March 19 (UPI) -- FBI officials say renaming its Terrorist Screening Center to "Threat Screening Center" is part of the federal government's newly "expanded" and "broader mission" to combat foreign threats by America's "lead terrorist watchlisting entity."
"With expanding and growing threats, we are reflecting that in our name," TSC Director Michael Glasheen wrote Wednesday in a release by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The so-called "Threat Screening Center," a division of the FBI, has been the U.S. government's "lead terrorist watchlisting entity" for more than 20 years, according to the bureau.
Glasheen called the TSC "a powerful tool that can be used to fight all national security threats" and that the name change is a signal to the American public. He added that watchlisting transnational organized crime plays "an important role in U.S. security interests while we continue to prevent terrorist attacks."
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It began operating in 2003 and stemmed as a direct result of the devastating Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on American soil.
The TSC, the brainchild of Bush administration officials under then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller and then-U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, was designed and intended to "consolidate terrorist watchlists and provide 24/7 operational support for thousands of federal screeners across the country and around the world," and to ensure a unified base of "anti-terror" information and federal watch lists.
FBI officials claimed that as national security threats continue to evolve, the TSC has "expanded beyond terrorism watchlisting and screening to address other national security threats," which they added include such things like transnational organized crime and the recent designation of eight drug cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.
"Border security is essential to protecting our country and providing safer communities for our citizens," stated FBI Director Kash Patel.
However, by 2008 the American Civil Liberties Union was sounding the alarm on the TSC, arguing at that it was rendered ineffective for what ACLU officials claimed had at least 1 million names on it at the time. Federal officials, however, were quick to refute and say it had only about 400,000 names on the U.S. government's anti-terror list.
"Independent government audits have recognized our ongoing efforts to constantly check watch list data to improve quality, reduce the number of misidentifications or mitigate their effects, and enhance traveler redress efforts," the TSC claimed in a statement in the last months under former President George W. Bush.
Patel, who received a historically unenthusiastic Senate confirmation and was among President Donald Trump's more controversial nominees to join his second administration, added that the FBI will now expand the watchlist to include "cartel and gang members from newly designated foreign terrorist organizations."
On Wednesday, Patel claimed this new change would aid law enforcement and intelligence community partners "as we all work together toward the goal of crushing violent crime within our borders."
