Jacob Goodwin, writing at Government Security News, reveals a seemingly bizarre intelligence gap at DHS. Namely, that "DHS has no formal process to add names to [the] terrorist watchlist."
"The Department of Homeland Security has made very few nominations to the consolidated terrorist watchlist because its components are rarely originators of derogatory information linking persons to terrorist activities," explained a report submitted last month by the DHS Inspector General...Perhaps for that reason, DHS does not even have in place an "overarching policy" that guides its various components on processing such nominations, said the IG’s report.
DHS components are certainly "consumers" of terrorist watchlist information. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) consults the watchlist as it processes about 1.1 million passengers and pedestrians at U.S. ports of entry each day. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) coordinates the investigation of watchlist individuals with the FBI. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) taps the watchlist as it consider approximately six million applications and petitions each year. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checks the watchlist against passenger manifests as it examines more than 50,000 commercial flights a day.
Nonetheless, concluded the IG, "DHS does not have a management directive, quality control process, or training program for the [terrorist] nomination process."
Sadly, it appears to be a legitimate gaffe and not a hilarious April Fool's Day press release.
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