If you suspect your name is on the government’s no-fly list, how can you get it removed?
This problem is so common that even a 3rd-grader was prevented from boarding a flight in July.
Poor Bryan Moore of Parker, Kan., was stopped at the Cortez (Utah) airport, even though children are not included on terror watch lists.
Even though he was flying home to see his mommy.
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Even though he was 8.
By the time officials cleared up the error, the plane had left.
While nobody wants to sit next to the shoe bomber or a hijacker, our nation’s crude methods of separating the wheat from the chaff means that thousands of law-abiding travelers have been swept up in suspicion since 2001.
Even people like U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Even airline pilots.
Even the nice Bryan Moores of the world.
Maybe even you.
Here is what to do about it.
First, minimize risk of misidentification by adding your middle initial or name when you book tickets.
Second, visit the new Department of Homeland Security Web site, where those who believe their names are wrongly on the no-fly list can file complaints.
At the site, www.dhs.gov/trip, you can download a Traveler Redress Inquiry Form that you fill out and mail or fax back.
Of course, in order to get the government off your back you have to provide copies of documents such as driver’s license or military ID card.
Still, it might be worth clearing your name.
Should you file an inquiry?
Maybe.
Here are some questions from the form. If most of these things happen to you frequently, something is fishy:
– “I am always subjected to additional screening when going through an airport security checkpoint.”
– “I was denied boarding.”
– “I am unable to print a boarding pass at the airport kiosk or at home.”
– “I am directed to the ticket counter every time I fly.”
– “The airline ticket agent states that I am on a federal government watch list.”
– “I was detained during my travel experience.”
– “A ticket agent took my identification and called someone before handing me a boarding pass.”
– “I missed my flight while attempting to obtain a boarding pass.”
– “I am repeatedly referred for secondary screening when clearing U.S. Customs and Border protection.”
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– “I was denied entry into the United States.”
If you are a 3rd grader or anyone else who shouldn’t be languishing on the no-fly list, make the effort.
This is America, not a police state.