Guilt by association is very much alive in America today. A few days before Thanksgiving, a flight from Paris was diverted from Washington, D.C. to Bangor, Maine. Two men were removed from the plane and detained.
One of the men turned out to be on the no-fly list. While this does not necessarily mean he is guilty of anything, and my own thoughts about the no-fly list notwithstanding, it makes some sense for the government to not want him on a plane (though the issue of why he was allowed to board in the first place is unclear).
The second man was not on the no-fly list. The only thing he did was travel with the man who was. Despite the fact that the no-fly list is composed of many people who have done absolutely nothing wrong, this man was guilty of associating with someone who may or may not be guilty of something.
The point of the no-fly list is ostensibly to identify people who may be a risk and prevent them from flying. While not everyone on the list is a risk, and not everyone omitted from the list is clean, the government should not be able to detain people whose names do not appear on that list.
The government's no-fly list has created enough problems already for the people on it. There is no procedure for someone who is wrongfully listed to have their name removed. If the government starts to detain people who are not even on the list, what possible recourse do they have?
The fact that the government is detaining people who are not on the list, but are only traveling with someone who is, is deeply disturbing, especially in light of the list's inaccuracies.
Suppose your family is going on a vacation, but by some accident, you have been placed on the no-fly list. Despite having done nothing wrong, and not being a threat, you and your entire family will be prevented from flying and detained for questioning.
There has been a lot done in the name of security in the last three years. Many of the approaches taken have been ineffective, and many have encroached on the basic rights our Constitution guarantees to us. Do not allow a desire for security to blind you to the theft of our rights, to the theft of what makes America the great land that it is. If we allow our basic principled to be taken away, what is there to secure?