Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), announced that the council received a historic court ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Awad pointed out that CAIR turned to the U.S. court on behalf of tens of thousands of Muslims in the United States who have been placed on the FBI's suspect lists for about 10 years, which has resulted in their unconstitutional deprivation of the right to travel. He noted that the Supreme Court voted in favor of the council today with a unanimous decision of 9 to 0 against the FBI, marking a historic ruling that opens the door for holding the U.S. government accountable for illegal practices against Muslims in America after more than 10 years of legal battle.
He explained that the U.S. government lost the case early on and appealed three times to overturn the ruling until the case reached the constitutional court, which ultimately ruled in favor of CAIR. He added that the case dates back to an incident where FBI officers attempted to blackmail a Muslim American of Somali descent ten years ago, coercing him to work as an informant in exchange for allowing him to travel to the United States. When he refused, they warned him against traveling, which led CAIR to file a lawsuit against them and ultimately win after all these years.
