Over 350 Terror Suspects Kept Off US-Bound Flights Since 2009
- Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:25am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government has prevented more than 350 people suspected of ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups from boarding U.S.-bound commercial flights since the end of 2009, The Associated Press has learned.
The tighter security rules — imposed after the attempted bombing of an airliner on Christmas 2009 — reveal a security threat that persisted for more than seven years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Until then, even as commercial passengers were forced to remove their shoes, limit the amount of shampoo in their carry-on luggage and endure pat downs, hundreds of foreigners with known or suspected ties to terrorism passed through security and successfully flew to the United States each year, U.S. officials told the AP. The government said these foreigners typically told Customs officers they were flying to the U.S. for legitimate reasons such as vacations or business.
Security practices changed after an admitted al-Qaida operative from Nigeria was accused of trying to blow himself up on a flight to Detroit on Christmas 2009. Until then, airlines only kept passengers off U.S.-bound planes if they were on the no-fly list, a list of people considered a threat to aviation.
Now before an international flight leaves for the U.S., the government checks passengers against a larger watch list that includes al-Qaida financiers and people who attended training camps but aren’t considered threats to planes. The government was checking this list before, but only after the flight was en route. If someone on the flight was on the watch list, the person would be questioned and likely refused to enter the country after the plane landed.
“As terrorists keep adapting and changing their approach, so must we,” Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., told the AP. During a Senate hearing shortly after the attempted Christmas attack, Rockefeller raised concerns about divisions among the different watch lists.
Hundreds of people linked to al-Qaida, Hamas, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other terror groups have been kept off airplanes under the new rules. They include what U.S. officials described as a member of a terrorist organization who received weapons training, recruited others, fought against American troops and had a ticket to fly to the U.S. Another traveler prevented from boarding a U.S.-bound flight was a member of a terrorist organization whom intelligence officials believe had purchased equipment for terrorism.
A third case, in January, involved a Jordanian man booked from Amman, Jordan, to Chicago, who was considered a threat to national security, according to a law enforcement official. The State Department had already revoked his visa. He was on the terrorist watch list but not the no-fly list. He was not considered a threat to aviation.
After U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers performed the now-routine check, the man was kept off the flight. Before the change, he would have arrived in Chicago, where he would have likely been stopped at customs, questioned and sent home.
The law enforcement official and other U.S. officials insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues. They would not provide the names of the people suspected of terror ties or some key details about the cases for security reasons.
“We’ve gotten better with our techniques and applying them predeparture, ensuring we’re looking at as broad a section of potential risk as possible,” said Kevin McAleenan, deputy assistant commissioner of field operations at Customers and Border Protection.
CBP said the gap in U.S. security practices wasn’t obvious until after the attempted Christmas attack. Officials were prepared to question the accused bomber when he landed in Detroit — but that turned out to be too late.
“We had the skill set, the systems and the techniques, and we needed to move backwards in time,” McAleenan said.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the terror watch list and its derivative, the no-fly list, became some of the government’s best-known counterterrorism tools. They also became some of the most criticized, as innocent travelers were inconvenienced when they were mistaken for terrorism suspects. Outrage forced the government to pare the lists, which airlines checked before allowing people to fly.
After the attempted Christmas attack, the intelligence community took a closer look at the names on the terror watch list and set new standards for adding names. The watch list and no-fly list are constantly reviewed, and names are added and removed each day. There are about 30,000 people on the no-fly list and a companion list for people who must receive extra screening at airports, a counterterrorism official told the AP.
The more expansive terror watch list includes about 450,000 names of people the U.S. intelligence community believes are, or could be, a threat to national security because of terrorist ties. Some of the people on the watch list are still being investigated, and there is not enough information for the government to arrest them.
The new policy has not turned the 450,000-person terror watch list into the no-fly list. Simply being on the terror watch list does not mean a person won’t be allowed to enter the U.S., McAleenan said. When CBP reviews passenger lists and matches someone on the terror watch list, CBP will review information available on the person before it recommends to the airline whether the person can board the plane, McAleenan said. In most cases, if CBP recommends against allowing the passenger to board, it’s because the person would be turned away upon arrival inside the United States due to security concerns.
Most people on the watch list are foreigners. About 6,000 are U.S. citizens.
American citizens who are not considered threats to aviation but are on the terror watch list cannot automatically be prevented from flying to the U.S.
Customs officers will likely question a U.S. citizen who is on the terror watch list when he or she comes into the country. But without grounds for arrest, the officers must let them arrive. This also applies to a U.S. citizen who is on the no-fly list but who walks or drives back into the U.S. through land-border crossings.
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Comments (75)
pandora
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:16pmDoes the average liberal really believe the government is acting in our best interests? This administration is becoming more of a joke every day. Liberals who really think they are better off with more government will be very surprised when they are lumped in with everyone else. If we keep this up it may come to pass that as most travelers go through regular screening, a separate are will be set up for Jewish travelers to go through showers! WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!
Report Post »secter1
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:08pmhttp://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/20/al-qaeda-terror-leader-dined-pentagon-months/
Report Post »How long will our government roll out this fraud????
temple62
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 11:53amUntil Nappy, Holder and Obama get booted out, America has no transportation security. I have sent countless emails to Eric Cantor urging the TSA be dismantled and this group return to the unemployment line where the belong!
Report Post »cruzinbill
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 11:07amIf you believe that one ,they will tell you another one.
Report Post »Junter
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 11:01amI say turn the watch list into the not welcome list. Our way of life has changed because of these guys so its time to enforce our laws and keep citizens safe.
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:44amSECRET LIST!!!
You never know until you try to board a plane, then you get molested by TSA (the real criminals) and they get to treat you like garbage while collecting salary that you pay!
Think that’s fun? Wait until you get your door kicked at 3AM by the Feds because you’re a Tea Party member! They have a nice prefabricated concrete cell with a nice cot all ready for you at the FEMA CAMP!
Continue to pay for your own surveillance, peons!
The globalists have you by the short and curlies!
Report Post »SimpleTruths
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 3:33pmParanoid much?
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on April 12, 2011 at 10:01pmEvery single claim I have made is provable and can be corroborated with little research.
Denial is not a river in Egypt…and this isn’t Egypt.
Report Post »psykeskaos
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:38amWell they better shore up our Southern Border… Al Quaeda is in South America. It would not be much of a stretch for M00zl*ms to make themselves look like H*$panix.. not a stretch at all. I could care less about a couple hundred pounds of weed coming in a ten mile stretch up North.. smoke that stuff and they become too lazy to terrorize (-;}
Report Post »I have been writing reps and Senators about this for years… yes I get the nice little form letter..
neverending
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:35amA big whoop!!! If this story is true it will be the first one to come out of barry boy’s circle of corruption. Too many lies to believe anything.
Report Post »Really_O
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:34amHow come we are not hearing anything about this terrorist act;
Obama’s Fort Hood Jihadist
“Major Hasan, also known as Soldier of Allah, according to his business card, mowed down thirteen U.S. soldiers while screaming Allahu akbar on the Fort Hood military base in Texas a year and a half ago, in November 2009.
And back in April 2010, Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) had to subpoena the Obama White House to get information it was withholding for a congressional investigation into the Fort Hood jihad massacre.”
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/04/obamas_fort_hood_jihadist.html
Report Post »miles from nowhere
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:26amMuslims are the enemy, there are to many terroist to sort them out you idiots should profile in the US and do as Israel does with security. They have got the lead on this one.
Report Post »LiveFreeNH
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:23amThis is something that should have been done since 2001. It is a good start, but we need to make sure that Canada applies the same pre-boarding screening as US bound flights. All bags and cargo originating from nations with ties to terrorism should be subject to extra screening. And yes, our Mexican border needs to be secured.
Report Post »Malcom0983
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:57amSo does every leading member of CAIR have to drive everywhere or…?
Report Post »What about government leaders? Pakistan, Iran.
What about members and associates of the terrorist group known as The Weather Underground? I guess that one doesn’t count.
Chicago Ray
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:39amLike that number alone isn’t reason enough to ban all Middle Eastern men between the ages of 12-90 from flying into the US via any airport on the globe.
All it takes is one….oh, Mr Shoe bomber, Oh mr Crotch bomber…..Ok Mr Al Kaboom, here’s your window seat……
Report Post »mrsmileyface
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:34amOver 350 Terror Suspects Kept Off US-Bound Flights Since 2009. And yet I still dont feel safe. Perhaps DHS can start using anal probes and waterboarding passengers then maybe ill feel safer.
Report Post »Darla_K
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:27amI think the screening process is a big joke and is ridiculous seens how we don’t care who is crossing the Mexican border into our Country. That is where the screening process should be. We need a leader in 2012 that can amp up border patrols and stop these illegals coming in to our Country. We need a leader in 2012 that can start sending illegals out of our Country back to their home.
Report Post »LukeAppling
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:25amHow many are crossing Obama’s borders undected and with little concern by either Obama or Napolitano? They will give another speech telling us how great they are doing while the border remains porous.
Report Post »Lucy Larue
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:20amThey aren’t coming on airplanes anymore. They’re coming across our borders via Mexico.
Report Post »EP46
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:28amThank you LUCY for again saying what we have been screaming about! Not only are they coming across the border, they are coming armed with U.S. weapons.
Report Post »Deane
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:03pmas mentioned above Michigan has a more porous border then Mexico and harbors more muslims in Dearborn Michigan than any other city in the states…besides that there is no wall, fence or border patrol to guard against infiltrating terrorists, just an unprotected half mile of water to cross
Report Post »SimpleTruths
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 3:31pmWhy are you only concerned with the southern border if terrorists are really what worry you? Canada is virtually wide open for thousands of miles. For that matter thousands and thousands of miles of the eastern, southern and western coastline are easily accessible by boat. We can‘t ’seal the boarder’ in reality, that doesn‘t mean we can’t do a better job with the Southern border for other reasons but let’s be honest here – if somebody wants to get in this country for bad reasons they can and will.
Report Post »Annie Fields
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:09amUntil Obama offers Michelle, Sasha, and Malia for public pat-downs, in front of cameras, while extolling how un-intrusive they are, the whole thing disgusts me and leaves me cold.
Report Post »starman70
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:06amDON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH! That will NEVER hapen.
Report Post »Annie Fields
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 11:05amThank you for making my point. There mere suggestion of it is so absurd, nothing else need be said…
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:04amThat Barry Soetoro is “doing a heck of a job”. Yea right AP.
Report Post »ANR2007
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:59amMakes me wonder why are we still fighting for other countries freedom and human rights bull when we have that many people being stopped from the US and how many more actually got in through planes. Never mind the amount of people who came in from the Mexican and Canadian boarders. Think maybe its time we start having a little more attention on the fact that the US is a main priority and not these other countries. I personally feel that our troops need to come home and they need to start making them guard our boarders in Canada and Mexico and not be over there fighting for Human rights and Freedom of the people that even when and if we ever leave they will go back to the old ways and all this time and money and lives spent will not have changed anything but hurt the US and the families and friends of our Amazing soliders fighting.
Report Post »stogieguy7
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:52amHow many of those 350 “terror suspects” were really terrorists and how many were merely people with the wrong name? Or kids? Or old ladies? Having seen the TSA in action, I am sorry to say that I have no faith in their abilities and even less trust in our gov’t not to twist the truth into a pretzel which suits them.
Report Post »thegodfather
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:43amI‘d like to know demographics breakdown of these terrorist’
Male…..“check”
under 40…“check”
muslim….“check”
ugly-ass scary beard…“check”
Mohamed somewhere in their name…“check”
Nevertheless…”You granny!….stop right there!…let me check those Depends to see what you might be hiding in there”.And not so fast for you too kid…I’m checking your Under- roos”
Report Post »CalvinandHobbes
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 5:16pmLOL….so true…so true
Report Post »DeityEnterprises
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:33amSo, since annoucing the re-election campaign not only did BO inherit a fiscal mess (again) the administration is saving us from all those “terrorists” (three concrete examples out of the 350+) that were slipping through during the 7 years previously. There is one truth in this article, at least it calls Hamas at Terrorist Organization. Guess AP forgot to DNC check this story before it ran.
Report Post »Get ready for all the “good work” coming out of DC now through November 2012.
starman70
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:54amIt wasn’t BHO who instituted thes plans, it was George Bush. We are now reaping the benefits of the planning his administration id to prevent terrorism.
However Obumer’s lack of action in sealing the southern border is giving the terrorists a free avenue into the USA. Of course, when the Liberals in the Dummycratic party are padding their re-election war chest with “Donations” from groups representing illegal aliens, groups who profit handsomely from drugs, the sale of weapons to cartels and the human trafficing of illegals, what else can you expect. You can bet that an Al Quida agent will pay any amount to a “Coyote” to get successfully across the border.
Report Post »hempstead1944
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:32amDon‘t really care about the ones who didn’t get on……would like to know how many did ???
Report Post »RightUnite
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:32amGood point.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:34am@HEMPSTEAD1944~~~ Exactly!
Most pouring through our porous borders to the South, thank you, non-president and non functioning head of homeland insecurity.
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:36amWe’d be lucky if they are stopping 20%. Less if you count our southern border.
Report Post »CaptGregg
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:41am“Don‘t really care about the ones who didn’t get on……would like to know how many did ???”
My thoughts exactly! And only 350 stopped in over a year? It appears to me that would indicate the screening process on planes is as porous as the Arizona border.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:45amI also want to know how many have crossed the southern borders and are waiting to make a move in the nation right now.
Report Post »SimpleTruths
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 3:23pmAsk yourself this…how many planes blew up or flew into buildings? Oh that’s right, NONE. Idiots.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:29amI guess that explains why the “leadership” of this country don’t fly publicly.
Report Post »Stuck_in_CA
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:35amThis is good to hear. But after viewing the latest child-groping video, I say SHAME on us for putting up with this demeaning perverted stuff!
Report Post »GODSAMERICA
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:50amTypical government numbers made up to make them look good. Everyone knows that all of us citizens must go through the groping and fondling while anyone that looks, dresses or acts like a terrorist get a free pass from the groping and fondling and is escorted onto the plane like special VIP’s.
Report Post »pitboss711
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:52amBut, how many are coming in across our “secured” borders?
Report Post »Sgt.Crust
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:55amIf only 1% of the southern border intruders were terrorists, over 120,000 of them are here now! So to say they are doing a better job is a hoax. We do have to give credit to this initiative, but it is an EPIC FAIL on our border situation! It will be just a matter of time before they activate all of the sleeper cells here to cause their 12 Imam chaos…
Report Post »Affirmative Blaction
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:59amSo how many people that were stopped were of light skin complexion, and how many people passed onto the planes had appearances of middle eastern descent?
Report Post »lovenfl3
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:17amAt least some of them are being stopped. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68uzsXdMLS4
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:23amAgreed, the so called ‘leadership’ of this country is a set of rebels, traitors, and terrorists in their own right; so they above all others would understand what ‘terrorists’ could do, and so must be so proud of stopping a few hundred suspected terrorists.
Mind you, this is going on while the nations southern border is wide open, and evidence exists that the terrorists are openly and activly crossing there instead of flying in.
Report Post »Beckofile
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:39amAlso kept 3,876 gradma’s from making flight
Report Post »Let 300,000 illegals in the country
Felt 1.2 million boobies
Stuck hands down the pants of someone’s daughter 2.2 million times
Found one Weiner in congress.
Bawny Frank says we are doing Gweat Job.
poverty.sucks
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:43amThere are about 30,000 people on the no-fly list and a companion list for people who must receive extra screening at airports, a counterterrorism official told the AP.
The more expansive terror watch list includes about 450,000 names of people the U.S. intelligence community believes are, or could be, a threat to national security because of terrorist ties. Some of the people on the watch list are still being investigated, and there is not enough information for the government to arrest them.
So why then, is the no-fly list less than 450,000 names?
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:48amNice Photo with TSA walking/standing with their hands in their pockets.
TSA has not stopped any terrorist act. This article appears to be giving TSA credit for CIA/FBI responsibility.
Report Post »desertkid
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:52amAnd by the way, there was probably several hundred more that walked across our southern border sense 2009. If we are hit again it wont be with a plane.
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:09amEmployees for the TSA, the US Border Patrol and Veterans services account for 78% of the Federal jobs added since 2008. This is all part of the extra federal bureaucracy added after 911. By returning to Regan era levels of Government, we will eliminate all the added layers of workers and stop being forced by fear to spend our children’s future on homeland security.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:10amTSA is merely window dressing to give the public an impression the government is concerned about terrorism.
The government knows who the terrorist are (expansive terror watch list with 450,000 names) who roam the globe freely.
Report Post »nosycophant
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:13amSo what do they want a cookie their supposed to do this its called their job.
Report Post »exdem
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 11:19amSilly terrorist, trying to fly in! We all know crossing the border is the easiest way to sneak in.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 11:20amOnly 351 stopped….how many got through???…..
Report Post »Creestof
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 11:44amSo, instead…they fly or sail to Mexico and walk into the country? All this story means is that they wound up taking the scenic tour before arriving at their ultimate destination.
Report Post »Deane
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 11:55amOnly 350 in over 2 years????? More then that cross the mexican boarder everyday. A more porous border is in Michigan where a terrorist can jump on a boat in Amherstburg Canada and be in Michigan in less then 30 minutes without even being noticed. There is never a Border Patrol boat patroling that area. If you want to find the terrorists in America look into Dearborn Michigan where the largest population of muslims live in the USA
Report Post »Sam Brown
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:48pmI will fly again when the government doesn’t need to feel my junk.
Sammy
Report Post »OhPleaseEnoughAlready
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:07pmI wonder how many have slipped across the border? Those are the people we should be searching and groping!! Enough Already!!
Report Post »avenger
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:59pmsure..and there is a santa claus,the easter bunny and I will not come in…
Report Post »Polwatcher
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 2:04pmThe only question is…who is a terrorist?
Report Post »SimpleTruths
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 3:20pm@GODSAMERICA
Report Post »You just made that up. I fly probably once a month and never have been treated with anything but respect by TSA folks. I’m glad they are doing the job they are doing. Grow up.
sleazyhippo
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 5:45pmWe cannot afford all this BS TSA “protection.” We could have caught all 350+ terrorists a few hours after they tried anything – without all the Homeland Security and TSA costs!
Report Post »