Terrorist Watchlist: Nomination and Redress Processes for U.S. Persons

Fast Facts

This Q&A discusses how people are put on the U.S. terrorist watchlist and redress options for those who say they were mistakenly added.

Federal agencies use the list to share information about people who may pose terrorist threats. People may be added if they are—or are associated with—known or suspected terrorists.

But people may also be misidentified as someone else who is on the list or can remain on it when no longer warranted. Consequences may include travel delays and being denied airline boarding.

These people can seek redress through a Department of Homeland Security program, file a Freedom of Information Act request, sue, and more.

Highlights

What GAO Found

The terrorist watchlist was created in response to the attacks on September 11, 2001; it is the U.S. government’s primary effort to consolidate and share information about individuals who may pose terrorist threats to the United States. It is an unclassified but sensitive dataset containing biographic (e.g., name, date of birth) and biometric (e.g., fingerprints, photographs) identifying information about individuals with a nexus to terrorism. The terrorist watchlist and its subsets, such as the No Fly List, are used by federal agencies to inform their screening and vetting decisions for various services or benefits, such as issuing a U.S. passport.

Individuals, including U.S. persons (i.e., U.S. citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents), may be nominated for inclusion in the terrorist watchlist if they are known or reasonably suspected to be engaged in terrorism or terrorist activities, or are associated with known or suspected terrorists, among other criteria. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), generally, the U.S. government’s policy is to neither confirm nor deny whether a person is on the terrorist watchlist due to security concerns. Therefore, U.S. persons are typically unaware of their status on the watchlist.

Some U.S. persons have experienced issues from being misidentified as being on the watchlist or remaining on the watchlist when no longer warranted. These issues include being unfairly or incorrectly delayed, denied boarding, or subjected to additional screening for their flight. The potential for misidentifications highlights the importance of the U.S. government having a process—referred to as redress—to mitigate and address these issues, as appropriate. The watchlisting community’s guidance states that redress is to provide a timely and fair review of inquiries and identify and correct any errors in the watchlist, protect the public from terrorist threats, and safeguard privacy and civil liberties. U.S. persons can seek redress through the Department of Homeland Security Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP) for travel-related terrorist watchlist issues that they have experienced.

According to GAO’s analysis of DHS TRIP data, U.S. persons submitted roughly 20,000 redress inquiries to DHS TRIP from December 7, 2021 through September 30, 2023. The vast majority were not related to the terrorist watchlist, such as U.S. persons being randomly selected for additional security screening. GAO found that 1.5 percent (289) of redress inquiries were related to the terrorist watchlist, such as U.S. persons being unable to print a boarding pass. As shown in the figure, GAO also found that about one third (88) of terrorist watchlist-related redress inquiries resulted in the U.S. person being removed from the watchlist during this time period. There are various other ways that U.S. persons can request information about or pursue redress for alleged terrorist watchlist-related issues, such as filing a Freedom of Information Act request or lawsuit. However, these actions generally do not result in a change in or disclosure of a U.S. person’s watchlist status.

Outcomes of Terrorist Watchlist-related Redress Inquiries from U.S. Persons, December 7, 2021—September 30, 2023

Note: For more details, see fig. 3 in GAO-25-108349.

Why GAO Did This Study

The terrorist watchlist is a key tool in identifying those who may pose national security threats. However, U.S. persons may experience issues from being misidentified with someone else on the watchlist or remaining on the watchlist when no longer warranted.

GAO was asked to review the watchlisting community’s processes to prevent, address, and mitigate terrorist watchlist-related issues for U.S. persons. This report is based on publicly releasable information from a sensitive report GAO issued in March 2025 (see GAO-25-106333SU). Selected federal agencies deemed some information to be sensitive and in need of protection from public disclosure. Therefore, this report omits such information.

GAO reviewed nomination and redress policies, procedures, and available data from eight federal agencies selected based on their watchlisting roles, including the FBI, from fiscal years 2019 through 2023, and interviewed agency officials.

Recommendations

GAO’s March 2025 report made 24 recommendations to seven federal agencies to better help prevent, address, and mitigate terrorist watchlist-related issues for individuals, including those related to misidentifications of U.S. persons. These recommendations will enhance either nomination or redress processes (or both), monitor the timeliness of quality control processes, or establish and monitor redress time frames. The seven agencies that provided comments concurred with all recommendations directed to them.

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Recommendations

GAO’s March 2025 report made 24 recommendations to seven federal agencies to better help prevent, address, and mitigate terrorist watchlist-related issues for individuals, including those related to misidentifications of U.S. persons. These recommendations will enhance either nomination or redress processes (or both), monitor the timeliness of quality control processes, or establish and monitor redress time frames. The seven agencies that provided comments concurred with all recommendations directed to them.