Hot And Cold Biden Administration Decides To Go With Hot
Its not clear why the Biden administration decided to do this. One official told me it was because media and members of Congress were increasingly demanding information about KST border crossings amid the historic ongoing mass migration crisis at the border, so why not lighten the work load?
As I reported recently, Fox News broke a story that DHS logged 23 terrorist encounters in the 2021 calendar year . Rep. Chip Roy got a return on an information demand for terrorist border encounters: 43 at both at and between ports of entry for the time period he requested .
I emailed a question to CBP public affairs, but didnt hear back right away.
For whatever reason, the page went up and kudos go to the Biden administration, which has proven either hot and cold on whether to ever acknowledge this threat.
As I wrote last year, the Biden administration went icy cold in April 2021, when it quickly quashed a CBP press release that provided exquisite detail about two Yemeni terror suspects caught in Calexico, Calif., in January and March 2021. The press release lasted a single day but still resides in the Internet archives.
The administration went hot last March, when Biden-appointed DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted to a U.S. House Homeland Security Committee hearing that KSTs have tried to cross the border, the land border … not only this year but last year, the year prior and so on and so forth. No one reported that but me, of course.
What Is A Government Watchlist
A government watchlist is just a watchlist thats put together by the government rather than by a private entity. There are actually many government watchliststhe U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, and Treasury all have watchlists that may include different threats. Depending on what your business is about, you may need to use certain watchlists or all of them.One of the most comprehensive government watchlists is the FBIs Terrorist Screening Center watchlist, which allows you to look through individuals who may pose a domestic threat. This list is public and the U.S. Treasury updates it on a regular basis to include the most important individuals you might need to avoid.
Terror Suspects Caught In The Brush
Except in this case I wrote about recently of a Lebanese-born Venezuelan who swam the Rio Grande River in December. ICE headquarters inexplicably overruled an FBI recommendation that he be detained as a flight risk and ordered him released to freedom in Detroit, where I last heard he was pursuing an asylum claim. The reason? He was overweight and at risk of catching Covid-19 in the detention facility.
Remember that not all terrorism-linked special interest aliens coming from nations of national security concern get as far as nomination and approval for the FBI terrorism watch list, which involves a lengthy, multi-tiered process.
Some 3,000 to 4,000 special interest aliens are caught between ports of entry every year from the same countries as those who do make the FBI terrorism watch list. Terror links may not come out until much later, after the individual is in the country. For example, a Somali who crossed into California, was flagged on no list, and went on to conduct a double-vehicle ramming attack carrying an ISIS flag in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Something else to keep in mind is that, as my CIS compadre Andrew Art Arthur has recently figured out from records in a federal court case, more than 650,000 immigrants who crossed the border since Bidens inauguration were never caught. They are known as got-aways.
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How To Get Off A Government Watchlist
Of course, if youre on the watchlist for a valid reason, get used to it. Otherwise, there is one action you can take to potentially have your name removed from the list.
However, be aware that removal of your name from the list can only be done by the agency that put you on the list in the first place. That means you have to find the agency that nominated you for the list and appeal to them directly. Yeah, good luck with that.
There Are 10 Titles Within The Act:
Title I: Enhanced Domestic Security against Terrorism Authorizes actions which prevent terrorism in the U.S for domestic security services, including the addition of a nationwide crime task force and the authority for the president to confiscate foreign property of those who is suspected to have aided a war or attack on the U.S. This title also outlaws discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans.
Title II: Surveillance Procedures Handles all aspects of the surveillance of suspected terrorists, especially those suspected on computer fraud or abuse and agents of foreign power. The title also permits government agencies to collect foreign intelligence information from both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens.
This title also covers other miscellaneous ratifications, including increasing the number of FISC judges, trade sanctions against Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and North Korea and employment of FBI translators.
Title III: Anti-Money-Laundering to Prevent Terrorism Aims to prevent, detect and prosecute international money laundering and financing of terrorism. This is done by strengthening banking rules against money laundering, expanding record keeping and reporting requirements and forming harsher penalties against those who manufacture and then smuggle counterfeit foreign currency.
Title IX: Improved Intelligence Created a method for sharing national intelligence information between government agencies.
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Federal Bureau Of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a law enforcement agency subdivision of the U.S. Department of Justice. It is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system and all judicially ordered federal executions. There are over 116 institutions and 210,000 federal offenders under the supervision of the BOP.
utilizes the Federal Bureau of Prison Inmate Locator to search for candidates that are currently or previously have been incarcerated in federal prison from 1982 to present.
Why Use Our International Security Screening Service
International security screening is becoming a priority for security-sensitive companies.
The International Security report reveals whether an individual can be found on any government watch lists for known or suspected activities involving terrorism, money laundering or other illicit activities. The search includes all “official” watch lists in Canada and the United States in addition to many other international watch lists.
In short, you will quickly find out if a candidate has ever been under government scrutiny for having been associated in any way with terrorist or criminal activities.
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Example Of A Watchlist
For examples of stock watchlists, Yahoo! Finance offers several curated watchlists with preset criteria like “Most Active Penny Stocks” and “Most Shorted Stocks.” These lists have the added advantage of automatic updates so that users do not need to manually add or remove stocks that no longer fit the list criteria.
Wanted Individuals Make Poor Employees And Associates
Gone are the days of the FBIs most wanted list and public enemies being romanticized and admirable individuals. But, even when the public enemy number one was considered a media sweetheart, not many people were offering them jobs or a place around the dinner table. That being said, the folks that make these lists nowadays are far from being Robinhood-types and are not wanted anywhere around the world. Thus, when you run a government watch list check, you arent just protecting yourself, your employees and your customers from a seedy individual, youre helping the authorities track them down.
Build a Custom Background and Drug Screening Test Using These Additional Services:
- Office of Foreign Assets is searched for the following red flags.
- Specially designated nationals and blocked persons.
- Sanctioned countries records.
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History Sources Uses And Scope
The TSDB is overseen by the FBI Terrorist Screening Center. It was created after the . A 2007 report by the U.S. Department of JusticeOffice of the Inspector General stated that the TSDB, as the “U.S. Government’s consolidated terrorist watchlist” contained “basic biographical information on known or appropriately suspected domestic and international terrorists” and that “the underlying derogatory information on individuals nominated for inclusion in the TSDB must demonstrate a reasonable suspicion of ties to terrorism.” The main source of names for the TSDB is the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment , a database that as of 2013, contained between 700,000 and 1.1 million names.
The TSDB is massive in size and includes names of people identified as potential security risks. It is distinct from the much smaller No Fly List, a subset of the TSDB. Those on the TSDB are not actively monitored because doing so would be impracticable and would raise civil liberties issues. Those on the TSDB are not blocked from buying guns and are not automatically barred from boarding airplanes or traveling. In 2019, the government acknowledged that it shared its list with 1,441 non-governmental entities that were “in some way connected to the criminal justice system” such as campus police, hospital security staff, and private detention facilities the admission alarmed some civil libertarian groups.
The FBI does not publicly confirm or deny any individual’s inclusion on the list.
Port Of Entry Encounters
From the provided data, you cant read too much into the numbers at a controlled port of entry. These might, for instance, be individuals who drive a long-haul truck back and forth from Canada to Detroit, flagging on the database multiple times a week, or an American importer who frequently moves between Nuevo Laredo and Laredo. So those numbers are way higher than the ones reflecting illegal border-crossers.
POE totals may include multiple encounters of the same individual, the new section notes in the postscript.
Most hits at a POE probably are not foreign nationals without legal status from beyond Canada, Mexico, or the United States. They may be Canadians or Americans or Mexicans who have legal status to travel back and forth, thus not overtly trying to run and hide as terrorists.
Perhaps more concerning might be POE encounters with new foreign national travelers on the terror watch list who show up for the first time to claim asylum, which will raise bigger alarms . These individuals are usually denied entry.
The new statistics page doesnt break any of this down but CBP might consider doing so later for greater clarity.
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Entities Of Particular Concern
The most recent Entities of Particular Concern designations were made by the Secretary of State on November 15, 2021:
Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Greater Sahara, ISIS-West Africa, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, and the Taliban.*
*The Talibans designation is based on information analyzed as of August 15, 2021.
Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons List Human Readable Lists
As part of its enforcement efforts, OFAC publishes a list of individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries. It also lists individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programs that are not country-specific. Collectively, such individuals and companies are called “Specially Designated Nationals” or “SDNs.” Their assets are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them. View more information on Treasury’s Sanctions Programs.
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U S Department Of Drug Enforcement Administrations Most Wanted Fugitives List
The U. S. Department of Drug Enforcement Administration also maintains a watchlist of its Most Wanted Fugitives. The individuals on this list, current and past, are dangerous people who have committed or are charged with horrific crimes, including the kidnapping and murder of a federal agent,drug trafficking, conspiring to distribute heroin, and the use of minors in drug trafficking.
The DEA cautions that many of these suspects or fugitives are armed and dangerous and lists rewards for some, including Rafael Caro-Quinetro , Nemesio Oseguera-Cervantes , and Dario Antonio Usaga David .
The huge resources of the DEA, both in regard to personnel and to funding the millions of dollars in rewards offered as incentives for information regarding some of these suspects and fugitives and the punishments awaiting those who are captured and convicted make this a list you DONT want to be on!
Us Government Watchlisting: Unfair Process And Devastating Consequences
The U.S. government today maintains a massive watchlisting system that risks stigmatizing hundreds of thousands of people, including American citizens, as known or suspected terrorists based on secret standards and secret evidence, without a meaningful process to challenge error and clear their names. The watchlists in this system are shared widely within the federal government, with state and local law enforcement agencies, and even with foreign governments, heightening the negative consequences for listed individuals. Being placed on a U.S. government watchlist can mean an inability to travel by air or sea invasive screening at airports denial of a U.S. visa or permission to enter to the United States and detention and questioning by U.S. or foreign authoritiesto say nothing of shame, fear, uncertainty, and denigration as a terrorism suspect. Watchlisting can prevent disabled military veterans from obtaining needed benefits, separate family members for months or years, ruin employment prospects, and isolate an individual from friends and associates.
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U S Secret Services Most Wanted Fugitives List
Like the FBI, the U. S. Secret Service maintains a list of wanted criminals, its Most Wanted Fugitives. The current list offers rewards of $1 million each for information leading to the arrest of either Oleksander Vitalyevich or Artem Viacheslavovich Radchenko. The former recruited the latter to hack into the computer networks of the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission . . . and data related to the financial earnings of publicly traded companies before they were released.
Its not hard to see why you DONT want to be on this list!
About The Terrorist Screening Center
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the President and Congress mandated that federal executive departments and agencies share terrorism information with those in the counterterrorism community responsible for protecting the homeland. In 2003, the Terrorist Screening Center was created to fulfill that mandate.
The Terrorist Screening Center, a multi-agency center administered by the FBI, is the U.S. Governments consolidated counterterrorism watchlisting component and is responsible for the management and operation of the Terrorist Screening Database, commonly known as the watchlist.
The watchlist is a single database that contains sensitive national security and law enforcement information concerning the identities of those who are known or reasonably suspected of being involved in terrorist activities. The TSC uses the watchlist to support front-line screening agencies in positively identifying known or suspected terrorists who are attempting to obtain visas, enter the country, board an aircraft, or engage in other activities.
The TSC is a vital part of the U.S. Governments counterterrorism early warning and interdiction network.
You can learn more about the Terrorist Screening Center by reviewing answers to our frequently asked questions.
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How To Land On The Government Watch List
Just like Santa Claus, the U.S. government has its own version of “the naughty list.” But this one doesn’t record boys and girls who fibbed or acted mean to schoolmates on the playground. Instead, the U.S. Government ‘s Consolidated Terrorist Watch List keeps track of people who are known or suspected terrorists. These are the people the U.S. government doesn’t want to board planes, enter the country or obtain a visa without a lot of hassle.
While the government makes no secret of the list’s existence, its official contents are off-limits to the public. That’s because the federal government believes if terrorists are aware of being on a watch list, they will become more vigilant and tricky in committing heinous crimes.
Before the Sept. 11 attacks, more than a dozen watch lists were floating around different federal agencies . Now, those records have been consolidated into one master list maintained by the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center .
The development of TSC and the master list grew out of the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 signed by President Bush in 2003. The directive outlined the federal government’s plan to combine all former watch lists into one master list of people “known or appropriately suspected to be or have been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism .”
Getting On A Government Watch List
Getting put on the watch list isn’t exactly like making prom queen, but it does require a nomination. An agent from the FBI, NSA or other federal agency nominates you. Then, that nomination moves on to the FBI’s Terrorist Review and Examination Unit. If you check out as a known or potential terrorist, it’s on to the Terrorist Screening Center and the watch list.
What exactly does it mean to be “appropriately suspected ” as a potential terrorist? The FBI and the federal government remain tightlipped about specific qualifications, continually referring back to the generic guidelines established in the Presidential Directive.
Besides having a criminal record for terrorist-related activities or known associations with terrorists or terrorist organizations, there are other ways people get pegged for the list. Active membership in some extremist groups could get you a spot. For instance, the eco-extreme group Earth Liberation Front has been the focus of FBI investigations for the property damage members have caused. The FBI calls this group’s activity “special interest terrorism” . But if you’re concerned that reading HowStuffWorks article How easy is it to steal a nuclear bomb will set off the fed’s alarm systems, don’t worry. Unless you actually attempt to steal a nuclear bomb yourself, you’re probably fine.
So what about all those average Joes who have been stopped and searched by government officials? Are they terrorists in sheep’s clothing?
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