(Bergen Record) A Syria native from Bergen County and a Middlesex County man are among 20 Americans who filed a lawsuit this week alleging their rights were violated by the federal government’s secret surveillance of travelers.
The lawsuit challenges the federal terrorist watch list system as well as a domestic surveillance program called Quiet Skies, which the Boston Globe exposed last month.
Critics of the federal watch list of “known and suspected terrorists” say people have no meaningful way to challenge the designation and that it violates travelers’ constitutional rights. Further, under the Transportation Security Administration’s Quiet Skies program, thousands of Americans not suspected of any crime or on any watch list were being tracked by armed air marshals on planes and in airports.
