AMERICA'S TERRORIST
SCREENING CENTER (TSC)
Protecting America from Terrorist Attack
08/01/05
It's a place of anxious,
serious faces—like you see at NASA's Mission Control right before
a launch. People from different agencies and companies man the phones
and computers 24/7 as queries come in from checkpoints across the country
and world—all with one question: do I have a known or appropriately
suspected terrorist on my hands?
Three scenarios:
1. Officer Jones from Atlanta in a patrol car says she got a suspected terrorist
match on a name of a man she stopped for speeding—now she's looking
for a physical description that will tell her if he’s the same person.
2. A Customs and Border Protection inspector calls from a Dallas airport about
a person on an incoming international flight manifest—“give me
more information: should I let this person into the country?”
3. A consular officer in Manila cables a list of visa applicants: should each
one be granted a visa to visit the U.S.?
That's precisely
what the TSC can tell them. TSC Director Donna Bucella, a
former federal prosecutor, puts it this way: "We're here to get
information to the people who can stop dangerous types from entering
the U.S....and who can identify dangerous types who are already on
our streets and arrest them. The TSC’s role," she adds, "places
it squarely at the intersection of local law enforcement and the intelligence
community, bridging the gap between national security, homeland defense,
and the police officer on patrol.”
Want
to learn more? We are posting information
about the center on an inside page for your
convenience. To date, we have included how it came
into being; its mission; what it does; and why it
does it. And don't miss its FAQs; they will tell
you everything you wanted to know and then some:
- Who is included
in TSC's database: domestic terrorists like Timothy McVeigh? U.S.
citizens? You?
- Are people
ever removed from the database?
- If
you have security issues when you cross into the U.S., or if
you've
been told
that you're on an airline terrorist watchlist—does
that mean you're in the database?
- How is the
Center prevented from encroaching on the civil liberties of Americans?
Stay tuned
for more information. We will be adding more to the TSC site
as it becomes available.
Links:
Terrorist
Screening Center Fact Sheet | FBI
Counterterrorism website | More
counterterrorism stories