US Muslim Congresswomen, Right Groups Hail Court Ruling FBI's Terror Watchlist As Unconstitutional

NEW YORK, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Sep, 2019 ) :Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilham Omar as well as some rights groups have expressed their appreciation after a US Federal judge ruled FBI's watchlist of more than 1 million people identified as "known or suspected terrorists" violates the constitutional rights of those placed on it.

"I have heard of horrifying stories of Muslim Americans, who were placed on the so-called 'watch list,' with no pathway (you know, due process!) to getting their Names removed. Today, it's Muslims, but tomorrow it can be you, if we don't stop this madness," Tlaib, a Muslim-American of Palestinian descent, tweeted on Thursday.

Also US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who arrived in the US as a refugee from Somalia as a child, called the decision "tremendous." "Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to make sure Constitutional rights are extended to all regardless of religion, race or ethnicity!" she added on Twitter.

"This is a really important ruling, long overdue," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. "The watchlist is overbroad, opaque, and arbitrary�a civil liberties train wreck.

" The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by 19 Americans on the list represented by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

"Today's opinion is a victory for the more than one hundred American Muslims we represent and for the thousands of American-Muslims who are currently stigmatized by the watchlist," CAIR national litigation director Lena Masri said in a statement.

"CAIR has stood with those targeted by the watchlist, and together with them, we have fought back against this injustice together," CAIR said in a statement later posted on its website.

"This victory is made possible by the courageous American Muslims who were watchlisted and decided to come out of the shadows and trust in CAIR to fight in the courts on their behalf. We also could not have done this without community donors like you who believed in CAIR's mission and work," it said.

"However, this fight is not over. The judge is asking CAIR to address the due process violations inherent in the watchlisting system. We have more pending and upcoming legal challenges to completely end government profiling."