Suit was filed yesterday in a Massachusetts federal district court challenging the federal government's terrorist watchlist system. In a 185-page complaint, 12 Muslim plaintiffs sued 29 federal officials claiming violations of the 4th and 5th Amendments, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. The complaint (full text) in Khairullah v. Garland, (D MA, filed 9/18/2023), alleges in part:
3. Plaintiffs were placed on the federal terrorist watchlist by Defendants’ interagency watchlisting system, which evaluates individuals for inclusion under a vague, rubberstamp-at-best standard that is satisfied nearly 100% of the time. Plaintiffs were not notified of their nomination to or inclusion in the watchlist. They have no idea why the government considers them worthy of permanent suspicion, have no opportunity to dispute the government’s decision or confront the supposedly derogatory information on which their placement is based....
5. The stigma and harm of watchlisting placement lasts a lifetime, even if Defendants eventually ... remove an individual from the watchlist. Several agencies retain records of past watchlist status and continue to use that historic status to deny formerly-listed individuals ... security clearances, employment, access to government buildings, and other licenses and permissions....
9. ... Over 98% of the names on leaked portions of the watchlist from 2019 are identifiably Muslim.... Defendants consider origin from Muslim-majority countries, travel to Muslim-majority countries, attending mosques and Islamic events, zakat donations to Muslim charities, the wearing of typical Muslim dress, Muslim-sounding names, the frequency of Muslim prayer, adherence to Islamic religious practices, Islamic religious study, the transfer of money to individuals residing in Muslim-majority countries, affiliations with Muslim organizations, and associations with Muslims in the United States or abroad to be suspicious, and routinely nominate Muslims to the watchlist on the basis of those characteristics and activities....
12. Defendants create, maintain, administer, and use the watchlisting system without congressional approval and oversight, targeting Plaintiffs and thousands of other American Muslims in the shadowy corners of federal agency power.
CAIR announced its filing of the lawsuit as well as the release of its 2023 Muslim Community Travel Discrimination Survey. VOA also reports on the lawsuit.
