass the results
back to the department for use in recommending a course of action to the
post.
Figure 1: General Overview of the Name-Matching Process Used to Screen
Individuals against the Terrorist Watch List
Homeland security-related screening processes entail some level of
inconvenience for all travelers. Also, in an operational context, people
can be and frequently are screened for reasons not related to the
terrorist watch list but rather for reasons related to an agency's
mission. For example, U.S. Customs and Border Protection screens travelers
for any conditions that may make them inadmissible to the country,
including past violations of immigration, drug, customs, or other laws.
The agency also randomly selects certain individuals for more thorough
screening. Similarly, prospective airline passengers may be randomly
selected for additional screening, and others may be selected if they
exhibit unusual behavior.14 Generally, screening agencies and airlines are
not to disclose the reason they select an individual for more thorough
screening measures, so persons may mistakenly assume it is because they
are on a terrorist watch list.
Although Likely a Small Percentage of All People Screened, the Thousands of
Persons Misidentified to the Terrorist Watch List Can Experience Additional
Questioning, Delays, and Other Effects
Annually, hundreds of millions of individuals-international travelers,
airline passengers, and visa applicants-are screened against relevant
portions of the Terrorist Screening Center's consolidated watch list. The
number of persons misidentified during terrorist watch list screening may
be substantial in absolute terms but likely represents a small fraction of
the total screenings. Nonetheless, misidentifications resulting from
terrorist watch list screening can affect the respective individuals in
various ways, with perhaps the most common situation involving delays and
related inconveniences experienced by travelers.
14Since the late 1990s, airline passenger prescreening has been conducted
using the Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS I)-in
which data related to a passenger's reservation and travel itinerary are
compared against characteristics (known as CAPPS I rules) used to select
passengers who require additional scrutiny-and through the matching of
passenger names to terrorist watch lists. See, GAO, Aviation Security:
Secure Flight Development and Testing Under Way, but Risks Should Be
Managed as System Is Further Developed, GAO-05-356 (Washington, D.C.: Mar.
28, 2005), which reported that approximately 99 percent of all passengers
on domestic flights are screened under the air carrier-operated, automated
CAPPS I system, and the remaining 1 percent of passengers are screened by
air carriers who do not have an automated system.
Although a Substantial Number, Misidentified Persons Likely Constitute a Small
Percentage of All People Screened
Although the full universe of persons misidentified by terrorist watch
list screening may be substantial in absolute terms, the total number
likely represents a small fraction of all persons who are screened. During
the 26-month period we studied-from December 2003 (when the Terrorist
Screening Center began operations) to January 2006-the center received
tens of thousands of screening-encounter referrals from
frontline-screening agencies and determined that approximately half
involved misidentified persons with names the same as or similar to
someone whose name was contained on the terrorist watch list. The number
of referrals to the Terrorist Screening Center does not constitute the
universe of all persons initially misidentified by terrorist watch list
screening because the names of many persons initially misidentified are
not forwarded to the Terrorist Screening Center. Rather, by comparing
birth dates or other data, the frontline- screening agencies (e.g., U.S.
Customs and Border Protection) are able to resolve many initial
misidentifications without contacting the Terrorist Screening Center.
Additionally, for air passengers, the airlines often are able to resolve
initial misidentifications without contacting the Transportation Security
Administration.15 The screening agencies and airlines generally do not
maintain readily available statistics on these resolutions.
Nonetheless, although the full universe of such misidentifications may be
substantial in absolute terms, the total number likely represents a small
fraction of all persons who are subject to terrorist watch list screening
procedures, as in the following examples:
o U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that its officers
managed a total of 431 million border crossings into the United
States at land, air, and sea ports of entry in fiscal year 2005.
o Domestic airline flights-flights within the United
States-carried 658 million passengers during the 12 months ending
January 2006, according to Department of Transportation
statistics.16
o The State Department reported that it processed about 7.4
million nonimmigrant visa applications in fiscal year 2005.17
In addition to these international travelers, domestic flight
passengers, and visa applicants, any other person can be subject
to terrorist watch list screening in conjunction with routine law
enforcement activities. For instance, in stopping a motorist for a
traffic violation, a state or local law enforcement officer can
check the motorist's name against the National Crime Information
Center's various files, which include terrorist watch list records
exported by the Terrorist Screening Center. The National Crime
Information Center, according to the FBI, is available to
virtually every law enforcement agency nationwide, 24 hours a day,
365 days a year.
Misidentified Individuals Can Experience Delays and Other Effects
People who are misidentified to the terrorist watch list can be
affected in various ways, most commonly experiencing delays and
related inconveniences, including being subjected to more
intensive questioning and searches. Generally, the extent of the
effects of terrorist watch-list-related misidentification can vary
by individual circumstances and the operational nature of the
screening agency's mission. For example, an individual with a name
similar to someone who is on the Transportation Security
Administration's No Fly list likely will be unable to utilize the
convenience of Internet, curbside, and airport kiosk check-in
options. This effect of misidentifications is reflected in a
sample of 24 complaint letters to the Transportation Security
Administration that we reviewed.18 Many of the complainants
described their frustrations with not being able to use
alternative check-in options such as the Internet or airport
kiosks. Similarly, in a survey conducted in June 2006 by the
National Business Travel Association, many companies' travel
managers responded that their employees have expressed frustration
about repeatedly having to go to the airline ticket counter to
obtain a boarding pass.19
Also, misidentifications can cause other effects, such as missed
airline flights by either leisure travelers or business travelers,
which could have economic and other consequences, although we
found no readily available data on how frequently these effects
occurred. However, according to Transportation Security
Administration data, two international flights-one in December
2004 and another in May 2005-were diverted from landing at their
scheduled destinations in the United States due to potential
matches to the No Fly list. In each instance, following the
diversions of the flights and further investigation after the
airplanes landed, federal authorities determined that the
respective passengers were misidentified and not true matches to
the No Fly list. Nonetheless, the diversions resulted in delays
and related inconveniences for all passengers on these flights.
The Transportation Security Administration has acknowledged that
misidentifications can be embarrassing and time consuming for
individuals and also potentially can erode the public's confidence
in the agency's security efforts. Similarly, a recent Department
of Homeland Security report recognized that "individuals who are
mistakenly put on watch lists or who are misidentified as being on
these lists can potentially face consequences ranging from
inconvenience and delay to loss of liberty."20
Also, an individual can experience an immediate delay at a port of
entry when U.S. Customs and Border Protection's automated search
of the Interagency Border Inspection System database returns a
potential match to a terrorist watch list record. For such
potential matches, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's operating
protocol is to escort the person to another screening area for
further questioning and inspection (a process referred to as
secondary screening). The length of time the person spends in
secondary screening can be several hours, depending partly on the
difficulty or ease of verifying whether the person is or is not
the individual on the watch list. In the four states we
visited-California, Michigan, New York, and Texas-U.S. Customs and
Border Protection officers told us that given the importance of
the homeland security mission, their practice is to err on the
side of caution by conducting very thorough screenings.21
The effects of such misidentifications and the related secondary
screenings can be emotional as well as physical, as reflected in
complaint letters to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. A sample
of 28 complaint letters to U.S. Customs and Border Protection that
we reviewed alleged a range of effects, such as experiencing
travel delays, which resulted in missing airline flights and
incurring additional travel costs; being subjected to extensive
questioning and searches, while not being allowed to contact
family members, friends, or business associates to inform them
about the delays; and feeling embarrassed and frustrated.22
The State Department's screening of nonimmigrant visa applicants
against the terrorist watch list may not affect individuals in the
same way as does screening by the Transportation Security
Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Generally,
the State Department's screening differs from other screening
agencies because there is more time to search records and make
decisions. According to State Department officials, the average
time for processing a nonimmigrant visa application is about 2
days. However, additional processing time may be needed if initial
screening of the applicant shows a possible link to terrorism-that
is, the applicant's name possibly matches that of a person whose
name is on the terrorist watch list. The officials explained that
this additional processing time is needed because a decision on
the visa applicant cannot be made until a security advisory
opinion is obtained. That is, the consular post must ask the
Department of State headquarters in Washington, D.C., to initiate
a process of requesting that various agencies check their
respective databases or systems for the existence of any
investigative or intelligence information regarding the individual
and pass the results back to a central point. This interagency
review process includes the FBI, the Drug Enforcement
Administration, the Central Intelligence Agency, and others.
According to State Department officials, visa applicants are
routinely told not to buy tickets or incur other travel-related
expenses until the clearance process has been completed and the
application approved.
In acknowledging that the interagency review process may extend
the processing time for a visa decision, the State Department
provided us (in June 2006) the following contextual perspectives:
o In the last 2 years, the department and its interagency
partners have worked to decrease the processing time in order to
reduce the impact on the traveling public.
o Nevertheless, the department's position is that the time it
takes to screen a visa applicant is a necessary part of the
application procedure and, therefore, is not an adverse
governmental action. At times, additional processing must be done
in order to determine whether a visa applicant is eligible for a
visa under the law, including for national security reasons. The
additional processing is the inconvenient consequence of the
proper functioning of the visa screening system.
o Moreover, the extended processing time generally is a one-time
occurrence. Once an alien is cleared through the process, the
clearance is noted in the department's consular visa database.
Thus, this person may not be subject to the same processing delay
when applying for another visa in the future, unless additional
investigative or intelligence information arises after issuance of
the first visa.23
Screening by state and local law enforcement also differs from
screening by the Transportation Security Administration, U.S.
Customs and Border Protection, and the State Department.
Essentially, federal agencies (or air carriers, as applicable)
initiate screening when individuals make an airline reservation,
arrive at a port of entry, or apply for a visa. In contrast, a
state or local law enforcement agency may initiate screening by,
for example, pulling over a motorist for speeding. Generally, a
routine procedure for the law enforcement officer is to query the
motorist's name against records in the National Crime Information
Center, which contains criminal history records as well as
terrorist watch list records. According to congressional testimony
presented in March 2004 by the Director of Public Security for the
State of New York, it takes about 12 to 15 minutes, on average,
for a New York patrol officer to contact the Terrorist Screening
Center and resolve a potential name match.24 More recently, in
July 2006, the Director of the Terrorist Screening Center told us
that the average time nationally is now down to about 5
minutes-that is, the time period beginning with the center's
receipt of the call from a state or local law enforcement officer
and ending with the response to the officer regarding the
potential name match.25
Most Misidentifications Occur Because of Similarities to Names on
the Terrorist Watch List; Agencies Are Attempting to Reduce the
Incidence of Misidentifications or Otherwise Facilitate Individuals
through the Screening Process
The most common cause of misidentifications is similarity of the
names of persons being checked to names on the Terrorist Screening
Center's consolidated watch list, for which there is no complete
remedy, but agencies are taking actions to minimize the effect on
frequently misidentified persons. The Terrorist Screening Center
has formed an interagency group to improve the effectiveness of
identity matching across agencies and also has ongoing initiatives
regarding data quality. As a future enhancement, the Terrorist
Screening Center's strategy is to develop the capability to link
name-based watch list searches to relevant biometric systems
maintained by other agencies, although this capability may be more
useful for confirming positive matches than for reducing the
incidence of misidentifications.
Misidentifications Result Because a Traveler�s Name Is Similar
to Someone with a Terrorist Watch List Record
Misidentifications occur most often because the names of some
persons being screened are the same or similar to those in the
consolidated terrorist watch list. To handle the large volumes of
travelers and others who must be screened, federal agencies and
most airlines use computer-driven algorithms to rapidly compare
the names of individuals against the applicable terrorist watch
list records. A primary factor in designing a computerized
name-matching process is the need to minimize the possibility of
generating false negatives-that is, failing to identify an
individual whose name is on the terrorist watch list-without
generating an unacceptable number of false positives
(misidentifications). To help ensure that name-based screening
does not miss detecting someone who is on the watch list, agencies
and airlines may configure their algorithms in such a way that
they return a broad set of possible matches for any given name
input. For instance, the computerized algorithms may account for
differences in names due to misspellings or transcription errors.
Operationally, for each name that is screened against the watch
list, the computerized algorithm may return a list of possible
matches. If applicable, screening agency or airline security
personnel then review these results of possible matching records
arrayed by probability scores to determine which, if any, is a
positive match with the person being screened. To help ensure
awareness of best practices among agencies, the Terrorist
Screening Center has formed and chairs a working group-the Federal
Identity Match Search Engine Performance Standards Working
Group-which met initially in December 2005.26 An objective of the
working group is to provide voluntary guidance for federal
agencies that use identity-matching search engine technology.
Essentially, the prospective guidance is intended to improve the
effectiveness of identity matching across agencies by, among other
means, assessing which algorithms or search engines are the most
effective for screening specific types or categories of names. At
the time of our review, a target date for completing the
initiative to develop and provide voluntary guidance to screening
agencies had not been set.
Some Misidentifications Can Result from Inaccurate or Incomplete Data
Some misidentifications can result from inaccurate or incomplete
data in the consolidated terrorist watch list. Generally, the FBI
and intelligence agencies are the original collectors of the
information used to determine whether a given individual should be
added to the terrorist watch list. The Terrorist Screening Center,
in turn, is responsible for ensuring that information received
from the intelligence community is accurately maintained in the
consolidated watch list. One of the Terrorist Screening Center's
primary goals is to maintain accurate and complete information.
In June 2005, the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector
General reported that its review of the Terrorist Screening
Center's consolidated watch list found several problems-such as
inconsistent record counts and duplicate records, lack of data
fields for some records, and unclear sources for some records.27
Among other things, the Inspector General recommended that the
Terrorist Screening Center develop procedures to regularly review
and test the information contained in the consolidated terrorist
watch list to ensure that the data are complete, accurate, and
non-duplicative. The Terrorist Screening Center agreed and noted
that it was taking steps to implement the recommendation. Also,
the Terrorist Screening Center has quality-assurance initiatives
ongoing to identify and correct troublesome records related to
misidentifications.
Moreover, the Terrorist Screening Center's director and principal
deputy director stressed to us that quality of data is a high
priority for the center and also is a continuing challenge,
particularly given that the database is dynamic, changing
frequently with additions, deletions, and modifications. The
officials noted the equal importance of ensuring that (1) the
names of known and appropriately suspected terrorists are included
in the watch list and (2) the names of any mistakenly listed
individuals are removed. In this regard, the officials explained
that the center's standard operating practices include at least
two opportunities to review records. First, Terrorist Screening
Center staff-including subject matter experts detailed to the
center from other agencies-review each incoming record submitted
(nominated) to the center for inclusion in the consolidated watch
list. Also, every time there is a screening encounter-for example,
a port-of-entry screening of an individual that generates an
actual or a potential match with a watch list record-that record
is reviewed again.
In addition to the Terrorist Screening Center's quality-assurance
initiatives, screening agencies also have been looking at ways to
reduce misidentifications. One way that holds promise, where
applicable, is to use additional personal-identifying information
to enhance name-based searching. For example, as part of its
efforts to develop the Secure Flight program, the Transportation
Security Administration conducted tests between November 2004 and
April 2005 to determine what combinations of names and associated
personal-identifying attributes were most effective in matching
airline passenger data against terrorist watch list records.
According to the Transportation Security Administration, the
testing indicated that searches using additional
personal-identifying attributes could potentially result in
decreasing the number of misidentifications. However, the
Transportation Security Administration concluded that more testing
was needed to determine, among other things, the point of
diminishing returns in using combinations of personal-identifying
information to enhance name-based watch list searches.
Agencies Are Taking a Number of Actions to Expedite Frequently
Misidentified Persons through the Screening Process
In addition to initiatives aimed at reducing the number of
misidentifications, screening agencies also are taking actions to
expedite the screening of frequently misidentified persons.
Transportation Security Administration Maintains a Cleared List
of Individuals to Expedite Screening and Mitigate Negative Effects
The Transportation Security Administration has instituted a
process designed to help frequently misidentified air passengers
obtain boarding passes more quickly and avoid prolonged delays.
Under this process, an individual can voluntarily provide the
Transportation Security Administration with additional
personal-identifying information. Then, the Transportation
Security Administration will use this information to decide
whether the person's name should be put on a cleared list-that is,
a list that contains the names and other personal-identifying
information of individuals who have been checked and cleared as
being persons not on the No Fly and Selectee lists. Airlines are
to use the cleared list to more quickly determine that these
passengers are not the persons whose names are on the No Fly and
Selectee lists. As needed, the Transportation Security
Administration provides the airlines with updates of the No Fly
and Selectee lists and the cleared list. As discussed later in
this report, the cleared list is integral to the Transportation
Security Administration's redress process for watch-list-related
complaints.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Is Annotating Its Database to
Help Frequently Misidentified Travelers Avoid Additional Screening
and Delays
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, the
agency has implemented procedures designed to help frequently
misidentified travelers avoid additional screening and delays.
Specifically, in February 2006, the agency began annotating its
database regarding travelers who were inadvertently stopped
because they have the same or similar name as a watch list record
but are not the actual subject of the record. The officials
explained that the agency uses the data routinely collected on a
traveler during the initial inspection process, and no further
action is necessary by the traveler. The officials noted that
these travelers should no longer be stopped on subsequent visits
because of the records in question. As of September 2006,
according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, the
agency had annotated more than 10,300 such instances and had
prevented more than 7,200 unnecessary inspections from occurring.
28
The Department of State Is Annotating Its Database to Avoid Future
Delays for Visa Applicants
As mentioned previously, the State Department's processing of a
visa application takes additional time if initial screening shows
a possible link to terrorism, because a decision on the visa
applicant cannot be made until a security advisory opinion request
is forwarded to Washington, D.C., and a response is received.
However, the State Department has taken steps to help minimize
visa-processing delays for any subsequent application filed by a
previously screened person. Specifically, according to State
Department officials, when a visa applicant is screened through
the security advisory opinion process and is found to be a person
who is not on the terrorist watch list, the State Department
enters clarifying comments in its database or even on the visa
itself. This information is available for review by consular
officers in processing any subsequent visa applications filed by
the individual. Thus, according to State Department officials, the
individual's future applications should not incur any additional
processing times, unless new information has been acquired in the
interim period that would cast doubt on the applicant's
eligibility for a visa.
As a Future Enhancement, the Terrorist Screening Center Plans to
Have Links to Biometric Data; Various Traveler-Screening Programs
Already Use Biometric Data
Within the law enforcement community, fingerprint identification
has been used and accepted for decades and is the de facto
international standard for positively identifying individuals.
Thus, as is widely recognized throughout government, the use of
biometric technologies based on fingerprint recognition, facial
recognition, or other physiological characteristics offer
opportunities for enhancing the key homeland security objective of
preventing known or suspected terrorists from entering the
country.29
Conceptually, biometrics can be used to screen a traveler against
a consolidated database, such as the terrorist watch list-a
screening of one record against many records. However, the
Terrorist Screening Center presently does not have this
capability, although use of biometric information to supplement
name-based screening is planned as a future enhancement.
Specifically, the Terrorist Screening Center's strategy is not to
replicate existing biometric data systems. Rather, the center's
strategy, according to the director and principal deputy director,
is to develop a "pointer" capability to facilitate the online
linking of name-based searches to relevant biometric systems, such
as the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification
System (IAFIS)-a computerized system for storing, comparing, and
exchanging fingerprint data in a digital format, which contains
the largest criminal biometric database in the world. Center
officials recognize that even biometric systems have screening
limitations, such as relevant federal agencies may have no
fingerprints or other biometrics to correlate with many of the
biographical records in the center's consolidated database. For
instance, watch list records may be based on intelligence gathered
by electronic wire taps or other methods that involve no
opportunity to obtain biometric data. Also, the availability of
interoperable technology to facilitate online linking among
agencies is a long-standing issue that presents challenges.
Nonetheless, center officials anticipate that biometric
information, if available, can be especially useful for confirming
matches to watch list records when individuals use false
identities or aliases.
On the other hand, the Terrorist Screening Center has no plans for
trying to reduce the incidence of misidentifications by collecting
or maintaining biometric information on persons who are not on the
watch list. Center officials noted that collecting and using
biometric information on innocent persons would raise significant
privacy concerns, which would have to be thoroughly considered in
interagency discussions and weighed against the possible benefits.
Presently, the Department of Homeland Security uses biometric data
for operating various programs to screen travelers, one of which
is a required-enrollment program for selected foreign nationals
who travel to the United States and others are
voluntary-enrollment or trusted-traveler programs. However,
enrollment in these programs, whether required or voluntary, does
not exempt individuals from being screened against the terrorist
watch list. As mentioned previously, for instance, the watch list
is dynamic, changing frequently with additions, deletions, and
modifications.
The required-enrollment program that uses biometric data is the
U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT)
program, which is an entry/exit tracking system designed to
collect, maintain, and share information on selected foreign
nationals who travel to the United States. The program uses a
related system-the Automated Biometrics Identification System
(IDENT), developed by the former Immigration and Naturalization
Service-to collect two fingerprints (right and left index fingers)
and a digital photograph to provide for the biometric
identification of visitors.30 Required enrollment in the US-VISIT
program is conducted by the Department of State at visa-issuing
consulates before the visitors depart or by U.S. Customs and
Border Protection at ports of entry when the visitors arrive.
American citizens, permanent legal residents, Canadian nationals,
and Mexican nationals with border-crossing cards are not required
to submit to US-VISIT screening at ports of entry. In July 2006,
the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General
provided an update on progress toward achieving biometric
interoperability between IDENT and IAFIS.31 The Inspector
General's progress report noted that the FBI and the Department of
Homeland Security have formed a working group to make US-VISIT,
IDENT, and IAFIS interoperable by December 2009.
Under the US-VISIT program, at each subsequent reentry into the
United States, applicable individuals are biometrically screened
against the fingerprints collected during the initial enrollment.
Such biometric screening is for identity verification
purposes-screening that involves a one-to-one matching of
fingerprints to determine if the traveler is the person enrolled
in the program. Enrollment in the U.S.-VISIT program does not
exempt individuals from being screened against the terrorist watch
list and generally may not reduce the possibility of the
individuals being misidentified based on name similarities. As
such, when there are potential matches to a name on the watch
list, the individuals may still be subject to more extensive
screening at ports of entry.
Another biometrics-based program-Registered Traveler-is being
pilot tested by the Transportation Security Administration.32 The
program, commonly categorized as a trusted-traveler program,
collects biographical information and biometric data from airline
passengers who volunteer to undergo a security threat assessment.
The pilot program is being tested in partnership with selected
airlines and airports across the country. Under the program, prior
to boarding at airports, participants are to be screened using the
biometric data.
In addition, U.S. Customs and Border Protection operates various
trusted-traveler programs, which are intended to provide expedited
processing for pre-approved, low risk travelers who frequently
cross U.S. borders. For instance, a commuter program on the
southern border is known as Secure Electronic Network for
Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI) and on the northern border as
"NEXUS." For these voluntary programs, the biometric component
generally involves only the enrollment process, such as conducting
fingerprint-based background checks using IDENT or IAFIS to ensure
that applicants are eligible for expedited processing before
allowing their participation.33 Thereafter, cross-border commuting
is facilitated by use of radio frequency identification (RFID)
technology, whereby an embedded chip in each membership card
transmits the person's arrival to a reader-antenna at the port of
entry.34
While trusted-traveler programs are most commonly applicable to
cross-border commuters, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
officials told us that all persons who believe they are frequently
misidentified with similar names on the terrorist watch list can
apply and will be accepted if they are found to meet program
requirements. Also, a benefit of these programs from a watch list
perspective is that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has greater
assurance of the identity of the enrollees and that these
individuals are not persons on the watch list. Enrollment in a
trusted-traveler program does not exempt individuals from being
screened against the terrorist watch list; although, according to
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, enrollment does
mitigate the possibility of the individuals being misidentified
and selected for more extensive screening at ports of entry. The
officials also noted that the trusted-trusted traveler programs
are not widely applicable to all ports of entry. Rather, the
programs are helpful only to individuals eligible to use
trusted-traveler lanes at the border, not at airports or seaports.
The Terrorist Screening Center and Frontline-Screening Agencies
Are Addressing Concerns Related to Watch List Screening, and an
Interagency Agreement Is Being Developed to Further Ensure an
Effective Means for Seeking Redress
It is important that individuals who are inadvertently and
adversely affected by watch list screening be provided an
opportunity to seek redress. The Terrorist Screening Center, the
Transportation Security Administration, and U.S. Customs and
Border Protection have processes in place to address individuals'
concerns involving watch-list-related screening and have reported
some successes, such as removing from the watch list the names of
several mistakenly listed persons. Most watch-list-related redress
concerns usually involve misidentified persons-individuals who are
not on the watch list but have name similarities with known or
suspected terrorists. To help ensure that opportunities for
redress are formally documented and that agency responsibilities
are clear, the Department of Justice is leading an effort to
develop an interagency memorandum of understanding. A final draft
of the memorandum of understanding is expected to be ready for
interagency clearances by fall 2006, according to Terrorist
Screening Center officials.
The Terrorist Screening Center and the Federal Frontline-Screening
Agencies Have a Role in Addressing the Concerns of Individuals Who
are Adversely Affected by Watch List Screening
The Terrorist Screening Center, the Transportation Security
Administration, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have
important responsibilities in providing individuals who are
inadvertently and adversely affected by watch list screening with
opportunities to seek redress. As mentioned previously, all
aggrieved individuals may seek redress, including persons who
express concerns or complaints that they are being misidentified
and adversely affected because they have a name similar to someone
whose name is on the terrorist watch list and persons who actually
are on the terrorist watch list. Any such concern or complaint
raised formally by an affected individual is what the Terrorist
Screening Center calls a redress query. Specifically, the
Terrorist Screening Center defines a "redress query" as
communication from individuals or their representatives inquiring
or complaining about an adverse experience during a terrorist
watch-list-related-screening process conducted or sponsored by a
federal agency, including congressional inquiries to federal
agencies on behalf of constituents.
According to the Terrorist Screening Center's standard operating
procedures for redress matters, frontline-screening agencies, such
as the Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and
Border Protection, have a key role in handling redress queries.
Significantly, for example, the frontline-screening agencies-and
not the Terrorist Screening Center-are to receive and initially
handle redress queries from the public. The operating procedure of
having frontline agencies receive redress queries serves at least
two purposes, according to the Terrorist Screening Center. First,
the applicable frontline-screening agency is better positioned to
know the details of the screening encounters and to respond
appropriately. Second, many screening encounters may be based on
factors other than terrorism-factors such as narcotics trafficking
or incomplete currency or customs declarations-which are not
within the mission of the Terrorist Screening Center and must be
resolved by the frontline agencies. Also, as a practical matter,
the frontline agencies are the entities visible to complainants or
inconvenienced persons.
Further, after a frontline-screening agency receives a complaint
or concern from an individual, the agency is to begin its internal
complaint-resolution or redress process. As part of this process,
the agency is to determine whether the person's complaint is
related to a potential match to a terrorist watch list record. If
the determination is "no"-that is, the person is not actually on
the watch list but was misidentified because of a name similarity
to someone who is on the terrorist watch list-the
frontline-screening agency is responsible for resolving the
complaint and responding to the misidentified individual.
If the frontline-screening agency's determination is "yes"-which
includes not only definite matches but also any potential or
"maybe" matches that require additional research to confirm-the
frontline agency is to refer the redress query to the Terrorist
Screening Center. Then, the center is to check its database to
determine whether the individual is indeed on the terrorist watch
list or whether the person is misidentified with someone on the
watch list. If the person is actually on the terrorist watch list,
the Terrorist Screening Center is to consult with applicable
intelligence community and law enforcement agencies to assess
whether the person is appropriately listed and should remain on
the watch list or is mistakenly listed and should be removed from
the list. In either instance, the center is to inform the
applicable frontline-screening agency, which is responsible for
responding to the individual. If the complainant is a
misidentified person, the Terrorist Screening Center is to send
the redress query back to the applicable frontline-screening
agency for that agency to resolve. Also, as part of its
quality-assurance efforts, the center is to review the underlying
watch list record that caused the person's adverse experience to
determine, for example, the record's validity or whether a
modification is needed, including possible removal of the record.
Finally, any referrals received by the Terrorist Screening Center
not related to its mission-that is, "other issues" with no nexus
to terrorism such as complaints involving employee misconduct or
random screening-are to be sent back to the applicable
frontline-screening agency, which is to provide a response to the
individual.
In January 2005, the Terrorist Screening Center established its
formal redress process. An overview of the redress process,
including interaction between the center and the
frontline-screening agencies, is illustrated in figure 2.
15The Transportation Security Administration provides security directives
and implementing guidance to foreign and domestic aircraft operators for
use in ensuring that individuals who pose a threat to civil aviation are
denied boarding passes or are subjected to additional screening, as
appropriate.
16Also, terrorist-watch-list-screening procedures are applicable to
international flights-of foreign and domestic air carriers-into or from
the United States.
17A nonimmigrant is a person, not a citizen or national of the United
States, seeking to enter the United States temporarily for a specific
purpose, such as business or pleasure.
18As discussed in appendix I, the Transportation Security Administration
provided us a selection of 24 terrorist watch-list-related complaint
letters that the agency received from December 1, 2003 (when the Terrorist
Screening Center became operational) to April 20, 2006. The agency
attempted to select letters from different weeks throughout this time
period; however, because a statistically projectable methodology was not
used for the selections, the 24 letters are not representative of all
complaints or inquiries (an unspecified total) that the Transportation
Security Administration received during this time period.
19According to its Web site ( www.nbta.org ), the National Business Travel
Association represents over 2,500 corporate travel managers and travel
service providers who collectively manage and direct more than $170
billion of expenditures within the business travel industry, primarily for
Fortune 1,000 companies. In June 2006, the association conducted a survey
of 1,316 corporate travel managers, and 444 responded to the survey. Of
the responding travel managers, 107 reported that they have employees who
repeatedly have had to go to the airline ticket counter to obtain a
boarding pass. (Accessed August 2006.)
20Department of Homeland Security, Report on Effects on Privacy & Civil
Liberties-DHS Privacy Office Report Assessing the Impact of the Automatic
Selectee and No Fly Lists on Privacy and Civil Liberties as Required under
Section 4012(b) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of
2004 (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 27, 2006).
21As discussed in appendix I, besides conducting work at U.S. Customs and
Border Protection headquarters in Washington, D.C., we visited various
land and air ports of entry in four states-California, Michigan, New York,
and Texas. We judgmentally selected these four states because each has
major land and air ports of entry, and the states collectively have ports
of entry on both the northern and southern borders of the United States.
22As discussed in appendix I, U.S. Customs and Border Protection provided
us a selection of complaint letters submitted by 28 individuals. The dates
of the 28 complaint letters encompassed an 11-month period, ranging from
June 2005 to April 2006. The 28 letters were not selected based on a
statistically projectable methodology. Thus, the 28 letters are not
representative of the approximately 220 complaints or inquiries-regarding
watch-list-related secondary screening at ports of entry-that U.S. Customs
and Border Protection's Customer Satisfaction Unit received during the
11-month time period and forwarded for research to the agency's National
Targeting Center.
23The extended or additional processing time is not always a one-time
occurrence. In processing visa applications, consular posts may request
security advisory opinions for a variety of reasons. Thus, even though an
individual previously has been the subject of a security advisory opinion,
a new visa application may present facts and circumstances that lead the
consular post to request another security advisory opinion.
24Testimony of Mr. James W. McMahon, Director, Office of Public Security,
State of New York, at a hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime,
Terrorism, and Homeland Security, Committee on the Judiciary, and the
Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism of the Select Committee
on Homeland Security, House of Representatives (Mar. 25, 2004).
25The response to the state or local law enforcement officer may be
provided by the Terrorist Screening Center or by the FBI's
Counterterrorism Division (Terrorist Screening Operations Unit), as
applicable.
26The working group's membership includes representatives from the
departments of Homeland Security (including Transportation Security
Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection), State, and
Defense; FBI; and the intelligence community (including the National
Counterterrorism Center, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security
Agency, and Defense Intelligence Agency). Also, the National Institute of
Standards and Technology acts as a special advisor to the working group.
27Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Review of the
Terrorist Screening Center, Audit Report 05-27 (June 2005).
28Although a purpose is to expedite frequently misidentified persons
through the screening process, the database-annotation initiative is not a
"redress" process as defined in this report. Under the initiative, the
agency is taking action proactively rather than responding to specific
complaints or redress queries submitted by individuals.
29In an earlier report, we assessed various biometric technologies. See,
GAO, Technology Assessment: Using Biometrics for Border Security,
GAO-03-174 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 15, 2002).
30In July 2005, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that US-VISIT
would be enhanced to collect 10-finger scans.
31U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Evaluation
and Inspection Division, Follow-up Review of the FBI's Progress Toward
Biometric Interoperability between IAFIS and IDENT (Washington, D.C.: July
2006).
32The Transportation Security Administration is authorized to "establish
requirements to implement trusted passenger programs and use available
technologies to expedite security screening of passengers who participate
in such programs, thereby allowing security screening personnel to focus
on those passengers who should be subject to more extensive screening."
See Pub. L. No. 107-71, S: 109(a)(3), 115 Stat. 597, 613 (2001).
33In the SENTRI program, for example, applicants must volunteer for (1) a
biographical background check against criminal, law enforcement, customs,
immigration, and terrorist databases; (2) a 10-fingerprint law enforcement
check; and (3) a personal interview with a U.S. Customs and Border
Protection officer.
34RFID is a wireless technology that stores and retrieves data remotely
from devices. For instance, the technology allows information to be
written to tags, which can be scanned or read from a distance. See, GAO,
Information Security: Radio Frequency Identification Technology in the
Federal Government, GAO-05-551 (Washington, D.C.: May 27, 2005).
Figure 2: General Overview of the Terrorist Screening Center's Process for
Handling Concerns Involving Watch-List-Related Screening
Note: As a general overview, the figure does not reflect all ways that
complaints or concerns can be resolved. For instance, regarding clearance
difficulties experienced by an individual at a port of entry, U.S. Customs
and Border Protection may determine that the person was selected for
intensive screening based on information provided by another federal law
enforcement agency. If so, U.S. Customs and Border Protection may refer
the complainant's query to the applicable agency-which, in turn, would
reply directly to the individual.
The Terrorist Screening Center does not directly provide final disposition
letters to individuals who have submitted redress queries. Rather, the
center works with the frontline-screening agencies-and, as applicable, any
relevant intelligence or law enforcement agencies-to develop a written
response. In providing a final response to an individual who submits a
redress query, the frontline-screening agencies use a response letter that
neither confirms nor denies the existence of any terrorist watch list
records relating to the individual. For example, one of the Transportation
Security Administration's standardized response letters states, in part,
"Where it has been determined that a correction to records is warranted,
these records have been modified to address any delay or denial of
boarding that you may have experienced as a result of the watch list
screening process."
Generally, this type of language reflects the Terrorist Screening Center's
policy of neither confirming nor denying whether an individual is on the
consolidated terrorist watch list because this information is derived from
classified and sensitive law enforcement and intelligence sources. The
policy of nondisclosure to the public is intended to protect the
operational counterterrorism and intelligence collection objectives of the
government and the personal safety of those involved in counterterrorism
investigations.
The Terrorist Screening Center's Handling of Redress Referrals Has Resulted in
Removing the Names of Several Mistakenly Listed Persons from the Terrorist Watch
List
During calendar year 2005, the Terrorist Screening Center processed to
completion 112 redress queries referred by frontline-screening agencies.
Of this total, according to the Terrorist Screening Center, 31 were
determined to be mistakenly listed individuals and their names were
removed from the watch list (see table 1). The center reported that for
another 54 queries the individuals were on the terrorist watch list and
the center either did not change the watch list records (48) or made some
updates (6).
Table 1: Number and Disposition of Redress Queries Referred to the
Terrorist Screening Center, Calendar Year 2005
Disposition of redress query Number
Positive match: The name of the mistakenly listed person was
removed from the watch list 31a
Positive match: No change to the watch list record was needed 48
Positive match: The record was changed or updated but not removed
from the watch list 6
Misidentification: The redress query was referred back to the
frontline- screening agency to process and provide a response to
the individual 19
Other: These queries involved issues not relevant to the terrorist
watch list and should not have been referred to the Terrorist
Screening Center 8
Total 112
Source: Terrorist Screening Center data.
aAccording to Terrorist Screening Center officials, the center was already
in the process of removing a few of these names before the center received
the respective redress queries. The officials explained that although the
names were properly included on the watch list initially, subsequent
events warranted removing the names.
Also, as table 1 indicates, 19 of the 112 referrals in calendar year 2005
involved misidentified persons-that is, the Terrorist Screening Center
determined that these individuals were not on the terrorist watch list but
have names similar to someone who is a known or suspected terrorist. The
center referred each of these queries back to the applicable frontline-
screening agency for processing under the respective agency's redress
procedures. These 19 misidentifications do not constitute the annual
universe of all redress queries involving misidentifications. Rather,
thousands of such queries from misidentified persons are handled by the
frontline-screening agencies and are not referred to the Terrorist
Screening Center.
To enhance public awareness of redress availability, the Web site of the
FBI-the Terrorist Screening Center's administering agency-presents an
overview of applicable policy and procedures, provides answers to
frequently asked questions, and gives contact information for three
frontline-screening agencies-the Transportation Security Administration,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the State Department. This
information is also presented in appendix II of this report.
Most Redress Queries Involve Misidentified Persons and Are Handled by
Frontline-Screening Agencies
Most redress queries involve misidentified rather than mistakenly listed
individuals. Therefore, inherently the disposition or resolution of a
redress query involving a misidentification cannot be removal of the
individual's name from a watch list because the individual is not the
person on the list. Instead, an objective of the frontline-screening
agencies is to address complaints of misidentified individuals by
providing alternative relief-that is, by developing procedures and having
sufficient information in screening databases to expedite the processing
of frequently misidentified persons.
Transportation Security Administration: For Individuals Who Are Frequently
Misidentified Due to Name Similarities with Known or Suspected Terrorists, the
Agency Has Compiled a Cleared List
The Transportation Security Administration has a contact center that
centrally receives nonmedia public inquiries and complaints. According to
the agency, the contact center's customer service representatives and
contact security specialists are trained to handle and analyze incoming
calls, e-mails, correspondence, and facsimiles from the public, the
Congress, and private industry. The functions of these representatives and
specialists, as specified in the contact center's operating procedures,
are to analyze letters and electronic messages, sort them by subject
matter, and confer with appropriate offices throughout the agency
(including field staff) to provide responses.
Generally, any inquiries and complaints regarding watch-list-related
screening-that is, screening against the No Fly and Selectee lists-are to
be handled by the agency's Office of Transportation Security Redress,
which was established in November 2004.35 As part of the redress process,
an individual can voluntarily provide additional personal-identifying
information to the Office of Transportation Security Redress.
Specifically, the individual can submit a completed Traveler Identity
Verification Form (reproduced in app. III), along with a copy of a U.S.
passport or copies of three types of other identification documents, such
as birth certificate, driver's license, military identification card,
military discharge paper, voter registration card, and naturalization
certificate or certificate of citizenship.36 Then, the agency will use
this information in deciding whether the person's name should be put on a
cleared list-which airlines are to use for distinguishing the individual
from persons who are in fact on the No Fly or Selectee lists.37 Along with
as-needed updates of the No Fly and Selectee lists, the Transportation
Security Administration transmits updated cleared list information to the
airlines for the purpose of enabling the airlines to more quickly
determine that these passengers are not the persons who are on the No Fly
and Selectee lists. The purpose of the cleared list is to mitigate or
minimize delays or other inconveniences by facilitating the check-in
process for passengers who have names similar to known or suspected
terrorists. An individual on the cleared list may still have to obtain a
boarding pass at the ticket counter rather than using Internet, curbside,
or airport kiosk check-in options. Nonetheless, the intent of the cleared
list is to reduce the delay or wait time for applicable air passengers in
obtaining a boarding pass at the ticket counter.
35Previously, the agency's Office of the Ombudsman handled all inquiries
and complaints, including those regarding watch-list-related screening.
36The Traveler Identity Verification Form (May 2006) replaced an earlier
form, the Passenger Identity Verification Form. Regarding the latter, the
Transportation Security Administration's instructions required the
submission of notarized copies of three identification documents.
Instructions for the new form do not require that the submitted documents
be notarized.
According to the Director of the Office of Transportation Security
Redress, over 30,000 individuals had submitted identify verification forms
and supporting documentation to the agency, as of December 2005, and the
names of the overwhelming majority of these individuals were added to the
cleared list. The director explained that although the agency requires air
carriers to use the cleared list, responsibility for utilizing the list
rests with the air carriers, and all carriers do not operate in the same
way or have equal capabilities. Further, according to the director, some
customers (air passengers) call and complain about having problems even
though they have taken the necessary steps to be placed on the cleared
list. The director said that his office forwards information regarding
these complaints to another component of the agency-the Office of
Transportation Sector Network Management-which is responsible for
contacting the respective air carriers to address relevant issues.
According to Transportation Security Administration officials, the Secure
Flight program is a prospective solution to current issues regarding
inconsistent use of the cleared list by air carriers-as well as any
inconsistent use of the No Fly and Selectee lists. Under the Secure Flight
program, the Transportation Security Administration plans to take over,
from commercial airlines, the responsibility for comparing identifying
information of airline passengers against information on known or
suspected terrorists.38 We note, however, that the Transportation Security
Administration has been in the process of developing a passenger
prescreening system, presently known as the Secure Flight program, for
more than 3 years. We have reported and the Transportation Security
Administration has acknowledged significant challenges in developing and
implementing the Secure Flight program.39 Earlier this year, the
Transportation Security Administration suspended Secure Flight's
development to reassess, or rebaseline, the program. The rebaselining
effort includes reassessing the program goals to be achieved, the expected
benefits and capabilities, and the estimated schedules and costs. As of
July 2006, the Transportation Security Administration had not publicly
announced any decisions regarding the future of the Secure Flight program,
although the agency anticipates that the rebaselining effort will be
completed by the end of September 2006.
37The cleared list procedure began in May 2003 under the agency's Office
of the Ombudsman.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Is Considering Realigning Its
Watch-List-Related Redress Responsibilities and Is Updating Its Procedures
U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters has a Customer
Satisfaction Unit that functions as a centralized source for recording,
tracking, and reviewing all complaint information related to U.S. Customs
and Border Protection interactions with travelers, the general public,
industry, and government entities. This unit is responsible for responding
to customer complaints, irrespective of the subject matter-that is, the
unit focuses on all complaint topics, not just complaints involving
terrorist watch-list-related screening. For instance, U.S. Customs and
Border Protection routinely uses a comment card that allows travelers to
express any complaint regarding the port-of-entry processing experience.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy is to provide a comment card to
(1) all air and sea travelers who are subjected to a secondary examination
and (2) all air, land, and sea travelers who undergo a personal search.
38In March 2003, the Transportation Security Administration began
developing CAPPS II, a second-generation computer-assisted passenger
prescreening program, to provide improvements over CAPPS I and to screen
all passengers flying into, out of, and within the United States. CAPPS II
was to perform different analyses and access more diverse data, including
data from government and commercial databases, to classify passengers
according to their level of risk (i.e., acceptable risk, unknown risk, or
unacceptable risk), which would in turn be used to determine the level of
security screening each passenger would receive. Because of a variety of
challenges, the Department of Homeland Security cancelled the development
of CAPPS II in August 2004 and announced that a new prescreening program,
called Secure Flight, would be developed.
39GAO, Aviation Security: Management Challenges Remain for the
Transportation Security Administration's Secure Flight Program,
GAO-06-864T (Washington, D.C.: June 14, 2006).
In June 2006, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials explained that
the agency was actively considering ways to enhance the capability of the
Customer Satisfaction Unit to support redress efforts regarding terrorist
watch-list-related concerns or complaints. For instance, a realignment
being considered is to move the responsibility for handling certain
categories of complaints-those not involving terrorist watch list
screening-from the Customer Satisfaction Unit to the Office of Public
Affairs. Also, the officials further noted that the agency's Office of
Regulations and Rulings was updating the Customer Satisfaction Unit's
standard operating procedures, including redress procedures regarding
terrorist watch-list-related concerns or complaints.
Further, in commenting on a draft of this report in September 2006, U.S.
Customs and Border Protection officials said that the agency is working
with the Terrorist Screening Center to ensure that its process aligns with
the center's process. Also, another Department of Homeland Security
component-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-commented that its
Office of Intelligence serves as a point of contact and works closely with
the Terrorist Screening Center's redress team to ensure the removal or
modification of records, as appropriate, from the terrorist-screening
database and the Treasury Enforcement Communications System/Interagency
Border Inspection System. For instance, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement noted that if the Terrorist Screening Center determines that
an individual should no longer be listed in the terrorist-screening
database, the Office of Intelligence coordinates with U.S. Customs and
Border Protection to have the record expunged from the Treasury
Enforcement Communications System/Interagency Border Inspection System.
As part of our study, we reviewed the Federal Bureau of Investigation's
Web site for the Terrorist Screening Center to determine what overview
information regarding watch-list-related redress was publicly available
(see app. II). In turn, from the FBI's overview Web site, we followed up
on any references or online links to the redress processes of key
frontline-screening agencies-the Transportation Security Administration
and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
In contrast to the online link to the Transportation Security
Administration's redress guidance (see app. III), we found limited
usefulness in the online link to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's
redress guidance. The FBI's overview Web site lists the Customer
Satisfaction Unit as the redress-related contact point for U.S. Customs
and Border Protection. Also, the overview Web site provides an online link
to a fact sheet describing the Interagency Border Inspection System-a
system that provides U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other law
enforcement entities with access to computer-based information. However,
the fact sheet (reproduced in app. IV) has no specific guidance regarding
terrorist-watch-list-related redress. Rather, the fact sheet answers basic
questions regarding the Interagency Border Inspection System, such as who
uses the system and what information is in the system. Moreover, the
overview Web site provides no references or online links to U.S. Customs
and Border Protection's trusted-traveler programs-such as SENTRI and
NEXUS. As mentioned previously, agency officials told us that persons who
believe they are frequently misidentified with the terrorist watch list or
who continuously experience delays and other inconveniences during
screening could apply to one of these programs and, if accepted, receive
expedited processing at applicable ports of entry.
Based on our observations regarding the limited usefulness of the online
links from the FBI's overview Web site, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
officials acknowledged a need to coordinate with the FBI and the Terrorist
Screening Center to provide more appropriate online links regarding
redress guidance. The officials noted, for example, that U.S. Customs and
Border Protection's Web site does provide information regarding the
Customer Satisfaction Unit and how complaints are handled as well as
information on trusted-traveler programs.
Department of State: Applicants Who Are Denied a Visa Have No Legal Basis to
Appeal, but an Agency-Initiated Process Is Used to Remove Erroneous or
Outdated Entries from the Consular Lookout and Support System
The term "redress," according to the State Department, is not applicable
to complaints about visa denials, which are final decisions not subject to
appeal or judicial review. However, the State Department has an
agency-initiated process for removing erroneous or outdated entries from
the Consular Lookout and Support System, which contains applicable
terrorist watch list records. As mentioned previously, the system is used
by consular officers abroad to screen the names of visa applicants to
identify terrorists and other aliens who are potentially ineligible for
visas based on criminal histories or other reasons specified by federal
statute. All visa-issuing posts have direct access to the system and are
required to use it to check each applicant's name before issuing a visa,
according to the State Department.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended, gives Department
of State consular officers at overseas posts exclusive authority for
adjudicating applications submitted by foreign citizens for visas to enter
the United States.40 The process for determining who will be issued or
refused a visa consists of several steps-including checking or
cross-referencing each applicant's name against the Consular Lookout and
Support System, which contains applicable names and biographical data
exported from the Terrorist Screening Center's database. According to the
State Department, no applicant is denied a visa simply because the
person's name appears in the Consular Lookout and Support System, which is
only a flag or tool to help the consular officer know if further screening
may be required. Rather, visa denials are by law based either on statutory
grounds of ineligibility, which are specifically set out in the
Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended,41 or on the applicant's
failure to present evidence to establish eligibility for the type of visa
requested. In addition to security and terrorism concerns, statutory
grounds of ineligibility include, for example, criminal history reasons,
previous violations of immigration law, and health-related grounds.
According to State Department instructions provided to consular offices
worldwide, visa denials are to be reviewed by the consular officer's
supervisor. If an error has been made or a question exists about
interpreting immigration law in reference to the facts surrounding the
applicant, the consular officer can request a legal advisory opinion.
Also, if there are misunderstandings about the application process,
individuals can correspond with the overseas consular section and the
Public Inquiries Division of the Visa Office in Washington, D.C.
However, federal courts have consistently held that a consular officer's
final decision to issue or deny a visa is not subject to a formal appeal
or to judicial review.42 That is, there is no way to directly appeal the
visa denial, nor is there a way to directly overturn the consular
officer's denial decision because it is not subject to judicial review.
Thus, in explaining why it would be incorrect and legally misleading to
use the term "redress" in reference to any complaint about a visa denial,
officials in the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs commented
that a visa refusal (denial) is a final decision in which the consular
officer makes a legal determination that the applicant is not eligible for
a visa based on a statutory ground. The State Department officials
reiterated that the consular officer's decision is a final governmental
adjudication, for which there is no appeal or judicial review, and the
only recourse for the person is to submit a new application with
sufficient information to "overcome" the grounds for ineligibility.
40Pub. L. No. 82-414, 66 Stat. 182 (codified as amended at 8 U.S.C. S:
1101, et seq.). However, obtaining a visa from an American consul does not
guarantee an alien's entry into the United States. Rather, a visa
authorizes the alien to arrive at a port of entry, at which point a U.S.
Customs and Border Protection officer will independently examine the
alien's eligibility for admission.
41See 8 U.S.C. S: 1182(a).
42Courts have long held that a consular officer's decision to grant or
deny a visa is not subject to judicial review. See, e.g., Saavedra Bruno
v. Albright, 197 F.3d 1153 (D.C. Cir. 1999); Centeno v. Schultz, 817 F.2d
1212 (5th Cir. 1987); Li Hing of Hong Kong, Inc. v. Levin, 800 F.2d 970
(9th Cir. 1986); Ventura-Escamilla v. I.N.S., 647 F.2d 28 (9th Cir. 1981);
Rivera de Gomez v. Kissinger, 534 F.2d 518 (2d Cir. 1976); U.S. ex rel.
Ulrich v. Kellogg, 30 F.2d 984 (D.C. Cir. 1929). See also, Kleindienst v.
Mandel, 408 U.S. 752 (1972) (holding that courts may not look behind the
exercise of an official's discretionary authority to deny admission to an
alien).
Consular officers are required to provide each applicant an explanation of
the legal basis for denying the visa.43 However, if the basis for
ineligibility is terrorism-under section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act, as amended44-the consular officer normally would not
be able to explain the reasons behind the denial because of national
security grounds.
According to Bureau of Consular Affairs officials, the State Department
does have an agency-initiated process for removing erroneous or outdated
information from the Consular Lookout and Support System. In explaining
why the correction-of-records process is initiated by the agency and not
the visa applicant, the officials commented substantially as follows:
o Visa applicants usually would not even know whether their names
are on the terrorist watch list. If a visa application results in
the overseas post's requesting a security advisory opinion and
additional screening, the applicant might think that any
processing delay is due to a record entry in the Consular Lookout
and Support System. However, the additional screening could be due
to reasons other than terrorism, such as a criminal record, a
contagious disease, or simply an overstay on a previous visa.
o Thus, any deletion of entries from the Consular Lookout and
Support System normally would be initiated by the consular officer
in the field. That is, if the consular officer determines-based on
evidence presented during the course of a visa application-that an
entry in the Consular Lookout and Support System is incorrect or
has been overtaken by events, the officer is to initiate action to
have the entry deleted from the system.
Also, the Bureau of Consular Affairs officials noted that there
has been an occasional complaint that despite the issuance of a
visa, the alien experienced difficulties at a U.S. port of entry
because, for example, screening by U.S. Customs and Border
Protection showed a potential match with a terrorist watch list
record. Regarding these instances, the officials said that based
on an interest in data integrity and customer service, the
department works with the Terrorist Screening Center to review
relevant records and determine an appropriate course of action,
which could consist of a watch list message or annotation
specifying that the alien is not a person on the watch list. In
addition, as discussed previously, the State Department is taking
steps to annotate its database when it screens individuals and
finds that they are not on the watch list. Such annotations are
intended to expedite visa processing in the future and limit the
incidence of misidentifications.
The Department of Justice Is Leading an Effort to Finalize an
Interagency Agreement to Help Ensure That Effective Redress Is
Available
The Terrorist Screening Center and the frontline-screening
agencies have interdependent responsibilities in providing redress
for individuals who are inadvertently and adversely affected by
watch list screening. The availability of redress is important for
all affected persons, including persons who are misidentified
because of name similarities and to persons who contend that they
are mistakenly included on the terrorist watch list. For any given
watch-list-related complaint or redress query, providing relief
can necessitate interaction among several governmental agencies.
For instance, if the query involves a person who is mistakenly
listed, relevant redress participants could include the Terrorist
Screening Center and a frontline-screening agency as well as the
agency that originally submitted or nominated the person's name
for inclusion in the consolidated terrorist watch list. Nominating
agencies include the FBI and various agencies within the
intelligence community, such as the Central Intelligence Agency,
the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency.
To help ensure that opportunities for terrorist-watch-list-related
redress are implemented effectively, the Department of Justice is
leading an effort-which has been ongoing since fall 2005-to
develop and finalize an interagency memorandum of understanding.
Key purposes of the final memorandum of understanding include
ensuring that opportunities for redress are formally documented
and that agency responsibilities are clear, with designated
officials accountable for supporting the continued success of the
processes. The Department of Justice has a lead role in developing
the memorandum of understanding because the Terrorist Screening
Center has primary responsibility for the consolidated
terrorist-screening database. Interagency partners in the effort
to develop the memorandum of understanding include the Department
of Homeland Security, the Department of State, and the National
Counterterrorism Center.
Also, another entity involved in developing the memorandum of
understanding is the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board,
which is part of the Executive Office of the President and
consists of five members appointed by the president.45 According
to the board's executive director, the terrorist watch list
redress process is a top priority for the board. The executive
director noted that since June 2006 board staff have attended all
meetings of the interagency partners engaged in developing the
memorandum of understanding. This official opined that the board's
participation has helped reprioritize this matter among the
constituent agencies and that the board is committed to continuing
its involvement.
According to Department of Justice officials, a final draft of the
memorandum of understanding is expected to be ready for
interagency clearances by fall 2006. Terrorist Screening Center
officials emphasized that the interagency memorandum of
understanding was definitely needed, particularly as a mechanism
for ensuring the accuracy of the watch list. The center officials
noted, for instance, that there have been disagreements at times
between agencies over nominations to the watch list. Thus, in
handling watch-list-related complaints, the center officials
explained that the interagency memorandum of understanding could
help by clearly outlining a process for coordinating with the
National Counterterrorism Center and nominating agencies to
validate the accuracy and appropriateness of watch list records.
Moreover, the Terrorist Screening Center officials explained that
the interagency memorandum of understanding could help resolve
significant watch-list-related redress differences among the
frontline-screening agencies. Examples regarding Department of
Homeland Security components are as follows:
o The Transportation Security Administration has an office
specifically designated for redress issues, with an accountable
official-the Director, Office of Transportation Security Redress.
Also, the office has followed consistent procedures in referring
appropriate watch-list-related complaints to the Terrorist
Screening Center.
o In contrast, U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not have a
clearly designated official accountable for redress, and the
agency has not always followed consistent procedures in referring
appropriate watch-list-related complaints to the Terrorist
Screening Center.
Additionally, regarding the State Department, the Terrorist
Screening Center officials stressed the importance of having
clearly established procedures and responsibilities. The center
officials noted that even though the State Department's
operational context is somewhat different than that of other
frontline-screening agencies, the department nonetheless has a
substantial volume of interactions with the Terrorist Screening
Center. State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs officials
acknowledged to us the value of having an interagency memorandum
of understanding that specifies standard operating procedures for
redress and designates points of contact. In this regard, the
State Department officials commented that they have been
participating in meetings with the Terrorist Screening Center and
other interagency partners to discuss the proposed memorandum of
understanding. According to the officials, a benefit to the State
Department expected from the interagency agreement would be
clearly established and coordinated procedures for removing-from
the department's Consular Lookout and Support System and the
Terrorist Screening Center's consolidated watch list-any name that
is mistakenly listed or has been overtaken by subsequent events.
Concluding Observations
Homeland security measures affect all travelers to some extent.
Thus, it may be argued that travel delays and other
inconveniencies resulting from terrorist watch-list-related
screening can be viewed as regrettable but inevitable consequences
of enhanced security. However, name-based screening and its
inherent limitations-even full names, in most cases, are hardly
unique identifiers-may result in disproportionate impact on
individuals who repeatedly are singled out for additional
screening for no other reason than the similarity of their names
to someone on the watch list.
The Terrorist Screening Center and its interagency partners are
undertaking a number of efforts, including data-quality
initiatives, to reduce the occurrence and/or impact of watch list
screening on U.S. citizens and visitors who do not necessarily
merit additional scrutiny and the associated inconveniences. A
continuing challenge for the center will be ensuring that the
consolidated watch list contains accurate data, particularly given
that the database is dynamic, changing frequently with additions,
deletions, and modifications. The efforts of an interagency
working group to improve the effectiveness of name-matching
computer algorithms may offer some promise for reducing the number
of people who experience unintended, adverse effects. However, any
policy trade-off considerations regarding use of algorithms likely
will favor ensuring homeland security over minimizing
inconveniences to travelers. Regarding future operations, the
Terrorist Screening Center is actively considering approaches for
using biometric data to supplement name-based searches, although
the availability of appropriate technology is an issue that has
long confronted the interagency screening community.
In any event, despite the best efforts of the interagency
community to maintain a fully accurate watch list and to conduct
screening efficiently, there likely will be continuing unintended
consequences. Thus, it is appropriate for the Terrorist Screening
Center and its interagency partners to continue their efforts to
provide effective redress for both mistakenly listed persons and
misidentified persons. Indeed, redress queries have already
resulted in the removal of several mistakenly listed names from
the watch list. Comparatively, however, the issue of redress
arises more commonly regarding the thousands of persons who are
not on the watch list but are misidentified and adversely affected
because of a name similarity. Whether appropriate relief is being
afforded these individuals is still an open question, for several
reasons. For example, although a core element of the redress
provided by the Transportation Security Administration is the
maintenance of a cleared list, there are some indications that the
cleared list is not working as intended to reduce delays for air
passengers in obtaining boarding passes. Prospectively, the
Transportation Security Administration expects that development
and implementation of the Secure Flight program will help ensure
consistent and effective use of the cleared list among air
carriers, although the agency has not publicly disclosed its
future plans for the program.
Another frontline-screening agency's initiative, U.S. Customs and
Border Protection's database-annotation initiative, may prove to
be an even more efficient approach for assisting frequently
misidentified individuals. Unlike the Transportation Security
Administration's cleared list procedures, the U.S. Customs and
Border Protection's initiative is based on records in the agency's
database and does not necessitate any filing of forms and other
documentation by travelers. At the time of our review, U.S.
Customs and Border Protection was planning to develop a capability
to monitor the effectiveness of the initiative. This planning
effort is particularly important, given that the initiative may
eventually prove to be a model for a proactive solution if it
functions as intended.
Finally, an overarching factor regarding whether appropriate
relief is being afforded to persons inadvertently and adversely
affected by terrorist watch-list-related screening is the absence
of an interagency agreement to help ensure that, among other
matters, redress procedures and responsibilities are clearly
documented and implemented effectively. The Terrorist Screening
Center and its interagency partners are working to address this
fundamental deficiency and have indicated their intent to provide
the public with updated information on the availability of
redress, after finalization of an agreement.
We are not making recommendations at this time because the
agencies have ongoing efforts to improve data quality and
otherwise either reduce the number of misidentifications or
mitigate their effects and to provide more effective redress.
Agency Comments
We provided a draft of this report for comments to the departments
of Homeland Security, State, and Justice. We received written
responses from each agency.
In its response, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged
that it currently is undertaking actions to enhance
terrorist-screening and redress efforts. Also, the response noted
that in January 2006, the departments of State and Homeland
Security announced an initiative on "Secure Borders and Open Doors
in the Information Age," otherwise known as the Rice-Chertoff
Initiative. One purpose of the initiative is to establish a
governmentwide redress process to address perceived problems in
international and domestic traveler prescreening. According to the
Department of Homeland Security, a goal is to establish a one-stop
redress process for travelers by the end of calendar year 2006.
The department explained that this initiative, which will
supplement terrorist watch-list-related redress, focuses on a
larger set of travel-screening redress issues. The full text of
the Department of Homeland Security's written comments is
reprinted in appendix V. The department also provided technical
comments, which we incorporated in this report where appropriate.
The Department of State commented that the report accurately
describes the visa process and the department's position that the
administrative processing time required to screen a visa
applicant-including, if required, the processing of a security
advisory opinion review-is a necessary part of the visa
application procedure rather than an adverse governmental action.
Also, the department noted that-in its use of the terrorist watch
list as a screening tool for visa adjudication-a
"misidentification" is not an adverse result for the visa
applicant. Rather, according to the department, this type of
response helps to determine that the visa applicant is not
associated with terrorism. In its written response, the department
also provided a technical comment regarding the security advisory
opinion process, which we incorporated in this report where
appropriate. The full text of the Department of State's written
comments is reprinted in appendix VI.
The Department of Justice provided technical comments only, which
we incorporated in this report where appropriate.
As arranged with your offices, unless you publicly announce the
contents of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution
until 30 days after the date of this report. At that time, we will
send copies of this report to interested congressional committees
and subcommittees. We will also make copies available to others on
request. In addition, this report will be available at no charge
on GAO's Web site at http://www.gao.gov .
If you or your staff have any questions about this report or wish
to discuss the matter further, please contact me at (202) 512-8777
or [email protected] . Contact points for our Offices of
Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the
last page of this report. Other key contributors to this report
were Ronald J. Salo, Eric W. Clemons, R. Eric Erdman, Susan L.
Conlon, Michele C. Fejfar, Kathryn E. Godfrey, Richard B. Hung,
Thomas F. Lombardi, Jan B. Montgomery, and Danny R. Burton.
Eileen Larence Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
Objectives
In response to a request from the Chairman of the House Judiciary
Committee and the Ranking Member of the House Committee on
Homeland Security, we addressed the following questions:
o To what extent are the numbers of terrorist watch list
misidentifications known, and generally, how could misidentified
persons be affected?1
o What are the major reasons that misidentifications occur, and
what actions are the Terrorist Screening Center and
frontline-screening agencies taking to reduce the number of
misidentified persons or expedite them through the screening
process?
o To address concerns from misidentified and mistakenly listed
persons, what opportunities for redress have the Terrorist
Screening Center and frontline-screening agencies established?2
Scope and Methodology
Our work generally focused on the screening of travelers, although
the terrorist watch list is used for a variety of other screening
purposes, such as conducting background checks of workers who have
access to secure areas of the national transportation system. In
performing our work, we focused on the Terrorist Screening Center
and three frontline-screening agencies-the Transportation Security
Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the
Department of State-whose missions most frequently and directly
involve interactions with travelers. At the Terrorist Screening
Center, we interviewed key officials-including the director,
principal deputy director, chief information officer, and privacy
officer-and reviewed standard operating procedures and other
relevant documentation.
Regarding the screening of air passengers against the No Fly and
Selectee lists prior to boarding, in addition to contacting the
Transportation Security Administration to broadly discuss the
procedures of air carriers, we interviewed security officials at
five major, domestic air carriers. At their request, the air
carriers are not identified in this report. Regarding U.S. Customs
and Border Protection's screening of travelers entering the United
States, besides conducting work at the agency's headquarters in
Washington, D.C., we visited various land and air ports of entry
in four states-California, Michigan, New York, and Texas (see
table 2). We judgmentally selected these four states because each
has major land and air ports of entry. Also, the four states are
geographically dispersed and collectively have ports of entry on
both the northern and southern borders of the United States.
Table 2: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Ports of Entry Visited
by GAO
State Land ports of entry Air ports of entry
California San Ysidro Los Angeles International Airport
Michigan Detroit Port Huron Detroit Metropolitan Airport
New York Niagara Falls John F. Kennedy International Airport
Texas Laredo Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
Source: GAO.
Regarding the State Department, we focused on screening of
applicants for nonimmigrant visas.3 We performed our work at State
Department headquarters in Washington, D.C, and did not visit
consular offices abroad.
More details about the scope and methodology of our work regarding
each of the objectives are presented in the following sections,
respectively.
Extent That the Numbers of Terrorist Watch List Misidentifications
Are Known, and Generally, How Misidentified Persons Could Be Affected
From the Terrorist Screening Center, we obtained statistical
information on misidentifications covering a 26-month time
period-December 2003 (when the center began operations) to January
2006. These statistics are based on screening encounters that were
referred for identity verification to the center by the
frontline-screening agencies, particularly U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, which conducts screening at ports of entry, and the
Transportation Security Administration, which provides guidance to
air carriers, receives encounter inquiries from them, and makes
applicable referrals to the center. Frontline-screening agencies
are able to resolve some misidentifications on their own without
having to refer them to the center. Similarly, in following
federal guidance, airlines may also resolve some
misidentifications without involving the Transportation Security
Administration or necessitating subsequent referrals to the
Terrorist Screening Center. However, the agencies and airlines
generally do not maintain readily available statistics on how
often they do so. Thus, we were unable to quantify the universe of
terrorist watch-list-related misidentifications. However, to
provide a contextual perspective, we obtained national statistics
on the numbers of persons who were subject to terrorist watch list
screening procedures conducted, for example, in fiscal year 2005
at ports of entry.
To determine how misidentified persons could be affected, we
interviewed officials at the principal frontline-screening
agencies-the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs
and Border Protection, and the Department of State-whose missions
most frequently and directly involve interactions with travelers.
Also, as indicated in table 2, we made on-site observations of
U.S. Customs and Border Protection screening operations at various
ports of entry in California, Michigan, New York, and Texas. Our
observations at these locations helped us better understand how
the name-match screening process can affect misidentified persons,
but these observations are not projectable to other locations.
To obtain additional information on ways that misidentified
individuals could be affected by terrorist-watch-list-related
screening, we asked the Transportation Security Administration and
U.S. Customs and Border Protection to provide us examples of
actual complaint letters to review:
o The Transportation Security Administration provided us a
selection of 24 terrorist watch-list-related complaint letters
that the agency received during December 1, 2003 (when the
Terrorist Screening Center became operational) to April 20, 2006.
The agency attempted to select letters from different weeks
throughout this time period; however, because a statistically
projectable methodology was not used for the selections, the 24
letters are not representative of all complaints or inquiries (an
unspecified total) that the Transportation Security Administration
received during this time period.
o U.S. Customs and Border Protection's National Targeting Center
provided us a selection of complaint letters submitted by 28
individuals. The dates of the 28 complaint letters encompassed an
11-month period, ranging from June 2005 to April 2006. The 28
letters were not selected based on a statistically projectable
methodology. Thus, the 28 letters are not representative of all
complaints or inquiries-regarding watch-list-related secondary
screening at ports of entry-that U.S. Customs and Border
Protection's Customer Satisfaction Unit received during the
11-month time period and forwarded for research to the agency's
National Targeting Center.4
The scope of our work did not include contacting or interviewing
any of the individuals who submitted complaint letters to the
Transportation Security Administration or U.S. Customs and Border
Protection.
To further identify ways that misidentified persons could be
affected by watch-list-related screening, we contacted various
associations that represent air carriers, travel agencies, and
business travelers. Specifically, we contacted (1) the Air
Transport Association, a trade organization of the principal U.S.
airlines; (2) the American Society of Travel Agents; and (3) the
National Business Travel Association, which represents corporate
travel management professionals and the travel industry.
Also, we reviewed the results of a survey that the National
Business Travel Association conducted in June 2006. According to
its Web site ( www.nbta.org ), the association represents over
2,500 corporate travel managers and travel service providers who
collectively manage and direct more than $170 billion of
expenditures within the business travel industry, primarily for
Fortune 1,000 companies. In June 2006, the association conducted a
survey of 1,316 corporate travel managers; the survey posed a
range of questions that addressed how terrorist watch list
screening by the Transportation Security Administration and air
carriers affected travelers. A total of 444 corporate travel
managers responded to the survey. The responses may not be
representative of all of the association's corporate travel
managers.
Major Reasons That Misidentifications Occur, and Actions the
Terrorist Screening Center and Frontline-Screening Agencies Are
Taking to Reduce the Number of Misidentified Persons or Expedite
Them through the Screening Process
Major Reasons That Misidentifications Occur
Regarding why misidentifications occur, our work focused on
interviewing officials at and reviewing documentation obtained
from the Terrorist Screening Center and three frontline-screening
agencies-the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs
and Border Protection, and the Department of State. We also
interviewed security officers at five major domestic air carriers
about their role in name-match screening against the No Fly and
Selectee lists and obtained their views on the causes of
misidentifications. Further, we reviewed the work of two groups
regarding factors they have identified that contribute to
misidentifications-the Terrorist Screening Center's Search Engine
Standardization Working Group5 and the Department of Homeland
Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee.6
Actions to Reduce the Number of Misidentified Persons or Expedite
Them through the Screening Process
At the Terrorist Screening Center, we interviewed the director,
principal deputy director, chief information officer, and other
senior managers and staff regarding data-quality initiatives,
including efforts to identify and correct troublesome records
related to misidentifications. Additionally, we inquired about the
status of the center's efforts to implement recommendations made
by the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General in
its June 2005 report.7 Among other things, the Inspector General
recommended that the Terrorist Screening Center develop procedures
to regularly review and test the information contained in the
consolidated terrorist watch list to ensure that the data are
complete, accurate, and nonduplicative.
At the three frontline-screening agencies, we interviewed
applicable program managers regarding initiatives being taken to
expedite frequently misidentified persons through the screening
process. We inquired particularly about any computer-based
initiatives that use applicable databases to help ensure that
travelers who have been frequently misidentified in the past are
no longer subjected to intensive screening, unless warranted by
new data.
In further reference to potential initiatives for minimizing
misidentifications as well as better confirming the identities of
terrorists, we reviewed the Terrorist Screening Center's strategic
plan and discussed with center officials the outlook for using
biometric data-such as fingerprints-to supplement name-based
screening. Similarly, in our interviews with officials of the
frontline-screening agencies, we discussed programs that currently
use biometric data, such as the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status
Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program, which is an entry-exit
tracking system designed to collect, maintain, and share
information on selected foreign nationals who travel to the United
States.
Redress Opportunities Established by the Terrorist Screening Center
and Frontline-Screening Agencies to Address Concerns from
Misidentified and Mistakenly Listed Persons
As used in this report, the term "redress" generally refers to an
agency's complaint-resolution process, whereby individuals may
seek resolution of their concerns about an agency action. We
identified elements of the opportunities for redress offered by
the Terrorist Screening Center and the three frontline-screening
agencies, and we generally analyzed their respective policies and
procedures. However, we did not address the relation between
agency redress and other possible remedies, such as judicial
review, which involves invoking the legal system through a civil
action. Rather, the scope of our work focused on means for redress
made available by agencies for inconvenienced persons.
We reviewed the Terrorist Screening Center's standard operating
procedures for redress and interviewed the center official
(privacy officer) principally responsible for watch-list-related
redress. Also, we obtained and reviewed statistics and general
disposition or outcome information regarding redress queries that
the center received and processed to completion in calendar year
2005.8
Further, at the three frontline-screening agencies, we reviewed
redress-related documentation, including standard operating
procedures and training materials, and we interviewed the
officials responsible for redress. Specifically, we interviewed
the Director of the Transportation Security Administration's
Office of Transportation Security Redress, the head of U.S.
Customs and Border Protection's Customer Satisfaction Unit, and
program managers at the State Department's Bureau of Consular
Affairs responsible for processing nonimmigrant visa applications.
Also, to generally determine what watch-list-related redress
information was publicly available, we reviewed the Federal Bureau
of Investigation's Web site for the Terrorist Screening Center. In
turn, from that overview Web site (see app. II), we followed up on
any online links or references to the redress processes of the
Transportation Security Administration (see app. III), U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (see app. IV), and the State
Department.
In addition, we contacted the Department of Justice's Office of
Legal Policy, which has a lead role in ongoing efforts to develop
an interagency memorandum of understanding to help ensure that
redress processes are formally documented, with clearly
established responsibilities for the Terrorist Screening Center
and all interagency partners. Also, we contacted the executive
director of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to
discuss its role in facilitating development of the interagency
memorandum of understanding.9 However, because the memorandum of
understanding was in draft form at the time of our study, we have
not had an opportunity to review it.
Data Reliability
In addressing our objectives, we obtained the following statistics
from the Terrorist Screening Center:
o The number of watch-list-related screening
encounters referred to the center by
frontline-screening agencies during the period
December 2003 to January 2006.
o The number and general dispositions of redress
queries that the center received and processed to
completion in calendar year 2005.
We discussed the sources of the data with Terrorist Screening
Center officials, including the chief information officer, and we
reviewed documentation regarding the compilation of the
statistics. We determined that the statistics were sufficiently
reliable for the purposes of presenting overall patterns and
trends.
Appendix II: Terrorist Screening Center: Terrorist-Watch-List
Redress Process
This appendix, which consists of two sections, presents publicly
available information that we copied from the Web site of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation:
o The first section of the appendix is an overview of the
Terrorist Screening Center's watch-list-related redress process
and also presents contact information for three
frontline-screening agencies-the Transportation Security
Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the
Department of State.
o The second section covers frequently asked questions.
Overview and Contact Information [Copied from the FBI's Web site,
www.fbi.gov . Accessed August 2006.]
"The Terrorist Screening Center cannot confirm or deny whether an
individual is on the consolidated terrorist watch list, because
this information is derived from classified and sensitive law
enforcement and intelligence. The nondisclosure of the contents of
the watch list protects the operational counterterrorism and
intelligence collection objectives of the government, as well as
the personal safety of those involved in counterterrorism
investigations. The watch list remains an effective tool in the
government's counterterrorism efforts because its contents are not
disclosed.
"The Terrorist Screening Center works with other agencies on a
daily basis to resolve complaints from individuals who are
experiencing repeated delays or difficulties during a screening
process that may be related to the terrorist watch list. Because
individuals may experience problems during screening for any
number of reasons, and not just because of the terrorist watch
list, individuals should contact the agency that is conducting the
screening process in question. The screening agency is in the best
position to resolve issues.
"Contact information:
"The Terrorist Screening Center does not accept redress inquiries
directly from the public. Members of the public should contact the
relevant screening agency with complaints about a negative
screening experience.
"Please direct the public to contact the following screening
agencies to submit a complaint about a negative screening
experience.
For air passenger screening:
Transportation Security Administration Ombudsman Phone: (866)
289-9673 Email: [email protected] Online: TSA Traveler
Identity Verification Program1
For U.S. borders and ports of entry:
Customs and Border Protection Customer Satisfaction Unit2 1300
Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Room 5.5C Washington, DC 20229 Phone: (202)
344-1968 Fax: (202) 344-2791 Online: Interagency Border Inspection
System Fact Sheet 3
For visas:
Director, Information Management Liaison (CA/VO/I) Bureau of
Consular Affairs, SA-1 U.S. Department of State Washington, D.C.
20520 FAX: (202) 663-3535 Online: Bureau of Consular Affairs"
"Frequently Asked Questions" [Copied from the FBI's Web site,
www.fbi.gov . Accessed August 2006.]
"Why was the Terrorist Screening Database created?
Prior to the creation of the terrorist-screening database,
information about known or suspected terrorists was dispersed
throughout the U.S. government and no one agency was charged with
consolidating it and making it available for use in terrorist
screening. Under Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6, the
Terrorist Screening Center now provides "one-stop shopping" so
that every government screener is using the same terrorist watch
list-whether it is an airport screener, an embassy official
issuing visas overseas, or a state or local law enforcement
officer on the street. The Terrorist Screening Center allows
government agencies to run name checks against the same
comprehensive list with the most accurate, up-to-date information
about known and suspected terrorists.
Who gets included in the terrorist-screening database?
Per Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6, only individuals
who are known or appropriately suspected to be or have been
engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or
related to terrorism are included in the terrorist-screening
database.
Does the terrorist screening database contain information on
domestic terrorists, like Timothy McVeigh?
Yes. The terrorist-screening database contains information on both
international and domestic terrorists.
Does the terrorist-screening database contain information on
people who have been convicted of a crime?
The purpose of the terrorist-screening database is not to hold
information on individuals who have been convicted of a crime;
however, an individual appropriately included in the
terrorist-screening database may also have a criminal history.
None of the information pertaining to the criminal history is
contained or referenced in the terrorist-screening database.
Are there U.S. citizens in the terrorist-screening database?
Yes, U.S. citizens are included in terrorist-screening database if
they meet the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6 terrorism
nexus criteria.
Can I find out if I am in the terrorism screening database?
The Terrorist Screening Center cannot reveal whether a particular
person is in the terrorist-screening database. The
terrorist-screening database remains an effective tool in the
government's counterterrorism efforts because its contents are not
disclosed. If the Terrorist Screening Center revealed who was in
the terrorist-screening database, terrorist organizations would be
able to circumvent the purpose of the terrorist watch list by
determining in advance which of their members are likely to be
questioned or detained.
I am having trouble when I try to fly or cross the border into the
United States. Does this mean I am in the terrorist-screening
database?
No. At security checkpoints like our nation's borders, there are
many law enforcement or security reasons that an individual may be
singled out for additional screening. Most agencies have redress
offices (e.g., Ombudsman) where individuals who are experiencing
repeated problems can seek help. If an individual is experiencing
these kinds of difficulties, he/she should cooperate with the
agency screeners and explain the recurring problems. The screeners
can supply instructions on how to raise concerns to the
appropriate agency redress office.
I have been told that I am on a terrorist watch list by an airline
employee and I frequently have difficulty when I fly. Does this
mean I am in the terrorist-screening database?
No; however, an individual may be a "misidentified person." A
misidentified person is someone who is experiencing a delay during
screening because they have a similar name to a person in the
terrorist-screening database. Misidentified persons are sometimes
delayed while the government works to distinguish them from the
terrorist in the terrorist-screening database. Because these
delays are frustrating and inconvenient, there are several
initiatives in progress to help streamline the clearance process
for misidentified persons. If an individual believes he/she is
having a misidentification problem, he/she should contact the
screening agency's redress office for assistance.
Are individuals removed from the terrorist-screening database?
Yes. The Terrorist Screening Center works with partner agencies
through a formal process to remove individuals who no longer meet
the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6 terrorism criteria.
How does the Terrorist Screening Center ensure that the terrorist-
screening database is accurate?
The Terrorist Screening Center has a staff dedicated to redress
and quality assurance that conducts comprehensive as well as
case-specific reviews of terrorist-screening database records to
ensure they are current, accurate, and thorough. The Terrorist
Screening Center conducts research and coordinates with other
federal agencies to ensure the terrorist record is as complete,
accurate, and thorough as possible. The Terrorist Screening
Center's redress and quality assurance process has resulted in the
correction or removal of hundreds of records in the
terrorist-screening database.
What are the Terrorist Screening Center's redress procedures?
See the TSC Redress Procedures webpage for details. [GAO note: The
procedures are copied in the first section of this appendix.]
Does the Transportation Security Administration's Secure Flight
program have anything to do with the terrorist-screening database?
Secure Flight is a congressionally mandated program that will
check the names and dates of birth of passengers on domestic
flights against the terrorist-screening database. As with all
government programs that screen for terrorists, the Terrorist
Screening Center provides this program support to ensure that
terrorist identity matches are correct.
What prevents the Terrorist Screening Center from violating the
civil liberties of Americans?
The Terrorist Screening Center only receives information collected
by other government entities with pre-existing authority to do so.
Each agency that contributes data to the Terrorist Screening
Center must comply with legislation, as well as its own policies
and procedures to protect privacy rights and civil liberties. The
handling and use of information, including information about U.S.
citizens and legal immigrants, is governed by the same statutory,
regulatory, and constitutional requirements as if the information
was not to be included in a Terrorist Screening Center managed
database."
Appendix III: Transportation Security Administration: Traveler
Identity Verification Program
This appendix presents an overview of the Transportation Security
Administration's (TSA) traveler identify verification program for
air passengers who are affected by terrorist watch list screening.
An individual can voluntarily provide TSA with additional
personal-identifying information, which the agency will use to
decide whether the person's name should be put on a cleared
list-that is, a list that contains the names and other
personal-identifying information of individuals who have been
checked and cleared as being persons not on the No Fly and
Selectee lists. Airlines are to use the cleared list to more
quickly determine that these passengers are not the persons whose
names are on the No Fly and Selectee lists. As needed, TSA
provides the airlines with updates of the No Fly and Selectee
lists and the cleared list.
Specific information about TSA's traveler identity verification
program is publicly available on the agency's Web site (
www.tsa.gov ). The following sections of this appendix
reproduce-as exhibits A and B-relevant information from TSA's Web
site (accessed August 2006):
o Exhibit A: Our Traveler Identity Verification Program.
o Exhibit B: Traveler Identity Verification (TSA Form 2301, May
2006).
Generally, to participate in the program, an individual must
complete a traveler identity verification form and return the form
and copies of specified identity documents to TSA.
Exhibit A: �Our Traveler Identity Verification Program�
"Told that you are on a Federal Government Watch List?
Problems printing your boarding pass at the kiosk or from home?
Experience other delays while checking-in for flights?
Our Office of Transportation Security Redress is here to help with
our new Traveler Identity Verification Program.
Why am I having these problems?
TSA and the airlines are required to check and confirm that you
are properly identified prior to your flight for safety and
security. You may experience inconveniences when you present your
identification during check-in due to mistaken identity or
incorrect information. Our Traveler Identity Verification Program
works with the relevant parties (including airlines) to resolve
any inaccuracies or inconsistencies that may have resulted in
misidentifications.
Am I on the No-Fly List?!
If you receive a boarding pass, you are not on the No-Fly List.
Most commonly, passengers who are told that they are on the No-Fly
List have, in fact, a similar name to an individual on the Watch
Lists.
What do I need to do?
You are invited to participate in the TSA Traveler Identity
Verification Program by completing and returning the following
information to TSA:
o Traveler Identity Verification Form (WORD 145 KB)
o A copy of your U.S. passport OR
o Copies of three of the following:
o Driver's License
o Birth Certificate
o Voter Registration
o Military ID Card
o Visa
o Naturalization Card
o Government ID Card
How does TSA review my information?
Your submission is reviewed to determine if the delays are caused
by mistaken identity or incorrect information. TSA will respond to
you in writing and provide air carriers with your identifying
information to help properly identify you at check-in and expedite
your future travel.
I participated in the Traveler Identity Verification Program, but
I'm still experiencing problems.
Airline check-in procedures must still be followed. We currently
distribute the Watch Lists to the airlines, who compare your
reservation information to the Watch Lists prior to your flight.
The airlines use varying procedures and technology to conduct this
comparison, which could inadvertently lead to continued delays.
We are developing a program called Secure Flight to enhance the
security of air travel in the U.S. while reducing security-related
delays for the traveling public. It will allow the federal
government, instead of individual airlines, to compare passenger
data against the Watch Lists prior to check-in at the airport,
while fully protecting privacy and civil liberties.
Our goal going forward is to ensure travelers' security with
minimal disruptions.
Please note that you will be subject to screening procedures at
the checkpoint. Every passenger will still walk through a metal
detector, their carry-on bags will still be X-rayed, and every
checked bag will still be screened for explosives. Additionally,
you may be randomly selected at the airline counter or upon
arrival at the checkpoint for secondary screening.
Exhibit B: Traveler Identity Verification (TSA Form 2301,
May 2006)
We will continue to work with travelers to minimize any
unnecessary delays. We will continue to look at process and
technology improvements to ensure a safe and efficient travel
experience."
Appendix IV: U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Online
Information
Background and Preliminary Observation
Appendix II provides an overview of the redress process used by
the Terrorist Screening Center for addressing complaints or
concerns resulting from the use of terrorist watch lists to screen
individuals. As stated in appendix II, the Terrorist Screening
Center is to work with frontline-screening agencies to resolve
complaints from individuals who are experiencing repeated delays
or difficulties during a screening process that may be related to
a terrorist watch list. For instance, the Terrorist Screening
Center's overview guidance notes that complainants experiencing
such problems at U.S. borders and ports of entry should contact
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In further reference to the
redress process for misidentifications of these individuals, the
overview guidance provides an online link to the U.S. Customs and
Border Protection's Interagency Border Inspection System Fact
Sheet (reproduced below). The fact sheet does not specifically
mention terrorist watch lists and the redress process.
However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Web site (
www.cbp.gov ), which can be directly accessed by the public, does
provide information regarding the agency's Customer Satisfaction
Unit and how complaints are handled as well as information on
trusted-traveler programs.
Interagency Border Inspection System Fact Sheet
GAO note: The fact sheet consists solely of the following six
questions and answers, which we copied from the Web site of U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (accessed August 2006).
�What Is IBIS?�
"IBIS is the acronym for the Interagency Border Inspection
System."
�Who Uses IBIS?�
"In addition to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, law
enforcement and regulatory personnel from 20 other federal
agencies or bureaus use IBIS. Some of these agencies are the
Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. National Central Bureau of
the International Criminal Police Organization; the Drug
Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives; the Internal Revenue Service; the Coast
Guard; the Federal Aviation Administration; the Secret Service;
and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, just to name a
few. Also, information from IBIS is shared with the Department of
State for use by Consular Officers at U.S. Embassies and
Consulates."
�What Does IBIS Provide?�
"IBIS assists the majority of the traveling public with the
expeditious clearance at ports of entry while allowing the border
enforcement agencies to focus their limited resources on those
potential non-compliant travelers. IBIS provides the law
enforcement community with access to computer-based enforcement
files of common interest. It also provides access to the FBI's
National Crime Information Center and allows its users to
interface with all fifty states via the National Law Enforcement
Telecommunications Systems."
�Where Is IBIS?�
"IBIS resides on the Treasury Enforcement Communications System at
the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Data Center. Field level
access is provided by an IBIS network with more than 24,000
computer terminals. These terminals are located at air, land, and
sea ports of entry."
�What Information Is in IBIS?�
"IBIS keeps track of information on suspect individuals,
businesses, vehicles, aircraft, and vessels. IBIS terminals can
also be used to access National Crime Information Center records
on wanted persons, stolen vehicles, vessels or firearms, license
information, criminal histories, and previous Federal inspections.
The information is used to assist law enforcement and regulatory
personnel."
�Additional Questions?�
"Any concerns you may have as an international traveler or
importer about the use or application of IBIS may be addressed to:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Freedom of Information Act/
Customer Satisfaction Unit Room 5.5 C 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue,
N.W. Washington, D.C. 20229"
Appendix V: Comments from the Department of Homeland Security
Appendix VI: Comments from the State Department
GAO�s Mission
The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation and
investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in
meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve
the performance and accountability of the federal government for
the American people. GAO examines the use of public funds;
evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses,
recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make
informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO's
commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of
accountability, integrity, and reliability.
Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony
The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at
no cost is through GAO's Web site ( www.gao.gov ). Each weekday,
GAO posts newly released reports, testimony, and correspondence on
its Web site. To have GAO e-mail you a list of newly posted
products every afternoon, go to www.gao.gov and select "Subscribe
to Updates."
Order by Mail or Phone
The first copy of each printed report is free. Additional copies
are $2 each. A check or money order should be made out to the
Superintendent of Documents. GAO also accepts VISA and Mastercard.
Orders for 100 or more copies mailed to a single address are
discounted 25 percent. Orders should be sent to:
U.S. Government Accountability Office 441 G Street NW, Room LM
Washington, D.C. 20548
To order by Phone: Voice: (202) 512-6000 TDD: (202) 512-2537 Fax:
(202) 512-6061
To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs
Contact:
Web site: www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm E-mail:
[email protected] Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or
(202) 512-7470
Congressional Relations
Gloria Jarmon, Managing Director, [email protected] (202) 512-4400
U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7125
Washington, D.C. 20548
Public Affairs
Paul Anderson, Managing Director, [email protected] (202)
512-4800 U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW,
Room 7149 Washington, D.C. 20548
43Secretary of State cable to all diplomatic and consular posts, Subject:
Reminder Regarding Visa Refusal Procedures (June 12, 2001).
44See 8 U.S.C. S: 1182(a)(3)(B).
45The board was established by section 1061 of the Intelligence Reform and
Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Pub. L. No. 108-458, 118 Stat. 3638,
3684-88. The board advises the president and other senior executive branch
officials as to whether privacy and civil liberties protections are
appropriately considered in the development and implementation of laws,
regulations, and executive branch policies related to efforts to protect
the nation against terrorism. The five board members were sworn in and had
their first meeting on March 15, 2006. Additional information about the
role of the board and its operations is available at www.privacyboard.gov
.
1For purposes of this report, the term "misidentification" refers to a
person initially matched by a screening agency to a name on the watch
list, but upon closer examination, the person is found to not match any
watch list record.
2As used in this report, the term "mistakenly listed persons" includes two
categories of individuals-(1) persons who never should have been included
on the watch list but were due to some type of error and (2) persons who
were appropriately included on the watch list at one time but no longer
warrant inclusion on the terrorist watch list due to subsequent events.
3A nonimmigrant is a person, not a citizen or national of the United
States, seeking to enter the United States temporarily for a specific
purpose, such as business or pleasure.
4According to Customer Satisfaction Unit managers, all complaints
regarding the terrorist watch list are forwarded to the agency's National
Targeting Center, which has access to classified information that may be
needed to determine if the incidents cited by complainants involved
individuals who either are on the watch list or were misidentified.
National Targeting Center managers told us that if research indicates that
the substance of the complaint does involve watch-list-related screening
conducted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the National Targeting
Center will draft a response letter, which is to be signed by the Customer
Satisfaction Unit and mailed to the individual.
5The working group's membership includes representatives from the
departments of Homeland Security (including Transportation Security
Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection), State, and
Defense; FBI; and the intelligence community (e.g., the National
Counterterrorism Center, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security
Agency, and Defense Intelligence Agency). Also, the National Institute of
Standards and Technology acts as a special advisor to the working group.
6The charter of the committee is to advise the Secretary of Homeland
Security and the Department of Homeland Security's chief privacy officer
on programmatic, policy, operational, administrative, and technological
issues within the department's areas of responsibility that affect
individual privacy, data integrity, data interoperability, and other
privacy-related matters.
7Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Review of the
Terrorist Screening Center, Audit Report 05-27 (June 2005).
8The Terrorist Screening Center defines a "redress query" as communication
from individuals or their representatives inquiring or complaining about
an adverse experience during a terrorist watch-list-related-screening
process conducted or sponsored by a federal agency, including
congressional inquiries to federal agencies on behalf of their
constituents.
9The five-member board, which is part of the Executive Office of the
President, was established by section 1061 of the Intelligence Reform and
Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Pub. L. No. 108-458, 118 Stat. 3638,
3684-88. The board advises the president and other senior executive branch
officials as to whether privacy and civil liberties protections are
appropriately considered in the development and implementation of laws,
regulations, and executive branch policies related to efforts to protect
the nation against terrorism. The five board members were sworn in and had
their first meeting on March 15, 2006. Additional information about the
role of the board and its operations is available at www.privacyboard.gov
.
1See appendix III.
2On September 12, 2006, in providing technical comments on a draft of this
report, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials noted that the
contact information given on the FBI's Web site should be as follows: U.S.
Customs and Border Protection, Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act
Branch. Also, the comments noted that the telephone number should be
removed. We suggested to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials
that they coordinate with the FBI to ensure that appropriate contact
information is available to the public.
3See appendix IV for a copy of the fact sheet.
(440374)
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt? GAO-06-1031 .
To view the full product, including the scope
and methodology, click on the link above.
For more information, contact Eileen Larence at (202) 512-8777 or
[email protected].
Highlights of GAO-06-1031 , a report to congressional requesters
September 2006
TERRORIST WATCH LIST SCREENING
Efforts to Help Reduce Adverse Effects on the Public
A consolidated watch list managed by the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center
(TSC) contains the names of known or suspected terrorists, both
international and domestic. Various agencies whose missions require
screening for links to terrorism use watch list records. For example, U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) screens travelers at ports of entry.
Because screening is based on names, it can result in misidentifications
when persons not on the list have a name that resembles one on the list.
Also, some names may be mistakenly included on the watch list. In either
case, individuals can be negatively affected and may express concerns or
seek agency action, or redress, to prevent future occurrences. This report
addresses: (1) the extent to which the numbers of misidentified persons
are known and how they could be affected, (2) the major reasons
misidentifications occur and the actions agencies are taking to reduce
them or minimize their effects, and (3) the opportunities for redress
available to individuals with watch list-related concerns. In conducting
work at TSC and the principal federal agencies that use watch list data,
GAO reviewed standard operating procedures and other relevant
documentation and interviewed responsible officials.
GAO makes no recommendations at this time because the agencies have
ongoing initiatives to improve data quality, reduce the number of
misidentifications or mitigate their effects, and enhance redress efforts.
Annually, millions of individuals-from international travelers to visa
applicants-are screened for terrorism links against the watch list. At
times, a person is misidentified because of name similarities, although
the exact number is unknown. In some cases, agencies can verify the person
is not a match by comparing birth dates or other data with watch list
records, but agencies do not track the number. In other cases, they ask
TSC for help. From December 2003 (when TSC began operations) to January
2006, agencies sent tens of thousands of names to TSC, and about half were
misidentifications, according to TSC. While the total number of people
misidentified may be substantial, it likely represents a fraction of all
people screened. Even so, misidentifications can lead to delays, intensive
questioning and searches, missed flights, or denied entry at the border.
Misidentifications most commonly occur with names that are identical or
similar to names on the watch list. To rapidly screen names against the
watch list, agencies use computerized programs that account for
differences due to misspellings and other variations. TSC has ongoing
initiatives to improve computerized matching programs and the quality of
watch list records. Also, CBP and the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) have established procedures designed to expedite
frequently misidentified persons through screening, after confirming they
are not on the watch list.
Because security measures regrettably may cause personal inconveniences,
TSA and CBP, with the support of TSC, provide opportunities for people who
have been misidentified or mistakenly included on the watch list to seek
redress. Most of these are misidentified persons who are not on the watch
list but have a similar name and, therefore, may be repeatedly
misidentified. Thus, TSA, for example, provides redress that relies
heavily on efforts to expedite frequently misidentified persons through
screening by allowing them to submit personal information that helps
airlines more quickly determine that they are not on the watch list. If
TSA and CBP cannot resolve questions from the public, they ask TSC for
help. For 2005, TSC reported that it processed to completion 112 redress
referrals and removed the names of 31 mistakenly listed persons from the
watch list. To ensure that opportunities for redress are formally
documented across agencies and that responsibilities are clear, the
Justice Department is leading an effort to develop an interagency
memorandum of understanding and expects a final draft to be ready for
approval by fall 2006. TSC and frontline-screening-agency officials
recognize that, after the agreement is finalized, the public needs to
clearly understand how to express concerns and seek relief if negatively
affected by screening. So, these officials have committed to making
updated information on redress publicly available.
GAO provided a draft copy of this report to the departments of Justice,
Homeland Security, and State. They provided technical clarifications that
GAO incorporated where appropriate.
*** End of document. ***