Stranded American-Iranian Student on ‘No-Fly List’ Walks Across U.S. Border
- Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:41pm by
Jason Howerton
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Kavan Iraniha, 27, was placed on U.S. government's no fly-list. (Source: NBC San Diego)
A San Diego man, stuck in Costa Rica after being placed on the no-fly list by the U.S. government, is now back in America after a terrifying ordeal, NBC San Diego reports.
Iraniha, 27, spent the last year studying international law in Costa Rica. After trying to board an airplane bound for San Diego, he was informed by airport security that he was on the U.S. government’s no-fly list, which is compiled by the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center.
Iraniah – an American-Iranian Muslim citizen and San Diego State graduate – then visited the U.S. embassy in Costa Rica and was interviewed by the FBI agents “for several hours” and was asked about his recent trips to countries in the Middle East, Including Iran, where he says he visited family. After talking with the FBI, he still was not permitted to travel to the United States.
So what did he do? He hopped on a plane to Tijuana and then walked across the U.S.-Mexico border into San Diego, where he was greeted by members of his family. His situation first made national news yesterday before it was known that he was back in his home country.
Iraniha and his family are upset about the way the situation was handled by law enforcement, however, at this point it isn’t known if they will pursue legal action against the U.S. government.
Some civil rights advocates, including the Center for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), are arguing that this was an instance of racial profiling against Muslims.
“At this moment we are trying to get him safely home, and we will look at the details and questions in coming days,” said Hanif Mohebi, executive director of CAIR San Diego, Inside Costa Rica reports.
Even Iraniha himself said the decision to place him on the no-fly list was due to his Islamic faith.
“I don’t have any felonies, I am not a druggie! I am an educated American-Iranian Muslim citizen; I guess that makes me a threat,” Iraniha reportedly wrote on his Facebook page.
NBC San Diego has more on the Iraniha’s story:
The Lemon Grove resident still doesn’t understand why the U.S. government allowed him to come home on foot, but not by air.
“I’m happy to be home, finally in my hometown where I was born and raised,” Iraniha told NBC 7 San Diego in San Ysidro Thursday evening.
Upon finally arriving in San Diego, you could see the relief on Iraniha’s face and on the faces of his parents and brothers who met him at the San Ysidro border crossing.
For Iraniha, it has been a long journey home.
“You see my bloodshot eyes? I’m still going through it, it was very tiring and it was very depressing,” he said.
Iraniha and his father spoke to FBI agents that day and said agents never explained why, exactly, he was on the list in the first place.
“None of this makes sense. Whoever did this is not American. I’d like to know why they did that,” said his father Nasser Iraniha Thursday.
A spokesperson for the Terrorist Screening Center, the agency that compiles the “No Fly List,” said Thursday they cannot release any information about any individual cases.
Being on the no-fly list does not bar individuals from entering the U.S. by land, but there are also few documented instances of it actually happening.
There is no information available that indicates Iraniha or members of his family have any terrorism ties.
Watch the full NBC San Diego report here:
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Comments (92)
Wringeaux
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 9:59pmHe wasn’t on the no walk list ?
Report Post »rickc34
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 1:09amThe goverment was concerned about what was in his underwear but later found out it was no big thing.
Report Post »Jhn'1
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 1:55amPart of the purpose of the list is the perceived potential hazard to the aircraft. and ground targets. Maybe they suspect he attended Sudden Jihad Refresher classes in Iran and don’t want him in any aircraft in US airspace until they know for certain.
Report Post »spikebu
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 2:31amRight now, I’m behind this young man. He’s a born and raised American. If he allows CAIR to carry his banner, not so much. On a positive note, and apropos of nothing, I put up 150lbs of sugar, 75lbs of salt, 13.5lbs of baking soda, and 10 dozen dehydrated eggs! I‘m guessing I’ve got another 15 dozen to go to fill my 2.5 gallon bucket. Very productive day!
Report Post »CoyoteDKM
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 6:19amGuess they weren’t worried about him blowing up a plane if he walked, huh?
Report Post »AUsername
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 8:47pmthey shouldn‘t have TSA if they don’t work, get rid of no fly list, and this goverment still goes after minorities.
Report Post »C. Schwehr
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 10:06pmIs he a threat? HE’S A MUSLIM!! OF COURSE HE’S A THREAT!!!!!
Report Post »Bad Kitty
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 11:04amand of course, there are those in theblae that want to kill all muslims when we know that only 5% are the real exremists….
Report Post »socialism.rocks
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 8:46pmit will be cheaper for the government to fly people on the no fly list with a few tsa agents..then to be sued…
derp a merp
Report Post »toto
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 8:34pmHave no idea whether this person is a threat. But the fact that anyone can just walk across the border is problematic and is being ignored. CAN”T FLY IN BUT CAN WALK IN??? Of course the bad guys have no idea. This makes us safer how? To be sure, lots of bad guys are just walking across the border. I predict if Romney is elected, all hell will break lose. Leftists only like election results if they win, if they don’t, well, a la Wisconsin’s Walker, want a “do over” like the most immature of us.
Report Post »American Soldier (Separated)
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 9:45pmI don‘t know if you just didn’t understand what he did. He didn’t go to TJ and accompanied some drug runner through under ground tunnels into America. He was born and raised in San Diego, thus he is an American citizen and all the identification of such (ie, drivers license, passport, maybe even birth certificate) and he walked through the gated check point on the US border. I did this all the time, I would park my car in America, walk across the border and hop a cab to TJ. He just did the opposite. Being on the no fly list doesn‘t mean he wasn’t legally allowed to be in America, he just wasn’t allowed to board an airplane. He checked out during the process of entering the country via the border guard crossing.
Report Post »Elena2010
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 8:34pmGiven the fact that Farsi uses the Arabic alphabet and there are variants when the name is transliterated, it’s a good bet there is some terror suspect out there with a similar name.
Our way of giving names is not uniform across the world. In many Asian cultures, last name comes first. In Latino communities you may keep your mother’s last name at the end of your family name. Talk abt messing up American’s minds Rudolfo Garcia Hernandez — what’s that last name — Garcia or Hernandez — LOL
Report Post »hoohoolian
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 8:20pmWhy am I the first to say the name, Janet Napolitano on the Blaze? She is almost as big of a disgrace to America and humanity as Eric Holder and Sonia Sotomayor.
Report Post »TurboCat
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 7:20amJanet is contemptible, isn’t she? Nasty piece of work, just like her elitist counterparts. They act like they are above the rest of us citizens.
Report Post »hogtrashhd
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 7:37pm27 year old iranian/muslim “student” visits numerous middle eastern countries and it’s all so innnocent .. come on.. who does that fool…oh wait … homeland security.. if it was a white/christian 10 year old male he’d be locked up never to get out.. yeah.. we got some real anti-americans in this administration.. a lot.. come on november.. let the brooms loose and clean out that cesspool along with a lot of the “republicans” who have infiltrated.. i say get his ass and interrogate him unmercifully.. set the RIGHT example.. we’re tired of this crap
Report Post »circleDwagons
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 8:00pmHow dare he visit family and why in the world would he talk to the FBI
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 9:38pmcircleDwagons
He is Iranian. He has relatives in several Middle East countries? Doubtful. Iranians do go to Mecca for Haj but outside of that what business does he have?
The middle East is getting ready to blow up wit Sunni fighting Shia & he is conducting a goodwill tour?
Not really?
In another year he will be lucky to get into some of those countries & if he gets in to get out alive
Report Post »RomanCatholicatSluggyFreelance99
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 7:36pmThere must be true justice.But there is not enough informaton to know who is right and who is wrong.
Report Post »Auntie izlam
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 7:23pmWhy is it they’re never just American citizens? They’re always “American muslims” or in this case an American-Iranian Muslim citizen. That pretty much says it all and is why they are on the no-fly lists.
Report Post »JustJP
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 7:43pmNot all muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are muslim
Report Post »American Soldier (Separated)
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 9:49pmTimothy Mcveigh was not a Muslim.
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 9:57pmAmerican Soldier (Separated)
]Are you sure that TimMcVeigh or Terry Nichols were not Muslim or did not make common cause with Muslims?
“He sometimes travelled to the Philippines alone, while she remained in Kansas.
Cebu City in the Philippines was at the time a reputed base for several militant organizations, including the Liberation Army of the Philippines, the Communist Huk, and the Qaeda affiliate Abu Sayyaf.[22] Stephen Jones, the trial attorney who first represented McVeigh, cited evidence of a meeting in Davao City, Mindanao, in 1992 or 1993, in which 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef, al-Qaeda members Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah, and a “farmer” fitting Nichols’s description met to discuss the Oklahoma bombing. Jones said the FBI was aware of the meeting.[23]” – Terry Nichols
Report Post »Auntie izlam
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 1:40am@ “American Soldier(separated)”
Timothy McVeigh was also NOT a Christian if that‘s what you’re suggesting and what does that have to do with the story at hand?
Report Post »FreedomPurveyor
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:59pmIf someone on the no-fly list can simply hop aboard a flight to Tijuana, doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose? They can still hijack the plane and fly it into an American landmark.
I’ve got an idea. Get rid of the no-fly list, the scanners, and the groin-checks, and allow a process for outstanding citizens to acquire licenses to bring tasers on flights. Oh, and make sketchy people (ie nervous Arabs) go through a special bomb-sniffing dog line.
Report Post »Dougral Supports Israel
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:27pmI am uncomfortable with the no-fly list as it pertains to US citizens. It is an abrogation of freedom to tell someone they cannot fly for an unspecified reason with no clear way to correct the problem. If they thought he was some kind of threat they could have simply put him through some extra screening.
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 9:53pmIf Iraniha was working on a Democracy project like La Hood’s son & traveled to several countries, I think they would have let him fly. As it turned out he went to several countries where he doesn’t have relatives & where it didn’t look like he was a tourist nor conducting legitimate business.
Oh & to prove that the FBI & CIA will have to reveal sources & methods.
So either way the U.S. loses. We either look bad or degrade our intel capabilities.
And the enemy knows this
Report Post »Richalu
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:16pmRacial profiling? So I guess all the caucasian citizens of the US that have been placed on the no fly list, for whatever reason, have been racially profiled also.
Give it up CAIR. Your days are, hopefully, numbered.
Report Post »Wolfgang the Gray
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 7:01pmIslam is no more a race than Texans are. Race is hardware, religion is software.
Report Post »Joe Bonham
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:11pmAlso some food for thought – the former head of the TSA labeled returning American soldiers as “potential terrorists”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/16/napolitano-stands-rightwing-extremism/
Think long and hard before embracing these Big Brother policies!
Report Post »theblazerunner
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 8:38pmLawsuit: TSA Claims It Can Lie To The Public
Report Post »http://www.infowars.com/lawsuit-tsa-claims-it-can-lie-to-the-public/
Walkabout
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 10:29pmThe TSA said that for 2 reasons. The liberals were in charge & they hate soldiers. Second the government/bureaucrats dislike anyone that could challenge their authority.
Their past history with soldiers is sketchy. McVeigh had been a soldier, but his being a soldier wasn’t a necessary condition for him to be radicalized or to act. There is plenty of that in the white racists (“Christian Identity movement”/KKK/ Neo NAZis) in the country.
Report Post »Susie
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:09pmI love the way he keeps pointing out that he is a Muslim, citizen – an “American-Iranian, Muslim Citizen.” What is that ?
Report Post »I can see why he was on the no fly list.
mgiuseff
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:24pmMuslim defines him. America just happens to be his place of residence. We’ve got too any hyphenated-Americans in this country. Teddy Roosevelt complained of the same thing 100 years ago. We all need to be Americans. Period. Speaking the same language. Multiculturalism in this country has failed. We all seek our own groups.
Report Post »Back To Reality
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:07pmSo a bunch of muslims make us suspicious and you blame us?
Please wait a moment while I step over hear to not give a flying scat.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:12pmyes muslims that love to go to south america after iran too…hmm you know like the jihadi’s in bed with the cartels. yes it is suspicious but this poor kid just made all of our cases for stronger southern border protection.
Report Post »yanki161
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:59pmIranian American who traveled to Iran unfairly singled out blah blah blah. All I could focus on were the words “SO HE WALKED ACROSS THE BORDER.” This story has nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with border security.
Report Post »Joe Bonham
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:07pmDo you even understand what you’re talking about? If he has his passport and gets through customs, he entered your… HIS country perfectly legally.
Report Post »txjb
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:07pmYou’re right , and it was probably a test walk (run ) to test how weak the border security is .
Report Post »Joe Bonham
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:13pmWhat the hell are you talking about? He’s an American citizen who has committed no crime. Why would he be stopped by border security???
Report Post »3monkeysmomma
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:19pmThis story has nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with stranding AMERICAN CITIZENS abroad who have neither been charged with nor convicted of a crime. What will you do when this is you or your child?
Report Post »theblazerunner
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 8:37pmused to play hide and seek with the illegals comingt across ssw tx border…
there are many otm’s that are crossing…as in10′s of thousands per year.
me and mine deterred illegals from crossing for 15yrs…
Report Post »too dam old, too dam tired to play anymore. .
Walkabout
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 10:19pmJoe Bonham
What the hell are you talking about? He’s an American citizen who has committed no crime. Why would he be stopped by border security???
____
And all German_American citizens were anti NAZI in the run up to WWII. Is that the type of logic you were arguing?
Joe Bonham << Blaahh Balaaah blah blah blah, Blah (sung to Lady Gaga's latest music)
And Jon boy does not know if Iraniya has committed a crime or not. Just like District Attorneys have discretion in prosecution, the federal government has discretion on when they will drop the hammer on someone they have intel on. they don;t have to give up sources or methods to please some ACLU dhimmi.
If someone meets periodically bad people but you don't have everything you need to prosecute, you don't drag them into court & give up your sources nor reveal your methods.
But you don't give them the run of the place either.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:58pmNow the government has gone into CYA cover-up mode. No fly is BS, just another way to push people around through an abuse of power. If the government gets to decide who flies and who doesn’t without having to disclose why, that leads to a fascistic abuse of power. If a person has terrorist ties or has acted violently in some way or has a violent criminal record of some kind, well, that’s one thing. But this case seems unjustified especially if the FBI refuses to come clean as to why. Likely, the government has nothing and won’t admit it so they are stone-walling!
Report Post »Joe Bonham
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:08pmIt saddens me that while I agree with many of the libertarian viewpoints here, there’s so many mindless idiots who are judging this young man just because of his Iranian background.
Report Post »yathink
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:13pmYa I’m getting tired of that government stonewall. I think we need to take it down like that other wall back in what was it 1984 or 83? You remember the one President Regan had torn down.
Report Post »3monkeysmomma
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:58pmWell…..that‘s what I’d do.
Report Post »LeadNotFollow
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:57pm…
Report Post »Close the borders.
He just proved how easy it is for anyone to just walk into the U.S.
3monkeysmomma
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:03pmDid you miss the part where he is a US citizen who hasn’t been charged with any crime?
Report Post »Joe Bonham
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:12pmNo, he just saw the word “Muslim” and “Iranian” and his brainwashing took over.
Report Post »Master_and_Commander
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:54pmgreat, first they put a baby on the no-fly list, now this. And on top of that we just showed the world yet again how pathetic our border security is. Just another example of incompetence with our government officials.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:54pmI thought Iranians were untouchable,how can this be that he was on the no fly list? He’s probably part of a sleeper cell.He crossed the border illegally so arrest him at once.I won’t hold my breath because Jan allows millions to cross illegally.
Report Post »3monkeysmomma
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:00pmRight. If I were part of a sleeper cell, I’d definately call the media and alert everybody that I was back in the US!
Report Post »Joe Bonham
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:04pmHow did he cross over “illegally”? Did you even read the article? The “No Fly List” does not bar entry by land. Its absurd that an American citizen would be barred from his own country without due process in the first place.
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:27pm@ progressiveslayer. Your knee jerk reaction made you look like a jerk. READ boy, READ!
Report Post »jhaydeng
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:53pmDoes he really think that this is ok? What audacity! Nice border!
Report Post »65Mustang
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:51pmAnyone reading this article will know that the truth, concerning this incident, will not be reported by an NBC affiliate…just doesn’t happen.
Report Post »hawkeyez
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:45pmSend this terrorist back to Iran.
Report Post »Master_and_Commander
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:51pmGet off the Blaze.
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:57pm“No-fly list does not bar individuals from entering the U.S. by land,”
Report Post »what is the point if they can still enter the US to pull off an attack….We didn’t let Osama fly in, but it quite alright for him and his pals to stroll across the border….Our government is insane.
After they interviewed him, he should have been let on the plane unless he was really a threat, and then if he was a real threat, why would they let him go?
Justthefactsmam
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:03pmOk…so now being born in the US…lived your whole life in the US…No convictions…And then you visit relatives in Iran, that makes you a terrorist??
Report Post »Joe Bonham
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:05pm@Hawkeye
He’s a student going to college to get educated and get a good job… which makes him less likely to be a terrorist than you.
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 10:11pmhidden_lion
After they interviewed him, he should have been let on the plane unless he was really a threat, and then if he was a real threat, why would they let him go?
If your enemy can send more people to tie up the courts than you have officers of the courts, then if you use strictly civil law you have to let people go. If you use strictly civil law you have to give up source & methods.
If terrorists send someone (Iraniya for example) to several countries to talk to different people who may or may not be shady & they discuss nothing, they will raise red flags at the CIA. If you prosecute in court then you give up methods & sources & the terrorists get to plug holes with the loss of 1 person. If sources & methods are not given up then you give the U.S. a bad name & collect money (win a judgement). It is a win win for them. They could do this from 3 differen anfgles. fight in the courts, conduct so many dry runs that people ignore it when there will be the actual attack & as a method to force the U.S, “to show it‘s’ hand intel-wise in order to prosecute.”
This is similar to what the Flying Imans did
Report Post »The “flying Imans” who acted goofy (& every last one of them requested seat belt extension which could be used as a weapon) were testing the system. Their handlers would get reports back on system weaknesses.
TSUNAMI-22
Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:44pmWhere‘s Big Sis’s opinion on border security?
Oh, that’s right – it’s in the toilet.
Report Post »