American Civil Liberties Union

In June 2010, the ACLU and its affiliates in Oregon, Southern California, Northern California, and New Mexico filed a legal challenge on behalf of 10 U.S. citizens and permanent residents who cannot fly to or from the U.S. or over American airspace because they are on the government’s secretive No Fly List (an additional five people have since joined the suit). The plaintiffs, who include four U.S. military veterans, have never been told why they are on the list or given a reasonable opportunity to get off it. Being unable to fly has severely affected their lives, including their ability to be with their families, go to school, and travel for work.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon on behalf of:

	Ibraheim (Abe) Mashal, a U.S. citizen and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, is a traveling dog trainer and father of three. He is unable to serve clients who are not within driving distance of his Illinois home because he is unable to board a plane.
	Ayman Latif, a U.S. citizen and disabled Marine veteran.
	Raymond Earl Knaeble, a U.S. citizen and U.S. Army veteran.
	Steven Washburn, a U.S. citizen and U.S. Air Force veteran who was prevented from flying from Europe to the United States or Mexico; he eventually flew to Brazil, and from there to Mexico, where he was detained and finally escorted across the border by U.S. officials.
Samir Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed, Abdullatif Muthanna, Nagib Ali Ghaleb and Saleh A. Omar, three American citizens and a lawful permanent resident of the United States who were prevented from flying home to the United States after visiting family members in Yemen.
Mohamed Sheikh Abdirahman Kariye, a U.S. citizen and resident of Portland, Oregon who was prevented from flying to visit his daughter who is in high school in Dubai.

In August 2010, the ACLU petitioned the court for preliminary relief so that the plaintiffs stranded abroad because they were on the list could fly home to the U.S. Instead of opposing the request, the government let each of them fly home. Yet, the government still refused to tell them why they hadn’t been able to fly back in the first place or whether they would be able to fly in the future. In February 2011, the complaint was amended at the request of the court.

The lawsuit was filed against officials at the Justice Department, the FBI, and the Terrorist Screening Center, which creates and controls the No Fly List. In May 2011, the district court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, ruling that the lawsuit should have been filed against the Transportation Security Administration, which administers the redress process for travelers denied boarding. The ACLU appealed, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, sitting in Portland, heard the case on May 11, 2012.

Today, the government's No Fly List consists of thousands of people who have been barred altogether from commercial air travel with no meaningful chance to clear their names, resulting in a vast and growing group of individuals whom the government deems too dangerous to fly but too harmless to arrest. It is unconstitutional for the government to put people on secret lists and deny them the right to travel without even basic due process.

Airport and Watch List Harassment: Tell Your Story >>