(NBC) Landing on the government’s terror watch list has become so common in this Detroit suburb that Osama Siblani, a publisher who immigrated from Lebanon in 1976 and wears a polo shirt and jeans at work, thumbs through his speed dial list recalling the stories.
No one’s told why they’re on it, and only the wealthy can afford a lawyer to get off it, says Siblani. The list includes a man paralyzed from the neck down and small business owners flagged for returning home to visit family.
On the city’s south side, Rasheed Alnozili, publisher of the Yemeni American newspaper, says many U.S.-born kids with Yemeni parents believe they’re not citizens. Meanwhile, some professionals with young families contemplate life in Canada.
