The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which was formed in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, keeps a secret list of thousands of individuals who are “potential terrorists.” Some of them, designated “no-fly,” are barred from boarding commercial flights.

Non-U.S. airlines with destinations to the United States must submit a list of passengers and crew members 15 minutes before takeoff. If the flight is destined for another country but must travel through U.S. airspace the airline is only required to provide a list of the crew members. The TSA is now considering new guidelines requiring submission of a list of crew members and passengers on such flights.

On April 8 a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Mexico was denied entry into U.S. airspace and ordered by U.S. authorities to return to the Netherlands. According to press reports, two of the 278 passengers on board were Saudis whom the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said are on the government’s no-fly list. The two men are alleged to have received pilot training with one of the men involved in 9/11 attacks. The plane was diverted to London where the two men were both released after being interrogated by Dutch authorities.

The TSA denied the existence of such a list until November 2002. In 2003 the American Civil Liberties Union in Northern California filed a Freedom of Information request on behalf of two local antiwar activists who had been told they were on such a list. The suit requests that the TSA and Department of Homeland Security provide information on what criteria are used to place individuals on its no-fly/watch list and a method of appeal for those who believe they are on the list mistakenly.

Tom Burke, an attorney for the ACLU in the case, told the judge that he has also been subjected to extra screening and searches at airports and is unable to print his boarding pass at home after booking a flight over the internet because there is a Tom Burke on the list. “I don't know if they mean me, because I’m representing the ACLU, or it’s another Tom Burke,” he told the press.
 
 
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U.S. federal, local cops conduct nationwide dragnet  
 
 
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