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The lawsuit, filed in the federal district court for the District of Columbia, challenged the government鈥檚 retaliatory placement of Mr. Chebli on the No Fly List and its failure to provide him with a fair and timely process to challenge the indefinite flying ban. The government鈥檚 actions against Mr. Chebli violated the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Mr. Chebli is a long-time Michigan resident and father of two young children, who has focused on building a good life with his family, both as a business owner and an engineer. Starting in August 2018, FBI agents approached Mr. Chebli, a U.S. citizen of Lebanese descent, and pressured him to work for the agency. The agents questioned him about his political and religious beliefs, associations, and the years he spent living in Lebanon as a young student. They accused him of affiliation with a terrorist group, which shocked Mr. Chebli and which he vehemently denied. The FBI agents repeatedly threatened that unless Mr. Chebli agreed to become an informant, he and his family would face increased surveillance and investigation, and his wife鈥檚 application for naturalization would be at risk. When Mr. Chebli refused to give in to these threats, the government placed him on the No Fly List. The government confirmed he was on the List in December 2018.

For over two years, Mr. Chebli sought to challenge the government鈥檚 actions through an administrative redress process. But the government failed to provide him any reason for placing him on the List, any evidence supporting鈥攐r undermining鈥攁ny such reason, or any hearing before a neutral decision-maker. Because of the No Fly List鈥檚 indefinite flying ban, Mr. Chebli could not travel to see family and friends, for work, or to fulfill his religious pilgrimage obligation as a Muslim.

For nearly two decades, the U.S. government has operated a No Fly List that indefinitely bars thousands of U.S. citizens and residents from flying to, from, within, or over the United States, and stigmatizes them as terrorism suspects. The government places people on the No Fly List based on vague criteria, and U.S. citizens and residents on the No Fly List are disproportionately Muslim and those of Arab, Middle Eastern, or South Asian heritage. In recent years, the government鈥檚 use of the No Fly List to pressure people, particularly Muslims, to become informants has come under increasing scrutiny and challenge.

In 2014, the ACLU鈥檚 clients in another No Fly List challenge won a district court ruling finding that the government鈥檚 redress process for people to challenge their placement on the No Fly List was unconstitutional. As a result, the government announced in April 2015 that it would tell U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents whether they are on the List and possibly offer reasons. However, as Mr. Chebli鈥檚 case illustrates, the government鈥檚 new redress process falls far short of constitutional requirements because it still denies people meaningful and timely due process.

After failing for years to respond to Mr. Chebli鈥檚 petition for redress, the government took only ten days after the filing of the lawsuit to remove him from the No Fly List. In a May 2021 letter to Mr. Chebli, the Department of Homeland Security stated that he 鈥渘o longer satisfies the criteria for placement on the No Fly List鈥� and that he has 鈥渂een removed from the No Fly List, and will not be placed back on the No Fly List based on currently available information.鈥� Mr. Chebli subsequently withdrew the lawsuit.

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