Too Scary to Fly, Not Scary Enough to Arrest

[Newsjock]

Source: Wired

Ten U.S citizens and residents, three of whom are veterans, are stuck abroad or cannot fly within or out of the United States because they are wrongly on a no-fly list, according to a federal lawsuit lodged Wednesday.

The Oregon federal court case claims the plaintiffs, many with Middle Eastern names who have committed no legal wrongdoing, have asked the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration for an explanation, to no avail.

... Steven Washburn, a 54-year-old U.S. citizen and Air Force veteran, is denied flight to United States from Britain.

Raymond Earl Kneable IV, a 29-year-old U.S. Citizen and Army veteran, recently traveled from United States to Colombia to get married and visit relatives. He is barred from returning to California.

... Nagib Ali Ghaleb, a 39-year-old U.S. citizen, is stuck in Yemen where he traveled from California to visit family.

Samir Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed, a 29-year-old U.S. citizen, is trapped in Yemen where he traveled from California to visit family.

Read more: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/06/no-fly /

[Solly Mack]

1. k/r

[jody]

2. That will stop when we Democrats control the House, Senate, & Presidency -- won't it? n/t

[DeSwiss]

3. Maybe one day. n/t

[depakid]

11. In some respects, it's gotten worse

[Xithras]

4. Anyone know if the "no fly" list applies to ships?

For what it's worth, if you ever find yourself stuck in Europe on a No Fly list, the Queen Mary 2 runs between Britain and New York on a regular basis. You can get cheap tickets through a discounter for only a bit more than you'd pay for an airline ticket. There are always interior rooms available, and you can usually book one last minute for about $850 to $1000, depending on what's available. That same trip, nonstop from London to New York on American Airlines, would cost you $845, so the price difference really isn't that huge.

You just have to deal with the inconvenience of spending 6 days on a ship, instead of 8 hours on a plane.

[hootinholler]

6. Maybe they can fly to Mexico or Canada and take a train? n/t

[Robb]

7. It does not. nt

[LittleGirl]

5. Married to a green card holder and immigrant

And I worry about this every time he has to fly abroad for his job. For what we went through to get his legal status here...this would probably make me have a nervous breakdown. I'd need meds. There is a better way if only someone would ask me how it went for us.

Now there are:
no-fly lists
reports of torturing foreigners
and forcing confessions

As much of a good citizen of the world my husband is, fear and torture could break the man. How do we remind others that we're all just "human"?

[SoapBox]

8. Another fine example of what a mess this "security" stuff is...

...not only a mess...but a joke.

[hack89]

9. And yet some would use this list to restrict civil rights

such as gun ownership.

[Javaman]

10. didn't Germany have a policy like this...

during the 1930's?

[MetaTrope]

12. And these days, they could just as arbitrarily be tortured or assassinated by our government

Brave new world, indeed.