‘Suspected Terrorist’ Imam Loses Appeal, Court Sides With FBI

6

Terror-tied CAIR lawsuit filed the lawsuit with the suspected terrorist – epic fail. Has CAIR issued a fatwa?

Judge dismisses Utah Muslim leader’s lawsuit, ruling that the ‘inconvenience’ of being on government terror watchlist is not a violation of his constitutional rights

By Bloomberg, Nov. 12, 2019, 4:09 PM

When he tried to return home from Kenya last year, Utah Muslim leader Yussuf Awadir Abdi was blocked from boarding a plane because, he was told, the United States would not allow his re-entry into the country.

Story continues below advertisement

Abdi — who believed he must have been put on a government no-fly list — finally made it back to Salt Lake City on June 18, 2017, after his lawyers got assistance from the U.S. attorney’s office in Utah to get him on a flight.

Meanwhile, his lawyers, who are with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Refugee Justice League of Utah, had filed suit against five federal agencies — including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and FBI— alleging there is “good evidence” Abdi was put on a government terror watchlist after he left the United States.

The lawsuit — which alleges Abdi’s constitutional rights to due process and equal protection were violated and he was discriminated against because of his race, religion and ethnicity — sought his removal from any watchlist that burdens or prevents him for flying or entering the United States, and sought a way for people to contest their inclusion on a watchlist.

Abdi, a U.S. citizen and imam of Salt Lake City’s Madina Masjid Islamic Center, has no criminal record and the government has no reason to believe he presents a threat to the United States, according to the suit.

But on Monday, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson granted a government motion to dismiss the suit, ruling Abdi has not shown a sufficient basis for his allegations that his rights were violated. The judge said the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized the right to travel as a constitutionally protected interest but added that the high court “has not recognized a right to convenient or unimpeded travel.”

Benson also noted that Abdi flew on three separate occasions in 2017 after his return from Kenya — to San Jose, Calif.; to and from Mecca, Saudi Arabia; and to and from Virginia — and was subjected to a lengthy screening process each time.

“Plaintiff has failed to show that the right to movement is a liberty interest that is protected under the Constitution,” Benson wrote, “particularly where, as here, Plaintiff has been able to travel, albeit inconveniently.”

The judge also said the watchlist’s alleged disparate impact on Muslim Americans is insufficient to establish “intentional discrimination” in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.

Gadeir Abbas, a CAIR lawyer, said he believes Abdi was allowed to come back to the United States because of the lawsuit. And since his return, he said, the imam has been been able to travel and “the federal government seems to be treating him much like everyone else.”

“The lawsuit has already accomplished so much,” Abbas said, adding that he is still studying the ruling and no decision had been made yet on the next step in the litigation.

Abdi, who has been an American citizen since 2010, had traveled to Kenya to pick up his wife and five children. His wife and two of his children have visas; the other three kids are legal immigrants.

His family was allowed to board a plane to the United States, but Abdi said officials at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport pulled him aside. The next day, the imam tried to find out from the U.S. Embassy in Kenya why he was denied boarding, but representatives there did not provide any information, court records say.

The day after that, on June 16, Abdi was allowed to fly to Los Angeles but a lengthy screening process made him miss his connecting flight to Salt Lake City. His family stayed with Abdi while his lawyers worked to untangle the matter and they all arrived in Utah on June 18.

Earlier in the year, President Donald Trump’s immigration and refugee executive orders sought to temporarily limit travel to the United States and fulfill his campaign promise of a “Muslim ban,” but the courts blocked them. It’s unclear why Kenyan officials kept Abdi from his flight. Kenya is also not one of the seven Muslim-majority countries targeted by Trump executive orders.

According to court documents, the Terrorist Screening Center, which is administered by the FBI, has a Selectee List and No Fly List. Travelers on the Selectee List are subject to extra screening at airports and land border crossings, while those on the No Fly List are prevented from boarding flights that fly into, out of or through U.S. airspace.

The lawsuit, which was amended several months after it was first filed, alleges Abdi had been on the No Fly List initially and was placed on the Selectee List after his return from Kenya.

Abdi filed a redress request through the Department of Homeland Security in 2016 and received a standard form letter that neither confirmed nor denied the existence of any watchlist records relating to him, court records say.

The Truth Must be Told

Your contribution supports independent journalism

Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more.

Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible.

Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too.

Please contribute here.

or

Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.

Quick note: We cannot do this without your support. Fact. Our work is made possible by you and only you. We receive no grants, government handouts, or major funding. Tech giants are shutting us down. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense, Pinterest permanently banned us. Facebook, Google search et al have shadow-banned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here.

Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here— it’s free and it’s essential NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America's survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.

Follow Pamela Geller on Gettr. I am there. click here.

Follow Pamela Geller on
Trump's social media platform, Truth Social. It's open and free.

Remember, YOU make the work possible. If you can, please contribute to Geller Report.

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spammy or unhelpful, click the - symbol under the comment to let us know. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

If you would like to join the conversation, but don't have an account, you can sign up for one right here.

If you are having problems leaving a comment, it's likely because you are using an ad blocker, something that break ads, of course, but also breaks the comments section of our site. If you are using an ad blocker, and would like to share your thoughts, please disable your ad blocker. We look forward to seeing your comments below.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
patd
patd
4 years ago

All muslims should be on the terror watch list!!!! They are terrorist or they support their local terrorist!!!!

harriet
harriet
4 years ago
Reply to  patd

just like Communists were prevented from entering USA, all muslims should be

practicing muslims MUST believe and want sharia law…which is anathema to our secular republic, and must work to dismantle and destroy our civilization

Bikinis not Burkas
Bikinis not Burkas
4 years ago
Reply to  patd

If they have a Quran they are the terrorists, read Quran 8:12!

Roma Mikhasev
Roma Mikhasev
4 years ago

i like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :))))))))))))))))))

Thomas Faddis
Thomas Faddis
4 years ago

Probably because Kenya Knows violent islamic jihad terrorists when it sees them!

Mike Kevins
Mike Kevins
4 years ago

Awwwww, the poor wittle iman was inconvenienced. Not as inconvenienced as all the people that have been killed or maimed by some of his brethren. Shut up and sit down!!!

Sponsored
Geller Report
Thanks for sharing!