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8-Year-Old Boy Can't Get Name Off Airport Security Watch List
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 14, 2010
Modified Jan 14, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 14, 2010
Modified Jan 14, 2010
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Mikey Hicks, an 8-year-old Cub Scout from Clifton, NJ, dreads flying out of Newark because airport security is always pulling him aside for frisking and interrogation, explaining that his name is "on the list." He was first patted down at the age of 2, and cried like a baby. His mother would like everyone to feel sorry for him, but the other passengers probably felt a lot safer knowing no surprises were waiting inside his Pampers, hey-o.
Of course, the Transportation Security Administration says just it's a myth that this kid is on their "No-Fly" list, which is technically true—Mikey is actually one of 13,500 people on the larger "selectee" list, which automatically triggers a high level of security screening. But for almost seven years, this snafu (which the TSA won't comment on) has gotten increasingly annoying for the family, because they get tied up with security and are usually the last to get seat assignments and board the plane, preventing them from sitting together. Mikey's mother, who actually got clearance to fly on Air Force One as a photojournalist, is well-armed with zingers for the Times:
Up your arms, down your arms, up your crotch — someone is patting your 8-year-old down like he’s a criminal. A terrorist can blow his underwear up and they don’t catch him. But my 8-year-old can’t walk through security without being frisked... I understand the need for security. But this is ridiculous. It’s quite clear that he is 8 years old, and while he may have terroristic tendencies at home, he does not have those on a plane.
81,793 travelers have submitted formal requests demanding their names be taken off the watch list; more than 25,000 of their cases are still pending. Mario Labbé, a Canadian record-company executive, was stopped so many times since 9/11 he finally got fed up and just changed his name. Now they don't bother him anymore! The system works! "We can’t just throw a bunch of names on these lists and call it security,” Representative William J. Pascrell Jr., a New Jersey Democrat, tells the Times. "If we can’t get an 8-year-old off the list, the whole list becomes suspect."
Tagged
8-year-old
airport
boy scout
cub scout
new jersey
newark
no fly list
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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