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Season Four Research Files
Episode Nine
3:00pm - 4:00pm
In 2003, the United States finally consolidated all of its agencies' terrorist watchlist information into a single database. The Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) was established under the Departments of Homeland Security and State, the Office of the Attorney General, the FBI and the CIA. The TSC provides terrorist information available in real time, 24 hours a day. It helps support thousands of federal screeners across the country and around the world to help identify and detain potential terrorists.
During routine interactions with members of the public such as traffic stops, officers often check an individual's name through terminals in their patrol cars. If the individual is on the watchlist, the check brings up a message, telling the officer to contact the center. Better access to information will make it easier for a consular officer posted in another country to determine whether to grant a visa, or an immigration official at a U.S. airport to decide whether a person is eligible to enter the United States.
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