FBI Class Action Lawsuit Targets Terrorist Watch Lists

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Several FBI officials have been hit with a class action lawsuit that alleges the agency’s terrorist watch lists include hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom were added without evidence.

“Our federal government is imposing an injustice of historic proportions upon the Americans who have filed this action, as well as thousands of other Americans,” the terrorist watch list class action lawsuit alleges. “Through extra-judicial and secret means, the federal government is ensnaring individuals into an invisible web of consequences that are imposed indefinitely and without recourse as a result of the shockingly large federal watch list that now includes hundreds of thousands of individuals.”

The 19 plaintiffs, including 4-year-old “Baby Doe,” allege that people end up in the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database based on “mere guesses, hunches, and conjecture” and that many are placed on the list based on their race, national origin, ethnicity or religion.

According to the FBI watch list class action lawsuit, American Muslims are disproportionately represented on the list. The plaintiffs claim that the FBI applies the watch list differently with regard to American Muslims than people of other faiths.

When people are placed on the list, their names reportedly distributed to state and local authorities, foreign governments, corporations, captains of sea-faring vessels, contractors, and other individuals and entities which may subject the person to additional screening.

Once a person is placed on the terrorist watch list, he or she experiences significant barriers such as the inability to fly on airplanes, obtain licenses and own a firearm, the class action lawsuit alleges. Banks have allegedly closed accounts of individuals who are named on the federal watch list.

“Indeed, people on the federal watch lists only learn of their placement when they feel the web of consequences burdening their lives and aspirations, and they never learn why,” the FBI watch list class action lawsuit alleges.

Even worse, a person who is placed on this federal watch list is unable to challenge the basis for their inclusion, according to the watch list class action lawsuit. Although individuals are able to submit an inquiry through the Department of Homeland Security’s Traveler Redress Inquiry Program, the plaintiffs claim that no meaningful review is conducted.

By filing the class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs seek to represent a Class of Americans whose constitutionally protected rights have allegedly been violated due to their placement on one of the FBI’s terrorist watch lists. They claim that the FBI’s use of these watch lists violates the U.S. Constitution and their 5th Amendment rights to Due Process.

The plaintiffs are represented by Gadeir Abbas of the Law Office of Gadeir Abbas, Lena F. Masri of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan, and Shereef Akeel of Akeel & Valentine PLLC.

The FBI Terrorist Watch List Class Action Lawsuit is Doe, et al. v. Piehota, et al., Case No. 1:16-cv-00373, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.