It’s Basically Impossible to Get Off the ‘No-Fly List’
Posted: Tue, 15 Dec 2015 22:51:24
One Woman’s Case Proves: It’s Basically Impossible to Get Off the ‘No-Fly List’
The government admitted it made a mistake when it put this Stanford Ph.D. on a terror watch list. She’s still not allowed in the United States.
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By Raymond Bonner
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As the Senate debated a proposal this month that would have barred gun sales to people on the government’s terrorism watch lists, Republicans decried the lists as unfair, unreliable and un-American. “There’s no due process or any way to get your name removed from it in a timely fashion,” Sen. Marco Rubio told CNN. “This is not a list you can be certain of,” Jeb Bush said. Mike Huckabee asserted that some people end up on the no-fly list due to “suspicion, not necessarily even so much as probable cause.”
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Rahinah Ibrahim, a Malaysian architect with a doctorate from Stanford, knows from personal experience that they have a compelling point. Ibrahim is the only person since the 9/11 attacks to file a court challenge that ultimately removed her name from the watch lists. It took her almost a decade to prevail in court and even that victory has proved pyrrhic for her. While a federal judge agreed that her inclusion on the no-fly list was groundless, she remains unable to obtain a visa that would allow her to visit the United States even to attend academic conferences. A close look at her case by ProPublica provides dramatic evidence of what was argued this month in Washington: It is indeed remarkably easy to get on the list and nearly impossible to get off.
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The questions of terrorism lists and visas appear likely to take center stage in the coming months. While the Senate rejected the amendment barring gun sales, Connecticut’s governor imposed just such a ban on a threat that is more theoretical. Between 2004 and 2014, more than 2,000 people on the government’s watch lists purchased firearms in the United States, according to a study by the Government Accountability Office. Questions are also emerging about how Tafsheen Malik, one of the perpetrators in the San Bernardino terrorism attack, managed to get a visa to join her husband despite her pro-jihadi postings on social media.
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Taken together, the two cases offer a disturbing look at the ability of U.S. authorities to effectively and fairly guard the border.
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Read More: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... -list.html
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My Thoughts:
It’s estimated that 50% of the people on the governments no fly list, aren’t at level of concern that the government wants you to think they are. Also, the fact that when asked the government can’t tell you why this or that person was put on this list, is a real scary thing to think about and for them to use this list to deny the 50% of people who are on this list, who shouldn’t be there from being able to obtain a gun to defend themselves, is something to worry about.
The government admitted it made a mistake when it put this Stanford Ph.D. on a terror watch list. She’s still not allowed in the United States.
.
By Raymond Bonner
.
As the Senate debated a proposal this month that would have barred gun sales to people on the government’s terrorism watch lists, Republicans decried the lists as unfair, unreliable and un-American. “There’s no due process or any way to get your name removed from it in a timely fashion,” Sen. Marco Rubio told CNN. “This is not a list you can be certain of,” Jeb Bush said. Mike Huckabee asserted that some people end up on the no-fly list due to “suspicion, not necessarily even so much as probable cause.”
.
Rahinah Ibrahim, a Malaysian architect with a doctorate from Stanford, knows from personal experience that they have a compelling point. Ibrahim is the only person since the 9/11 attacks to file a court challenge that ultimately removed her name from the watch lists. It took her almost a decade to prevail in court and even that victory has proved pyrrhic for her. While a federal judge agreed that her inclusion on the no-fly list was groundless, she remains unable to obtain a visa that would allow her to visit the United States even to attend academic conferences. A close look at her case by ProPublica provides dramatic evidence of what was argued this month in Washington: It is indeed remarkably easy to get on the list and nearly impossible to get off.
.
The questions of terrorism lists and visas appear likely to take center stage in the coming months. While the Senate rejected the amendment barring gun sales, Connecticut’s governor imposed just such a ban on a threat that is more theoretical. Between 2004 and 2014, more than 2,000 people on the government’s watch lists purchased firearms in the United States, according to a study by the Government Accountability Office. Questions are also emerging about how Tafsheen Malik, one of the perpetrators in the San Bernardino terrorism attack, managed to get a visa to join her husband despite her pro-jihadi postings on social media.
.
Taken together, the two cases offer a disturbing look at the ability of U.S. authorities to effectively and fairly guard the border.
.
Read More: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... -list.html
.
My Thoughts:
It’s estimated that 50% of the people on the governments no fly list, aren’t at level of concern that the government wants you to think they are. Also, the fact that when asked the government can’t tell you why this or that person was put on this list, is a real scary thing to think about and for them to use this list to deny the 50% of people who are on this list, who shouldn’t be there from being able to obtain a gun to defend themselves, is something to worry about.
