Muslim-Americans file class-action lawsuit against terror watch list

Lawyers filed two lawsuits this week accusing US officials of violating thousands of American citizens’ constitutional rights

Nihad Awad (2nd R), Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), speaks about the growing Islamophobia in the US (AFP)

TORONTO, Canada – A group of Muslim-Americans filed a class-action lawsuit against the United States’ use of a terrorist watch list, which they say has created “an injustice of historic proportions”.

Eighteen plaintiffs, including a four-year-old known simply as Baby Doe, say their constitution rights were violated after being placed on the federal terrorist watch list.

The lawsuit, initiated by the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Michigan Chapter (CAIR-MI), was filed against several high-ranking US officials, including Christopher Piehota, director of the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC).

Established in 2003 under the administration of the FBI, the TSC maintains the Terrorist Screening Database, otherwise known as the terrorist watch list.

The plaintiffs, all of whom are American citizens, have been “falsely stigmatised as ‘known or suspected’ terrorists” and “denied a meaningful opportunity to challenge their designation on the federal watch list,” the lawsuit states.

Gadeir Abbas, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told Middle East Eye that being on the watch list has turned thousands of Americans into second-class citizens.

Individuals on the list have had their bank accounts closed without warning, been denied the ability to make wire transfers, suffer delays and interrogations at airports and other border crossings, and cannot work certain jobs, Abbas said.

The US government also disseminates its watch list to state and local agencies, including police and security forces, both in the US and abroad, he said.

“Being on the federal watch list [creates] second-class citizenship status because not only are you unable to live your life as other innocent Americans are, but you’re unable to travel internationally without substantial risks to your life and liberty,” Abbas said.

“The federal government is saying to countries all across the globe that these innocent Americans … are dangerous, are known or suspected terrorists, when they are no such thing.”

Broad authority                   Read More