NBC News made a little splash yesterday with this story noting that despite the Trump Administration’s claim that 4,000 terrorists had been stopped trying to enter that US last year, “Only six immigrants in [the] terrorism database [were] stopped by CBP at southern border from October to March.”
Unfortunately, NBC left an important qualifier for the very end of the story: “[The database] is not a list of people who could be criminally charged under terrorism statutes, and it is possible that someone could be stopped because they have the same name as a person on the list [my emphasis].”
Other news outlets, talking heads, etc., also left this out, because many of them don’t understand what the “terrorism database” — or, rather, immigration lookout system — is. So, yes, it may well be true that 4,000 individuals whose names appear in the lookout system as suspected terrorists or sympathizers were stopped at ports of entry (mostly airports) last year. But that does not mean that 4,000 terrorists tried to enter the US last year.
It only means that 4,000 people who have names that have been flagged were stopped and questioned. Most were probably granted entry.
A lot of people around the world share the same name. When an individual is entered into the database, as much information as possible is added to avoid confusion. Typically, date and place of birth is the key indicators to differentiate between individuals (which is why both are included in your passport data). But, still, the system will flag you if your data closely match someone else’s. TSA or CBP will pull you aside if necessary to determine if you really are the head of ISIS or just some guy who happens to have the same name.
Sometimes, not all information is available in the lookout system. For example, when I was a consular officer in the Baltics 20 years ago, I would from time to time enter the names of people whom I read about in the paper who had been arrested for serious crimes. I almost never had their birth date. Later, if someone with that name showed up to apply for a visa, I could investigate further to see if it was the same individual who had been arrested, and if there had been a conviction.
Early in my Foreign Service Career, I remember coming across this entry in the lookout database — “Muhammed FNU,” or Muhammed First Name Unknown. You can imagine how helpful that was.
The late Sen. Edward Kennedy was repeatedly stopped and questioned by TSA because somewhere in the lookout system was someone named Edward Kennedy who was a suspected criminal or terrorist (I don’t know the details). Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) is also in the lookout list.
So, just keep in mind that when you hear someone was stopped at the border because his name was in the “terrorist lookout system” that he or she (1) may not be the individual the lookout refers to (2) may be the individual referred to, but the entry is unsubstantiated or spurious and (3) may have been allowed into the country after questioning or (4) may have been returned abroad (discretion is the greater part of valor). It is also possible that he or she (5) was arrested as a terrorist suspect — but how often have you heard this happening? I can think of only one instance.