What Challenges Does DHS Face in Terms of Making Sure the Terrorist Watch List Is Used Effectively?
The terrorist watch list (TWL) has long been stymied by political pressure that DHS may be adding too many people to the list. This has led DHS to be increasingly under-inclusive of individuals, leaving out those who should be subject to additional screening or added to the even smaller no-fly list. Furthermore, there are other U.S. terrorism databases that remain relatively useless to DHS, which is prohibited by law from using these lists to stop a person at an airport screening line. DHS should explain these challenges to Congress. Having lists just to have lists means nothing for security. The TWL needs to be more reflective of those individuals seeking to conduct acts of terrorism against the U.S. Concerns over persons wrongly added to the TWL can be mitigated through a robust redress process as well as the recent deployment of Secure Flight, which reduces the number of people erroneously added to the list. 5. How Does DHS Plan to Better Work with the Department of State and with I
