Oh Baby: Infants Among Those Caught Up In U.S. 'no-Fly' Confusion Over Names

Ingrid Sanden's one-year-old daughter was stopped in Phoenix before boarding a flight home to Washington at Thanksgiving. "I completely understand the war on terrorism, and I completely understand people wanting to be safe when they fly," Sanden said. "But focusing the target a little bit is probably a better use of resources." The government's lists of people who are either barred from flying or require extra scrutiny before being allowed to board airplanes grew markedly since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Critics including the American Civil Liberties Union say the government doesn't provide enough information about the people on the lists, so innocent passengers can be caught up in the security sweep if they happen to have the same name as someone on the lists. That can happen even if the person happens to be an infant like Sanden's daughter. (Children under two don't need tickets but Sanden purchased one for her daughter to ensure she had a seat.) "It was bizarre," Sanden said. "I was hugely pregnant, and I was like, 'We look really threatening'." Sarah Zapolsky and her husband had a similar experience last month while departing from Dulles International Airport outside Washington. An airline ticket agent told them their 11-month-old son was on the government list. They were able to board their flight after ticket agents took a half-hour to fax her son's passport and fill out paperwork. "I understand that security is important," Zapolsky said. "But if they're just guessing, and we have to give up our passport to prove that our 11-month-old is not a terrorist, it's a waste of their time." Well-known people like Senator Edward Kennedy, Democratic Representative John Lewis of Georgia, and David Nelson, who starred in the sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, have also been stopped at airports because their names match those on the lists. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2005/08/15/pf-1174359.html [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on August 16, 2005]

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