NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit on behalf of 10 U.S. citizens and lawful residents who are prohibited from flying to or from the United States or over U.S. airspace because they are on the government’s “No Fly List.” None of the individuals in the lawsuit, including a disabled U.S. Marine Corps veteran stranded in Egypt and a U.S. Army veteran stuck in Colombia, have been told why they are on the list or given a chance to clear their names. One of the clients on the ACLU’s case was born and raised in Las Cruces, NM.
“More and more Americans who have done nothing wrong find themselves unable to fly, and in some cases unable to return to the U.S., without any explanation whatsoever from the government,” said Ben Wizner, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. “A secret list that deprives people of the right to fly and places them into effective exile without any opportunity to object is both un-American and unconstitutional.”
The ACLU of New Mexico joined the national ACLU and its affiliates in Oregon, Southern California, and Northern California in filing the lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI and the Terrorist Screening Center in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. The plaintiffs on the case are:

• Steven Washburn, a U.S. citizen born and raised in Las Cruces, NM and a U.S. Air Force veteran who was prevented from flying from Europe to the United States or Mexico; he eventually flew to Brazil, from there to Peru, and from there to Mexico, where he was detained and finally escorted across the border by U.S. and Mexican officials;
• Ayman Latif, a U.S. citizen and disabled Marine veteran living in Egypt who has been barred from flying to the United States and, as a result, cannot take a required Veterans’ Administration disability evaluation;
• Raymond Earl Knaeble, a U.S. citizen and U.S. Army veteran who is stuck in Santa Marta, Colombia after being denied boarding on a flight to the United States;
• Samir Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed, Abdullatif Muthanna, Nagib Ali Ghaleb and Saleh A. Omar, three American citizens and a lawful permanent resident of the United States who were prevented from flying home to the U.S. after visiting family members in Yemen;
• Mohamed Sheikh Abdirahman Kariye, a U.S. citizen and resident of Portland, Oregon who was prevented from flying to visit his daughter who is in high school in Dubai;
• Adama Bah, a citizen of Guinea who was granted political asylum in the United States, where she has lived since she was two, who was barred from flying from New York to Chicago for work; and
• Halime Sat, a German citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States who lives in California with her U.S.-citizen husband who was barred from flying from Long Beach, California to Oakland to attend a conference and has since had to cancel plane travel to participate in educational programs and her family reunion in Germany.

According to the ACLU’s legal complaint, thousands of people have been added to the “No Fly List” and barred from commercial air travel without any opportunity to learn about or refute the basis for their inclusion on the list. The result is a vast and growing list of individuals who, on the basis of error or innuendo, have been deemed too dangerous to fly but too harmless to arrest.
“Without a reasonable way for people to challenge their inclusion on the list, there’s no way to keep innocent people off it,” said Nusrat Choudhury, a staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. “The government’s decision to prevent people from flying without giving them a chance to defend themselves has a huge impact on people’s lives – including their ability to perform their jobs, see their families and, in the case of U.S. citizens, to return home to the United States from abroad.”
“The right to move freely for work and to visit family members should never be denied without due process,” said Peter Simonson, Executive Director of the ACLU of New Mexico. “Because of secret no-fly lists, Las Cruces native and U.S. Air Force veteran Steven Washburn was put through a costly, distressing ordeal and to this day doesn’t know the reason why.”
In addition to Wizner and Choudhury, attorneys on the case are Kevin Díaz and cooperating attorney Steven Wilker with the ACLU of Oregon; Ahilan Arulanantham, Jennie Pasquarella and cooperating attorney Reem Salahi with the ACLU of Southern California; Alan Schlosser and Julia Harumi Mass of the ACLU of Northern California; and Laura Ives of the ACLU of New Mexico.

Arizona Racial Profiling Law Threatens Civil Liberties

JUNE 30, 2010 – In response to civil liberties threats caused by the recent passage of Arizona’s racial profiling law, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico (ACLU-NM) issued a travel alert today informing New Mexico residents of their rights when stopped by law enforcement when traveling in Arizona. The unconstitutional law, known as SB 1070, requires law enforcement agents to demand "papers" from people they stop who they suspect are not authorized to be in the U.S. If individuals are unable to prove to officers that they are permitted to be in the U.S., they may be subject to warrantless arrest without any probable cause that they have committed a crime.
Although the law is not scheduled to go into effect until July 29, ACLU-NM is concerned that some police officers and sheriff's deputies are already beginning to act on provisions of the law. Arizona law enforcement has a well-documented history of racial profiling, especially in Maricopa County.  Arizona lawmakers have espoused a policy of “attrition through enforcement” that is meant to create such a hostile environment for people perceived to be immigrants that they flee the state. “We want to ensure that New Mexicans understand the increased risk for illegal harassment and unlawful detentions when traveling in Arizona,” said Peter Simonson, Executive Director of the ACLU-NM. “Our proud tradition of diversity and multi-culturalism means that one in two New Mexicans would fit the racial profile that police will inevitably use to enforce the law. New Mexico residents should also be aware that, because our driver’s licenses do not require proof of legal residence to obtain, they may not satisfy Arizona’s criteria for identification under the new Arizona racial profiling law.”
In addition to the travel alert, the ACLU has made available in English and Spanish materials on individuals’ rights if stopped by law enforcement in Arizona or other states as a result of SB 1070 or for any other reason. The materials include a downloadable card with instructions – applicable in any state – on coping with vehicle stops and questioning by police, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents or the FBI, as well as a Frequently Asked Questions document about SB 1070.
“If I could only give one piece of advice to New Mexicans planning to travel in Arizona, it would be ‘Know your Rights’,” said Vicki Gaubeca, Director of the ACLU-NM Regional Center for Border Rights. “If you look or sound ‘foreign,’ you are more likely to be subjected to pretextual stops for minor infractions such as a cracked windshield or jaywalking. Law enforcement officers may believe that you are in the country unlawfully just because of the way you look, and your best protection against harassment is a thorough understanding of your rights.”
The ACLU and other leading civil rights organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the Arizona law in May, but until the law is struck down, the ACLU warns that individuals traveling in Arizona must be aware of their rights if stopped there. If you are stopped by law enforcement in Arizona and you believe that racial profiling was a factor, you can submit a written complaint online at the ACLU-NM website at: https://aclu-nm.org/contact-us/before-submitting-your-complaint/
Materials informing individuals of their rights when stopped by law enforcement can be found at: https://www.aclu-nm.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/ACLU-bust-card-2010_final.pdf and in Spanish at https://www.aclu-nm.org/es/centro-regional-para-derechos-fronterizos/conoce-tus-derechos/
More information about the Arizona law, including an ACLU video and slide show, can be found at: www.aclu.org/what-happens-arizona-stops-arizona
More information about the lawsuit, including information on co-counsel and plaintiffs—including ACLU-NM’s own Vicki Gaubeca—can be found at: www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights-racial-justice/aclu-and-civil-rights-groups-file-legal-challenge-arizona-racial-pr
More information about the ACLU of New Mexico’s work on racial profiling can be found at: www.aclu-nm.org.
CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 Ext. 1003 or [email protected]

By Peter Simonson, ACLU-NM Executive Director

The GOP’s efforts to convince voters that the election system is wracked by fraud took another hit last week when the NM Court of Appeals rejected the Party’s effort to get a hold of the names and addresses of undocumented immigrants who have received state driver's licenses.  The GOP had hoped to use the information to check whether non-citizen immigrants were registered to vote in New Mexico.
Talk about a wild goose chase.  What immigrant is going to risk felony charges, permanent deportation, and the total upheaval of his or her family just to cast a ballot in a US election?  Barely fifty percent of American citizens exercise that right even in the best of years!
What’s really concerning is how readily local GOP leaders will sacrifice individuals’ right to privacy in the zeal to find evidence of voter fraud.  Two years ago the ACLU sued members of the Republican Party for violating state privacy laws after the Party obtained copies of individual voter registration forms and released the information to the press.  GOP members also used the information to track down lawful voters and challenge their right to vote in their homes.
Americans don’t need another disincentive to vote, like the belief that fraud so compromises the election system that voting is fruitless.  If the GOP truly has the best interests of our electoral democracy in mind, it should devote its effort to encouraging New Mexicans to take part in elections.  It could start by promoting mobile vote registration campaigns and removing ID requirements for voting in Albuquerque elections.