Federal Government Removes 7 Americans From No-Fly List

An anonymous reader writes: In response to a district judge ruling that declared the Department of Homeland Security's Traveler Redress Inquiry Program unconstitutional, the federal government has annouced its removal of seven Americans from its no-fly list (PDF). The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is representing a total of 13 people suing to get off that list, and the government has until January of this year to deal with remaining six in that group. "Federal agencies have nominated more than 1.5 million names to terrorist watch lists over the past five years alone. Yet being a terrorist isn't a condition of getting on a roster that, until now, has been virtually impossible to be removed from..." One of the seven removed from the list is Marine Corps veteran and dog trainer Ibraheim Mashal of Illinois. The others had similarly Middle-Eastern-sounding names.

Comments

"Until now"?

[Anonymous Coward]

1.5 million names on, 7 names off...

Which of those two statistics says that it's no longer "virtually impossible" to get off the list?

Re:"Until now"?

[able1234au]

Searching for the list probably gets you on the list.

Re:What happens with no ID?

[rmdingler]

I don't see why you need a driver's license if you're not currently driving a car... Children probably get through the checkpoint just fine.

They do. I flew with mine, completely uneventfully, multiple times, prior to admitting an 18th birthday had been reached. Note to self: dishonesty is the second best policy. Despite a school-issued photo-ID, they held my son out of line nearly long enough to cost us all the scheduled flight.

"The rest of you can go on ahead," they said, as if we mighty fly on despite the loss of a teenager. I have been talked to like a five-year-old more times than I care to remember during quality time with the TSA.... an exception to the rule, I am certain.

Does this all mean we'll see a rise in baby-faced terrorism?

Re:That whole list

[amiga3D]

I hate the fucking name. The sorry cock suckers used Patriotism to justify anti-patriotic legislation. If George Washington was alive today he'd gut the fucking bastards.

I have never understood this

[PapayaSF]

What exactly is the point of this odd half-assed sort of category, a "no-fly list"? If the federal government suspects a citizen or resident might be a terrorist, OK, then get a friggin' warrant and bug their phone and search their house and get some real evidence. Since terrorists can do a lot more than hijack airplanes, what's the message here? "We want to prevent you from hijacking an airliner, but a bus is OK?" Either treat them like a suspected terrorist, or just stop hassling them.