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Sending Americans into Exile

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WILLIAM FISHER
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This goes on for days. You're exhausted. Your family has no idea where you are. They're frantically phoning anyone they think might have some information, including the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and so forth. And, of course, their lawyers, if they have lawyers. So far, your gracious "hosts" haven't asked you if you even want a lawyer, and they are not likely to do so.

 

Every evening your hosts let you go -- where can you go? -- to the American Embassy or Consulate, where you talk to anyone who will listen and try to find out why you're stuck in this nightmare. This can go on for weeks or for a month or more.

 

Finally, you manage to reach out to an organization like the American Civil Liberties Union. You tell your story. But they've heard it all before -- from people in precisely the same predicament as you are in. They've learned how to navigate these rocky shoals of counter-terrorism.

 

After what seems an absolutely endless delay, you are unceremoniously put on a plane headed for the US. You have not been found guilty of anything. You have not been exonerated of any crime. You are exactly the same person you were when this awful journey began -- except that you are now on the no-fly list and you're mad as hell.

 

Why did this happen to you? You'll have to tell me. Because our Government certainly isn't going to. They won't even confirm that you are on a no-fly list, or any list, much less why.

 

Now the ACLU represents 15 US citizens and permanent residents who have received this kind of inhumane treatment.  

 

Most of these folks didn't know one another. Today they are bonded by the Keystone Kops antics of our counter-terrorism programs. And bonded even more tightly by the adventure on which they are about to embark.

 

Ten of them are suing the U.S. government.

 

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William Fisher has managed economic development programs in the Middle East and elsewhere for the US State Department and the US Agency for International Development. He served in the international affairs area in the Kennedy Administration and now (more...)
 
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