Terrorist Screening Database
The Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) is the central terrorist watchlist consolidated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Terrorist Screening Center and used by multiple agencies to compile their specific watchlists and for screening. The list was created after the September 11 attacks.[1]
Accuracy[edit]
The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General has criticized the list for frequent errors and slow response to complaints. An audit by the Office of Inspector General found that 38% of a 105 record sample contained inaccuracies.[13] The Federal Bureau of Investigation has said it is redressing errors.[13][14]
Legal challenges[edit]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Sixth Circuit, and Tenth Circuit have upheld the TSDB against legal challenges.[15]
In 2019, in a case brought by a group of Muslim Americans against the government Judge Anthony Trenga of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that "the TSDB fails to provide constitutionally sufficient procedural due process, and thereby also violates the Administrative Procedures Act." The court based its ruling on the lack of an "independent review of a person's placement on the TSDB by a neutral decisionmaker" and the lack of an available remedy to fix mistakes, as persons listed "are not told whether or not they were or remain on the TSDB watchlist and are also not told the factual basis for their inclusion."[16] In 2021, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed the district court's ruling; in an opinion written by J. Harvie Wilkinson III, the court ruled that the TSDB's operation did not unlawfully burden the plaintiffs' right to travel given the government's compelling interest in national security and that "The delays and burdens experienced by plaintiffs at the border and in airports, although regrettable, do not mandate a complete overhaul of the TSDB."[15][17][18]