Posted on 07/07/2010 1:11:59 PM PDT by re_tail20
One is a disabled former Marine, born in Miami and living in Egypt. Another is a 28-year-old student from Corona, Calif., a German citizen and permanent resident of the United States. Another is a refugee from Guinea who works as a caregiver for a family in New York. Another is an Air Force veteran and retired fireman, originally from Las Cruces, N.M.
There are 10 of them in all, 10 individuals from 10 walks of life who it turns out do have something in common not only with one another, but also with several toddlers, nuns and the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Namely, they've all been refused permission to board planes bound for, or traveling within, the United States, because their names showed up on a terrorist "no-fly" list.
As of last week, the 10 have something else in common. They are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Timothy Healy, director of the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center. The ACLU is seeking an injunction on behalf of individuals who, as the suit puts it, "the government deems too dangerous to fly, but too harmless to arrest."
It's more than a clever turn of phrase. It is also an apt description of the legal limbo to which the government has consigned an untold number of innocent people in the name of fighting terror.
Here's how it is when your name is on the no-fly list:
They won't let you fly.
They won't tell you why.
They won't show you the list.
They won't take your name off the list.
They won't give you any way to appeal.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Red Ted Kennedy coordinated with KGB agents to thwart the Reagan Administration.
He deserved to be on the list.
While the list of victims - innocent, humiliated and banned ordinary citizens - increases, exactly how many true terrorist bombers has the TSA actually intercepted? It would be nice to see numbers...
Do these people share names with actual identified terrorists or are they the exact people the list is trying to restrict? I have a friend that shares a name with a person on the No-fly list. He has to arrive extra early for flights and go through extra checks, but they let him fly. His parents are Puerto Rican but he has lived in Maryland his whole life.
Kennedy I can understand, but the list includes eight year olds and four year olds. It’s just ridiculous.
Well, the no-fly list has been operating like this for more than seven years. Any common name - mine moniker, for instance - gets you severe treatment. And, no, they don’t/can’t/won’t tell you why (for security purposes) and nom you can’t get your name removed.
I can attest that it is annoying as h3ll, because you are treated like a potential terrorist. Thank the good Lord I haven’t had to fly anywhere. At least the trains don’t have a no-ride list, although you have to present a photo ID to buy an Amtrak ticket. (This rule just started within the past year.)
Has this lawsuit been in the pipes for years, or is it of more recent vintage? This is a lawsuit filed for these people by the ACLU. Does that make it a bad thing automatically?
And whenever you hear a Democrat say “Republicans want terrorists to have guns” that means they want to use this list to deny people the right to purchase a gun, and the Republicans are opposing it.
You are correct about common names being on the list....and NONE of them are Middle Eastern.
Jack Baldwin, Alexandra Hay, David Nelson, etc. are some of the name on the list. Ozzie and Harriet’s son, David Nelson, gets hassled at the airport. What’s next, putting “Leave it to Beaver” star Jerry Mathers on the no fly list?
Here’s a tip for you that has worked for some people....
use your middle initial. For instance, if your name is Jack Baldwin, make your reservation in the name of Jack R. Baldwin (assuming your middle name is “Robert”). Any middle initial will do.
Sometimes, the opposite works....J. Robert Baldwin may not get the hassles that “Jack Baldwin” receives. It’s all pretty half-a$$ed. Al-Queda must be laughing their caves.
Thank you for the suggestion. I have always used my middle initial, but even then my name is pretty common. You don’t want to know the hassle I’ve had with the credit reporting companies. Every deadbeat with my name who’s ever even driven through my state seems to end up on my credit reports.
Nowadays, having a bad credit report is even WORSE than having the same name as a terrorist’s alias. Plus it’s much, much harder to prove incorrect.
QUESTION?:
Is there any way to determine if one is on the “no-fly-list”
save trying to fly and see what happens?????
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