US watch list up by 1.5 mln in last five years

Data retrieved during a civil lawsuit showed that almost 1.5 million people have been added to the United States government's watch list in the last five years and the numbers are increasing with time.

According to The Verge, the US intelligence added 468,749 people to the list in fiscal 2013 compared to 336,712 in 2012 and about 250,000 in 2009 and 2010. While the government does not bar people, who are on the list, from flying yet they are made to go through severe security checks and also face problems in obtaining visa.

Since the list is secretive, therefore, there is no recourse for those who have been added to it, the report said.

This is what prompted the Council on American-Islamic Relations to file a lawsuit, on behalf of a Somalian US citizen named Gulet Mohamed, challenging the constitutionality of the list. Mohamed is already on the list and was unable to return to the U.S from Kuwait.

The terrorist watch list was first created in 2003 and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) believes that it allows them to track down terrorists trying to obtain visas or engaging in any other activity. According to the government, it is one of the most effective anti-terrorism tools, the report added.