Terrorist screening lawsuit by CAIR backs 5 Muslim Americans

DALLAS – A civil rights group has filed a court challenge to the federal government’s Terrorist Screening Database, alleging it stigmatizes its targets without due process.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Dallas on behalf of five Muslim American citizens. In a statement, the group says the five face consequences because they’re on the watch list, “including the inability to fly on airplanes, intrusive screenings at airports, and the denial of applications for credit cards and bank loans.”

CAIR’s senior litigation attorney, Gadeir (gah-DAYR’) Abbas says the database is “nothing more than a list of innocent Muslim citizens who have not been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime.”

The U.S. Department of Justice didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.